Care3 min read
How to wash heavyweight cotton (and when not to)
Most clothes are washed too often and too hot. Here is how to keep heavy jersey and fleece looking new for years.
DLWords by Dee Laurent
The fastest way to ruin good cotton is to treat it like bad cotton. Heavy jersey and fleece need less washing than you think, and almost no heat.
Wash less
A hoodie worn over a tee does not need washing after every wear. Hang it up, let it air overnight, and wash it every five or six wears unless something has gone wrong. Tees are different — wash those every time.
The short version
- Turn it inside out. This protects the surface and any print or embroidery.
- Cold water, 30°C at most.
- Half the detergent the bottle says. No fabric softener, ever — it coats the fibres and kills the hand feel.
- Wash with similar colours. Garment-dyed pieces can release a little colour in the first few washes.
- Low spin if your machine lets you choose.
Never tumble dry
Tumble dryers do two things to heavy cotton: they shrink it and they cook the elastic in the ribbing. Reshape the garment while damp and hang it or lay it flat. A 480gsm hoodie takes about a day to dry indoors.
Hang hoodies over a rail, not on a hanger. Wet fleece is heavy enough to stretch the shoulders.
Prints and embroidery
Puff prints, like the back of the Last Call tee, should never be ironed directly. If you need to iron, do it inside out on low. Chain-stitch embroidery is tougher than it looks but will catch on zips, so wash crewnecks separately from anything with hardware.
Pilling
Small bobbles under the arms are normal on brushed fleece in the first month. They are loose fibres working their way out. A fabric comb takes them off in thirty seconds and they rarely return.
If something breaks
Seams are guaranteed for two years. Past that, our repair bench will fix anything we have ever made for the cost of the thread. Clothes that get repaired get kept.
