Have you ever wondered what all those symbols on your clothing labels means? If you are like me—or at least like how I used to be—you probably never paid much attention to the care instruction symbols on your clothing. I used to just wash similar colors together (sometimes. Lol) and toss them in the dryer on permanent press. Seemed to work well enough, that is until I joined the Air Force—that is when I really started paying attention to detail. (More on that later.) See, garments have specific wash instructions for a reason—to inform the end user of how to properly launder and care for them. Every clothing manufacturer is actually required by by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to attach instructions for the regular care of the garment. Inadvertently damaging an item due to lack of care instruction would not only be frustrating, but also quite unfair. (This is the link for anyone who cares to look it up)
Back to the Air Force. One of the things that was drilled into us from the outset was the importance of paying close attention to detail. I have plenty of stories to share of people not following direction, but a couple actually relate to improperly laundering their uniforms. For anyone who has not served in the US military, our uniforms all have big tags permanently and discreetly sown into the inside of each garment that give very detailed instruction on exactly how that item is to be laundered and cared for. One mistake that I had seen quite a few times, and I have to admit that I made it myself once too, was washing our hats. Some branches refer to it as a ‘cover,’ but in the Air Force, we just called them hats. Haha. Well, if you wash the hat in hot water or especially if you dry it on even medium heat, it will shrink significantly—like to the point where it may not fit on you head anymore, but rather sit on top of your head. It was always funny when a noobie would wash their hat for the first time and then wonder why it shrunk so much. To be safe, after my first mistake, I always just let it air dry. Another issue folks would have when drying the newer uniforms(OCPs) that had hook and loop fastener to attach patches and nametape is, when dried on high heat, is the loop fastener on the uniform would singe and appear fuzzy. Just by looking at someones uniform you could tell that they had not laundered it properly. The reason I share those stories is because the way you care for your garments absolutely makes a difference in how they look and how long they can last. Drying a garment on high heat can end its lifespan in one cycle and rob you from many years of use and enjoyment. There are five main categories of general care. These areas are washing, drying, ironing, bleaching, and professional care. Within each of those areas, there are multiple options or levels of intensity available to clean and dry the garment. Not every category will apply to every garment, rather it is important to know which do apply and which steps within that category should be taken.
1) Washing
While we typically use the expression ‘washing clothes’ to cover both the washing and drying phase of doing laundry, in this context, it is specifically referring to the process of getting the clothes wet, adding a soap or detergent, and soaking or agitating the garments in order to clean them of dirt, grime, oils, etc. There are three main sub-categories of washing:
Do not wash. Some items are very delicate or made of sensitive fabrics and should not be washed as even the water could damage them.
Hand wash only. As the name implies, hand washing is done by hand and is typically required for delicate or highly adorned items. Sometimes certain items may be placed in a mesh wash-bag and laundered in a machine on the delicate cycle; however, it is best to consult with the manufacturer first.
Machine wash. Machine washing is the most common type of washing these days, but even within this sub category there are several different cycles and settings. I will not go into depth with each specific setting, but rather cover 'cold wash,' which is the safest to use on the garments you may have purchased from us here at Threads That Testify.
Cold Wash. Here in the US, the wash symbols have dots to indicate the water temperature, while overseas you may see the temperature displayed in degrees Celsius. Cold wash has a single dot present, or will say 30*(Celsius).
We recommend you machine-wash your Threads with cold water. You may turn the garments inside-out to help extend the life even further. Using cold water will ensure that your clothing does not excessively shrink or fade.
WE DO NOT RECOMMEND WASHING ANY OF OUR APPAREL IN HOT WATER AS IT CAN SHRINK, WARP, OR DISTORT THE GARMENT.
2) Drying
Drying your garments on the wrong setting is one of the fastest ways to seriously damage your beloved threads! As I mentioned earlier, drying a military uniform on high heat would end its service life pretty quick. The same is true for nearly any garment and it certainly is true for just about anything you purchase from us. High heat can damage your Threads in two ways. Firstly, high heat can shrink, warp, and distort the fabric itself. Many of our garments are comprised of fabric blends that may include cotton, polyester, and rayon.
That is not a result of using ‘low quality’ materials—in fact the opposite is true. We are committed to offering clothing that is made of high quality materials and that has a premium feel. The cotton in the garments we use is pre-shrunk, but heat heat can still cause the cotton to shrink or wrap in an unpredictable way. This level of heat can also accelerate the fading and wear on the item. Secondly, high heat will almost certainly damage the printed design on the garment. Our designs are printed/pressed using high quality plastisol inks. These inks may melt or discolor at very high temperature, such as those of a dryer running a high heat cycle. In short, please do not dry your Threads on medium or high heat.
For best results, we suggest drying your garments on the lowest setting possible. The dryer icon with a single dot indicates a 'low heat' setting, while an icon with no dot instructs no heat to be used. Personally, I always dry all of my clothing(excluding jeans) on either the ‘low heat’ or ‘no heat’ dry cycles. I have found the less heat involved the better. Lower heat helps both the clothing itself and the decoration/printing on it to last much longer than when higher heat cycles are used.
3) Ironing
Ironing is fairly self-explanatory. Pressing wrinkles out of clothing with a hot iron has been around for well over 100 years. Like everything else we have covered thus far, irons have many different settings to be used on different fabrics and blends. The iron icon with a single dot inside directs that a cool iron should be used. Are you noticing a pattern here? We do not recommend ironing unless it is absolutely necessary. If you do need to iron your garment, use a cool iron and DO NOT IRON THE DESIGN. As stated earlier, high heat can easily melt/damage the inks used to decorate your garment. One touch with a hot iron can easily smear or burn the ink. So, if there is a hot special someone at your Bible study that you just HAVE to impress and you decide to iron your Threads—use a cool iron with extreme caution! We will not replace any clothing damaged as a result of ironing. Steaming is an alternative to ironing, however the same caution should be taken and the design itself should not be steamed. 4) Bleaching
There are multiple formulations of bleach these days. The most common are chlorine bleach and “bleach” that is safe for colors. Chlorine bleach is a death sentence for your Threads, so please do not use it! It will damage both the garment and the design! We do not recommend using any form of bleach on your Threads, but if you absolutely must, using a bleach that is formulated for colors is the safest option. Again, this is still not recommended by us and we will not replace any items that are damaged. If your garment is stained, we recommend trying a natural, enzyme-based stain remover. As always, first test a small part in an inconspicuous area of the garment. 5) Professional Care
Professional care refers to a wide range of treatments and processes—each with their own unique care icon. These processes can involve hard chemicals and are most commonly used for garments or textiles that can not get wet or be laundered in traditional ways. The most common form of professional care is ‘dry cleaning’. We really will not be getting into any specifics here as none of the garments we sell at this time should be dry cleaned nor do they require any professional care. I hope this short article has answered some of the questions you may have had. There are several other resources available online if you care to further research different care methods—but these are what we recommend for any clothing we sell. Sincerely, Mike Lee | President Threads That Testify "Declare & Believe!"
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