Care Guide
A good tee should outlast the joke on it. Here's how to make that happen.
The short version
- Machine wash cold, with like colours
- Do not bleach
- Tumble dry low
- Do not iron
- Do not dry clean
If you read nothing else: wash it inside out, wash it cold, and keep the iron off the print. That's ninety percent of it.
Washing
Turn it inside out
The single most useful habit. The print never touches the drum, the zips in your jeans, or anything else in the load. Friction is what kills a print, not water.
Cold water only
Cold, 30C or below. Hot water does three things you don't want: it shrinks cotton, it loosens the bond between ink and fibre, and it pulls colour out of dark garments. Cold water washes just as well for normal wear.
Wash with like colours
Darks with darks, whites with whites. Heavier cotton holds more dye, and the first couple of washes will release some of it. Nothing dramatic. Just keep new dark garments away from white loads for the first couple of washes.
Gentle cycle, mild detergent
Skip anything labelled brightening, whitening, or oxygen action. Those all contain bleaching agents that will lift colour out of a print over time, even when the bottle doesn't say bleach. Liquid detergent dissolves better than powder in cold water.
Don't overload the machine
An overpacked drum means garments grind against each other for the whole cycle. That's abrasion on the print and pilling on the fabric.
No fabric softener
It coats the fibres in a waxy residue that dulls colour and stops cotton breathing properly. Heavier cotton softens on its own with wear. Give it a few wears and it gets there without help.
Drying
Air dry if you can
Hang it in shade, or dry flat. Heat is what shrinks cotton and cracks prints, so skipping the dryer skips the problem. Keep it out of direct sun too, because UV fades dark dye faster than washing does.
If you use the dryer
Low heat, and take it out while it's still slightly damp. Bone dry plus ten minutes is where shrinkage and print damage happen.
Don't wring it out
Twisting a wet tee stretches the knit out of shape, particularly around the collar. Press the water out instead.
Ironing
Never iron directly onto the print. A hot plate on ink will melt, gloss or lift it, and there's no coming back from that.
If a shirt genuinely needs pressing: turn it inside out, use the lowest setting, and iron the back of the print area only. Or put a cloth between the iron and the garment. Steam from a distance works better and risks nothing. Better still, pull it out of the wash promptly and hang it. Heavyweight cotton mostly drops its own creases.
The first few wears
Cotton at 180 gsm starts crisp and structured. It softens noticeably over the first handful of wears and washes, and settles into its proper shape and drape after that. This is the fabric doing what it's supposed to do.
Expect a small amount of shrinkage in the first wash. That's normal for cotton, and it's the reason we say wash cold and dry low. Do both and it stays close to the measurements on the size chart.
Stains
Deal with it while it's fresh. Blot, don't rub. Rubbing pushes the stain deeper into the weave and abrades the surface. Cold water, a little mild detergent worked in gently with a fingertip, then a normal cold wash.
Avoid stain removers containing bleach or peroxide on anything printed or dark. Test on the inside hem first if you're unsure. Never put heat through a stain that hasn't come out yet, because a dryer will set it permanently.
Storage
Fold rather than hang. Hangers stretch the shoulders and neckline over months, especially on heavier cotton. If you fold, don't fold along the print, because a hard crease through ink left for a year can craze. Somewhere dry and out of direct light.
What's normal and what isn't
Normal: gradual softening, slight fading over years, a bit of loose dye in the first wash, minor shrinkage.
Not normal: the print cracking or peeling within a few washes, seams coming apart, holes. That's a fault, not wear. Tell us and we'll sort it out.