Linen care guide

Fabric Care

 

  Bleaching

May be chlorine bleached

Do not bleach

Washing  

For washing, three types of labelling should be taken into consideration: Do not hand wash or machine wash; Hand wash only; Machine wash only. For the latter case, the recommendations then refer to the choice of temperature and to the intensity of the mechanical action.

It is quite common to find items with a strictly identical composition, but for which the recommended washing temperatures differ.

Such differences are linked, either to the specific fragility of an accessory on a garment or to the risk of possible COLOUR RUN in the various dyes used.

Hence, we find, for example, dyed cottons washable up to 60°C, while bleached or natural-coloured cottons can be boiled.

 Machine wash permitted. The maximum water temperature is indicated on the inside label.

Washing forbidden

Do not machine wash or hand wash

Concerning clothing, the WASHING RESTRICTIONS mainly refer to suits, jackets, dresses, waistcoats, trouser suits, etc.…                              

Such garments may be sensitive to all types of mechanical action in damp conditions, either due to the main fabric (essentially wool with risk of felting) or due to the lining (viscose becoming fragile when damp). These garments are also significantly structured, whose shape after washing cannot be guaranteed.

Such garments, however, rarely give rise to confusion, since the consumer nearly always refers to the dry-cleaner's for their care.

HAND WASHING

Hand wash only at low temperature

The "HAND WASH ONLY" indication or the corresponding COFREET symbol [French Labelling Committee for Fabric Care] are often found on pullovers, waistcoats, cardigans, etc. In such a case, this is mainly due to the felting phenomenon.

MACHINE WASH

When machine wash is possible, the consumer must use a given temperature, together with a normal or reduced mechanical action.

Besides the felting phenomenon mentioned above for the case of washing by hand, the “machine wash” recommendation on the label normally takes account of the type of fibre and the quality of the dye, in view of the colour running, folding or misshaping phenomena that may arise.

IRONING

When ironing is permitted, the maximum level of heat is indicated by the number of dots inside the iron symbol.

   Low temperature           
   Medium temperature 

   High temperature

 

FELTING

Felting is typical of animal fibre with hairs. Such fibres are covered over with scales which overlap each other when agitated in damp conditions, such phenomenon being irreversible.

It is nevertheless quite possible to find items labelled “pure wool” or “majority wool” and carrying a “machine-wash” indication. This is the case for items treated as NON-FELTING for which any overlapping of fibres has been neutralised at the finishing stage.

Another solution exists on certain washing machines programmed with a WOOL CYCLE.

 

COLOUR RUN

This phenomenon is linked to the fact that some items have been dyed with dyes that are not “solid” enough, being progressively eliminated from the fibre after each washing.

In a washing machine, such eliminated dye may impregnate other garments; hence, the necessity to wash such items separately.

 

FOLDING

A fold is a crease marked in a permanent fashion on the fabric. It may be due to a too intense mechanical action in hot, dry or damp conditions. Synthetic fibres are particularly sensitive when subjected, for example, to abrupt temperature variations with the crushing of the folds.

 

SHRINKING

Who has never had the unpleasant experience of putting a correct-sized item into the machine to wash and then taking out a garment 1 or 2 sizes smaller? What is the reason for such phenomenon?

Contrary to general opinion, the raw materials are rarely the cause. In fact, more often than not, the fibres have been dyed at around 100°C, so it is not a wash at 30 or 60°C that will change anything. Only a few fibres may still retract at the household washing stage:

         • “HIGH BULK” acrylics with very curly synthetic fibres and whose “frizziness” may still sometimes be apparent during washing.

         •  “RETRACTABLE” chlorofibres, known for their properties to retract under the effect of heat.

The textiles' washing phase, due to being agitated in hot and damp conditions, is one of the best means for revealing the shrinking phenomena of fabrics. Essentially, at the outset, the layout of the threads or stitches corresponds to that resulting from their manufacturing and processing conditions.

Take the example of woollens, which are at the origin of the most spectacular withdrawals, noting that such garments can be deformed by 20 to 25% at the knitting stage. Indeed, one simply needs to pull on the woollen loops in order to form stitches and these will be abnormally long and narrow in relation to their stable status.

If, therefore, an item is knitted with its stitches still being narrow and pulled out, it will be significantly deformed (shrinking and widening) during washing.

During the dry-filling process and to ensure that variations do not become apparent after purchase by the consumer, it is possible:

        • Either to "fix" the fabric (thermal fixing of the chemical fibres or basic resin treatment of the natural fibres) so that the stitches maintain their shape and their overlapping at the time of washing,

        • Or to adequately recover from the initial misshaping during the various treatments.

 

TUMBLE-DRYING

Some of the comments made for machine washing could also apply to this chapter. Indeed, in a tumble-dryer we find the same agitation conditions in a hot and damp atmosphere, liable to cause the felting and misshaping phenomena.

Tumble-drying should also be avoided for items whose thread or stitching are not yet sufficiently stablised. For example, a cotton garment (T-shirt, polo shirt, track suit, etc.) that has not caused any problem to the consumer in terms of misshaping after machine washing and drying out flat or hanging, is still likely to shrink 5% lengthwise after a tumble-dryer cycle.

Tumble-drying is also forbidden for pure wool or wool mixed items (acrylic/wool, polyester/wool, etc.) due to the risk of pilling..
 
Tumbling allowed

 
Do not tumble

 

PILLING

Pilling is a phenomenon that occurs on fabrics due the existence of small groups of tangled fibres rolled around each other and remaining caught by more resistant fibres. This is mainly due to the rubbing of the fabrics during use and to certain care cycles which enhance this phenomenon.

In conclusion, only the items or fabrics sufficiently stabilised (natural fibres) or thermally-fixed (artificial or synthetic fibres) at the manufacturing stage and not subjected to such phenomena as pilling or felting, will not suffer misshaping or deterioration during tumble drying.