Printed Clothing Care and Wash Guide
Information for caring, washing and drying printed clothing.
In this guide we aim to provide you with information on how to look after your printed clothing so that you own a printed item of clothing that lasts and lasts, wash after wash and a print that continues to look as good as the first day it was applied to the garment.
From washing to folding, we will try to help you with handy hints and tips to make the print on the clothing item outlast the item itself. This is our aim with all our printed clothing, although the clothing we supply is also great quality.
First, how to wash your printed clothing for lasting results
Let’s think about the garment itself before we look at the effects of washing on the print. Read the label. I know it sounds simple, but you would be amazed how many of our customers don’t read the washing instructions on the garment label before putting it in the washing machine for the first time. If the garment shrinks or becomes miss-shaped during the wash, then this will also have an effect on the print. Should you wash the garment in accordance with the washing instructions and it stills shrinks or comes out not as it should, we do have the option to have the garment tested to ensure it is as per the manufacturers stated fabric content etc.
What not to do when washing Printed Clothing
- Don’t fasten any of the buttons on the garment but DO close any zips, this will help to maintain the shape of the clothing during the wash
- Don’t leave anything in any of the pockets. Items left in pockets can damage both the clothing and any print on it so make sure pockets are empty. I suppose the only thing you can now safely wash in the machine is the new £5 note. Even so best to remove it before the wash
- Print ink is best washed at 30 degrees and we can safely say it will not fade or crack if washed at this temperature
- Another good idea when washing printed clothing is to wash it inside out. This will help to protect the print and give a good long life on the garment
- Never dry clean a printed item. Dry cleaning uses chemicals that will affect the print ink
- Wash before you wear. Putting your printed garment through the washing machine before you first wear it will remove the smell of packaging and also any marks that may have been left by the print frame or carousel.
So you’ve washed your printed t-shirt what about drying it?
Almost all items of clothing are best dried by lying on a flat surface and a printed one is no exception. Practically this is not always ideal so hanging it on a clothes hanger or rack to dry is ok. Clothing obviously won’t dry very quickly in a damp environment, which is not only time consuming for you waiting for your clothes to dry is it also not good for the print to be left wet for a long period of time. You should NOT tumble dry a garment that has been printed. The ink used in the print process may crack if dried and heated in a tumble dryer.
Now your clothes are dry and in the dreaded ironing pile, how is it best to iron them?
Always iron printed clothing inside out and iron on the back of the printed logo or text. Don’t iron directly onto the printed area, high temperatures from the iron may melt the ink and distort the print.
All done, so now you need to simply fold and store your printed clothing
For the best and longest lasting print results, hang your clothing up in the wardrobe. If this is not possible then simply fold and store in a draw, taking care not to fold along or through the print itself.
By following the guide above, we are sure the print will last and may even outlast the garment itself. Not only this but it will look good for longer not matter how many times it is washed, ironed and folded away. When we take a garment from the print carousel sometimes a small mark can be left by the screen frame. We try to remove any marks before your garment is sent to you but sometimes the odd garment will get through our quality control. Any marks created by the frame will come out during the first wash.
If you are not sure which garments are best for printing on we have put together a list for different garment types, such as t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies etc. For example, one of our most popular items of clothing is the printed polo shirts . We are sure you will find what you are looking for from our extensive range on our website. If you have any concerns about how a garment will wear over time, then please contact us here at JKL Clothing to discuss your requirements
We hope that you have found this information useful. For any further information or to ask us any questions about anything referred to in the guide please contact us by email at sales@jklclothing.co.uk or by phone on 0114 239 8000. One of our trained sales staff will be happy to help.