Most clothes are ruined by over-washing, not under-washing. A shirt worn for a day in an air-conditioned office does not need a machine cycle. Air it overnight and wear it again.
Cotton shirting and twill
- Machine wash at 30 degrees on a normal cycle. Cold is fine too.
- Wash with similar colours for the first three washes. Indigo and rust move a little at first.
- Line dry in shade. Direct sun fades dyed cotton faster than anything else you will do to it.
- Iron on medium while very slightly damp. Do not iron over buttons.
- Skip fabric softener. It coats the fibre and reduces absorbency, which is the point of cotton.
Merino and wool knitwear
- Wash rarely. Merino resists odour; airing usually does the job.
- When you do wash it, use the wool cycle at 30 degrees or hand wash, with wool detergent.
- Never wring it. Press the water out flat, roll in a towel, then dry flat and reshape.
- Never hang knitwear on a hanger. It grows at the shoulders and does not come back.
- Pilling in the first few wears is normal and stops. Use a comb or a fabric shaver, not scissors.
Linen
- Machine wash at 30 degrees. Linen gets softer with every wash.
- Take it out of the machine promptly and shake it hard before drying.
- It will crease. That is linen. Ironing while damp will get most of it out if you want.
Leather footwear
- Give new shoes a coat of neutral cream before first wear.
- Use cedar trees between wears. They pull moisture out and hold the shape.
- Rotate. Wearing the same pair two days running roughly halves its life.
- Suede: a brush and a rubber eraser handle almost everything. Keep it away from water and heat.
Storage between seasons
Wash everything before it goes away. Moths are attracted to what is on the fabric, not the fabric itself. Store knitwear folded in a breathable cotton bag, not plastic. Cedar blocks work; the smell fades, so sand them lightly each year.
Repairs
We will repair a seam, replace a button, or re-tape a placket on anything we made, for the cost of postage. Write to us through the contact page with a photograph. It is cheaper for everyone than a replacement, and it is the whole point of specifying the cloth properly in the first place.