So you’ve purchased some well-made, high-quality Turkish cotton garments or textiles. You’re investing in pieces that you know have the potential to last, but now you want to make certain that they do!
Welcome to your simple guide on caring for your soft fabrics.
Caring for Your Textiles
One challenge you may have encountered with cotton is its nature to shrink or lose its shape. This can all be prevented with proper care to help prolong the longevity of your textiles.
This would include items from our crinkle muslin cotton collection (loungewear, blankets, and more) and for any other Turkish cotton piece you may own or be eyeing.
1. Washing
With any new piece, it’s recommended to wash it before using or wearing. This helps to ensure anything from production and shipping has been cleaned away.
You also want to check the label to see if machine washing or hand washing is best. Product tag MIA? You can always find our care instructions in the product descriptions online, just in case you’ve removed the tag and forget!
Wash in cool water to prevent shrinking and preserve colours, you can get away with warm water if it’s not too hot. Washing cotton in hot water can also cause it to shrink, so avoid that at all costs. Bonus protection points for washing inside-out. We recommend the delicate cycle for this - you can always opt for the extra soaking cycle for that first wash if you like!
2. Drying
Continuing with the no heat theme, cotton fabrics can be air-dried or machine dried using no heat or low heat.
This is the part of the process that usually results in shrinking, so we always recommend air-drying over machine drying. When air-drying, lay flat to retain shape and out of the sun to prevent fading.
If you insist on tumble drying (remember, LOW or NO heat!), consider using our Alpaca Dryer Balls to help speed this process up, eliminate static, and support an all-female artisan co-op in Peru.
3. Storing
Only put away your cotton when it’s completely dry. As a life rule, join our ‘never put away anything unless it’s completely dry’ club.
If you’re hanging cotton clothes, we recommend using wooden hangers vs wire hangers.
If you’re folding either clothes, blankets or other textiles, avoid rolling it as that can stretch out fabric.
And of course, keeping in a dry, covered place can make all the difference for the lifespan of all clothing and textiles.
One benefit of Turkish cotton - even if it feels so exceptionally soft - is that compared to the short fibres of regular cotton, the ESL component of Turkish cotton yields longer threads. Longer threads mean a more durable weave with fewer joins/seams. Bonus: it gets softer with more use too. (Learn more about Turkish cotton here!)
No heat, no wire hangers and no rolling. Mindfully caring for your cotton will ensure that you get that bang for your buck when investing in a luxurious crinkle cardigan, skirt or blanket. It also means that if you can extend the lifespan of your possessions, you are contributing to a more sustainable lifestyle. I’ll air-dry to that, any day.
Curious to know more about sustainable fashion? Click here to read more, or here for 5 ways to build your slow & sustainable closet.
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