Washing instructions for screen-printed items written by the One Way Screen Printing Team.
1. Wash similar clothes together: We know what you're thinking, "of course I don't wash my whites with my reds!" But we're talking about washing similar textures together. For example, washing a screen printed 100% smooth knitted shirt with a jean jacket with buttons could damage the shirt. Washing items that are unalike can also cause pilling.
2. Wash custom prints in cold water: This is a universal rule for most clothing in general: cold is good and heat is bad. Unless the apparel is very dirty or needs to be sanitized, there isn't much of a reason to wash clothing in heat. Hot water isn't gentle on fabric or ink, and will eventually break it down.
3. Avoid using bleach or other harsh detergents: Don't use bleach or other harsh soaps (like fabric softener) as it can break down your clothing and prints.
4. Turn your clothes inside out: Turning your clothes inside out is a trick any laundry pro will tell you if the item is screen printed or not. This will help the printed area on your t-shirt stay vivid.
5. Use a low heat setting in the dryer: DO NOT put your custom printed clothing in the dryer at the hottest setting. Dryers are amazing time savers, but they are rough on the longetivity of clothing. Dryers can be particularly hard on the ink we use to print with.
6. Stay away from the dry cleaner and ironing: As we've established, high heat is not good for screen print deisgns, and dry cleaning and ironing are no exception. Ironing directly on a screen printed design can cause damage to the design.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your shirt(s)!
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