Fabric Care Recommendations

You’ve bought the lovely fabric; now how should you take care of it? After all, once you’ve put all that work into making a garment, you want it to last!

Proper fabric care maintains the appearance and prolongs the lifespan of your clothing. It also preserves the fabric quality, keeping the garment comfortable longer. Last but not least, by choosing lower water temperatures and hang drying instead of tumble drying, proper fabric care can potentially reduce the environmental impact of laundering your clothes.

The recommendations below are for the normal care of your finished garment.

We do recommend that you pre-wash/pre-treat your fabric before cutting. This pre-wash should be slightly more aggressive than you plan to treat the finished garment. For example, if the recommendation is for cold water, use warm water. If it’s recommended to hang dry, use a low temperature tumble dry instead.

You can also pre-wash darker fabrics in hot water with lots of salt, or a "colour catcher" product (there are several available.) And, of course, remember to separate your lights from darks. 

Once the garment is made, then follow these recommended care instructions.

Fabric Care Symbols

Please use these fabric care symbols, and the Fabric Care table below to determine the proper care for your fabric. 

Fabric Care 

Wovens	Wash	Dry	Iron
Canvas
Cotton and cotton blends		or
Corduroy		then	Turn inside out, then
Double gauzes and linen gauze	Use a gentle detergent	or
Hemp and hemp blends
Linen and linen blends			Iron while still damp
Oil cloth	Wipe with a damp cloth
Rayon			with a pressing cloth
Stretch cottons and denims
Tencel		then
Viscose	Avoid washing with other fabrics	or
Wool blends	Avoid enzyme detergents	then
Knits	Wash	Dry	Iron
Cotton and cotton blends
Bamboo and bamboo blends
French terry
Ribbing		if possible   or
Viscose jersey	Avoid washing with other fabrics	or
Fleece	Turn the item inside out	Remove promptly when dry