Who doesn’t love to wear cooling and comfortable cotton? From the softness to breathability to versatility, cotton fabric has everything it needs to become a treasured wardrobe staple. But with time, even your favourite cotton clothing can start to show signs of wear and tear.
In this blog, we will explore the art of cotton fabric care, giving you all the details on how to keep your favourite cotton clothing looking and feeling great for years ahead.
-
Choose high-quality fabric
It goes without saying that having high-quality fabric is important if you want to preserve your clothing for longer. To pick the best cotton for your wardrobe, check the weight, thickness of the fabric and the length of the cotton staple with longer staple yarns signifying a higher quality
Whilst recycled cotton has a good feeling, it not always necessarily the best option for long wearing clothes, as the cotton yarns have been recycled by cutting the fibres and spinning them into a new filament of yarn.
There are pros and cons to each type of cotton, and the main consideration is how often and for how long will you wear this item, as an item in the hanging in the wardrobe it not really a sustainable option.
When looking for new items, check the thread count of a fabric, which is the number of threads woven across every square inch of the fabric. A higher thread count indicates that the fabric is more tightly woven, which is a good indicator of quality and durability.
Plus, higher quality yarns will pill a lot less than ones with a lower thread count as the individual yarns will be less likely to migrate to the fabric surface (which is the 1st step in the process of pilling)
PRO TIP: Look out for Supima, Pima or Extra Long Staple Length labels to get best-quality cotton.
-
Always check the care label
Care labels are attached to clothes for a reason. They show the fabric composition as well as the ideal washing, drying, and ironing guidelines for the fabric in your hands. Many times, we make the mistake of using unnecessarily aggressive cleaning of cotton clothing (too high temperature, too much detergent, incorrect drying methods), which strip away the natural vibrancy, color and softness of the cotton fabrics. To avoid this, always make sure to check the care label before washing or drying your clothes.
-
Cold Water wash
This is the one and only fabric care rule where you are allowed to breach the care label guidelines. While you can’t go any higher than the temperature ranges mentioned on the care label, there is no harm in going a little (or a lot) lower.
It means that even if the label mentions hot-water washing, you can use cold water to minimise colour bleeding and fabric pilling.
Cold water washing makes your favourite clothes last longer, reduces colour fading, and helps save energy. According to recent studies, 90% of the power used in laundry is consumed during the process of water heating at the start of the laundry process.
So, by switching to cold-water washing, you can avoid using extra power and cut down on your electric costs whilst saving your clothing for a win – win situation
-
Restore with BIORESTORE
Being a natural fabric, cotton demands some extra TLC to stay in its best shape. BIORESTORE cotton is a laundry powder made just for that purpose.
The BIORESTORE Re-Tergent is a premium fabric care product that removes lint and pilling from clothing with at least 70% cotton composition. Not only this, but it also revives the vibrancy and natural handfeel of your favourite cottons in only one home laundry wash.
You can use BIORESTORE to refresh your wardrobe, give new life to your faded prints, or restore thrifted items. Instead of throwing out your worn-out cotton clothes that are pilled, bobbled or faded, BIORESORE can help extend their life, ultimately saving your textiles from the back of wardrobe where they remain unworn, or tossed to the trash pile.
-
Don’t overstuff the washing machine
It can be tempting to load your washing machine with as much laundry as you can, especially if you are short on time or having a money saving mindset. However, exceeding your washing machine's weight / volume limit is the worst thing you can do for cotton fabric care, your washing machine and your wallet!
When the machine is overstuffed, the water and detergent cannot mix or reach your clothing properly – leading to patchy and uneven washing.
The cramped conditions mean the clothes cannot move freely, which in turn produces more friction as the clothes rub against each other. The increased friction and abrasion wear down the textiles more quickly, resulting in a slow disintegration of the textiles. This deterioration then appears in the form of colour fading, pilling, and a general loss of fabric integrity.
Hence, it's important to check the instructions, and the weight / volume load on your washing machine before tossing in the laundry load. Trust us, it will save both your time and money in the long run.
-
Ditch the dryer
Pure cotton or 100% cotton can shrink when exposed to the high temperatures of the tumble dryer. Drying clothes at a temperature higher than 150ºF can take a serious toll on the tensile strength of the individual cotton yarns, resulting in your clothes becoming much more prone to tearing, colour fading, and pilling.
While it may be a little challenging to say goodbye to tumble dryers altogether, you can ditch them once in a while or select lower temperature settings for the best clothing care.
-
Gentle ironing
Use a low- to medium-heat setting while ironing cotton clothing. An even better choice is to iron the fabric when it’s still damp. It’s also recommended to iron the cloth after turning it inside out in order to avoid damaging the shine of the fabric.
For delicate fabrics, a steamer is a much better choice than a flat iron, as it is generally gentler on the textile. However, keep in mind to check the streamer and iron plate for any spots, burn marks, or traces of dust, which could transfer to your clothes, ruining their overall appearance.
-
Store effectively
Cotton clothing can last longer if stored properly. To keep your cottons in the best form and shape, you can hang them via padded hangers in a closet with good ventilation and out of direct sunlight or UV.
If you are short on space, you can fold your clothes gently and store them neatly in the closet. A pro tip is removing the clothing from your wardrobe seasonally (every 6 months or so) and checking the clothes for any signs of pests, moths, damp or mould which can cause major problems for natural materials.
Also, by doing this, you get a good overview of your wardrobe and might just find something ‘’new’ or forgotten about to wear again.
With a few easy steps and by following the clothing care practices mentioned above, you can make sure that your beloved cotton clothes stay fresh and comfortable for many seasons to come. Just by doing a little maintenance and using the right cotton care products, you can not only enjoy an ever-ready wardrobe but also support the concept of sustainable fashion
