How to wash a printed garment without damaging it
A print doesn't wear out on its own: it wears out badly. A large design on the back means a lot of surface exposed to the drum, the tumble dryer and the iron. Four simple habits are enough to change how long it lasts.
The essentials at a glance
| Step | Do | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Before washing | Turn inside out | Throwing it in the drum in a ball |
| Washing | 30 °C, short cycle | Bleach, hot water |
| Drying | Air dry, in the shade | Tumble dryer, direct sunlight |
| Ironing | Inside out, no steam | Hot iron on the design |
Inside out, always
It's the habit that pays off most and gets forgotten most often. With the garment turned inside out, the design no longer rubs against the drum or the zips on the rest of the load. It costs nothing.
Along the same lines: don't scrunch it into a ball before starting the cycle. A print folded and squashed for a whole cycle keeps the mark.
30 °C, and no hotter
It's the instruction we give on every product page: direct-to-garment printing withstands machine washing at 30 °C. That isn't just a figure of speech. A higher temperature can warp the print, or even make it come off.
Bleach is the only truly absolute no: it attacks the ink. When it comes to choosing a detergent, opinions differ — some recommend powder rather than liquid, others think any ordinary detergent is fine on cotton. We have no test that lets us settle it, so we don't.
Washing at a low temperature is also kinder to the fibres. The fabric lasts longer, not just the design.
The tumble dryer is the real enemy
It combines both threats: heat, which wears out the print, and shrinking fabric, which puts it under strain. Hang it up to dry, in the shade rather than in full sun — UV light fades colours.
And don't leave damp laundry sitting in the drum once the cycle has finished.
Ironing, if you must
Inside out, medium heat, no steam. The principle is simple: the design must never touch the soleplate of the iron. If you really have to iron the printed side, put a sheet of baking paper in between.
A useful benchmark: direct-to-garment inks are cured at around 160 °C during production, but an iron that is too hot can crack or fade the design — the general advice is to stay around 110 to 120 °C, without steam. If in doubt, a garment steamer avoids any contact.
And if the design gets damaged anyway
There are two different cases. Gradual wear after many washes is normal for any print. A printing defect — a misaligned design, ink coming off within the first few washes — isn't a care problem: report it within 30 days, with a photo, and we'll reprint or refund you, with no need to send it back. The steps to follow are on the withdrawal page, and you have 14 days to change your mind in any case.
Sources: our product pages for the 30 °C washing instruction; Mister Tee, La Manufacture, TeamShirts, Monsieur T-shirt, Shaman and Rue des Goodies for general advice on direct-to-garment printing. Where these sources disagree, we say so rather than pick a side.