Your gear has been decorated to last. How you wash and dry it makes more difference than anything else — most of the damage we see comes from heat, not from wear. The rules below cover every decorated garment. If you know how yours was decorated, the section further down has the specifics. The basics — all decorated garments Turn the garment inside out before washing Cold, gentle cycle — 30°C maximum Wash with similar colours No bleach, and no fabric softener Line dry in the shade; avoid the tumble dryer If you need to iron, turn the garment inside out or place a cloth over the decoration — never iron directly onto it Do not dry clean Leave new garments at least 24 hours before the first wash. Don’t soak decorated gear, and take it out of the machine promptly rather than leaving it sitting wet. Heat is what kills a decoration. Hot water, a tumble dryer and a hot iron will each shorten its life far faster than normal use will. Screen printing Screen printed ink sits on the surface of the fabric and stays flexible. Left alone it will outlast the garment; overheated, it goes brittle and cracks. Wash inside out on cold — heat is the main risk Keep it out of the tumble dryer Never put an iron directly on the print Don’t scrub stain remover into the printed area DTF and heat transfer prints These are applied as a film bonded to the fabric, so the edges are the weak point. Once a corner lifts it will keep going. Cold wash, inside out, gentle cycle Line dry — tumble drying is the most common cause of lifting Never iron on the print; if the garment needs pressing, use a cloth over the top on a low setting Avoid stretching or folding sharply across the print, especially while it’s wet Embroidery Embroidery handles washing well. The risk is snagging and the backing puckering. Wash inside out so the stitching isn’t rubbing against the drum Avoid the tumble dryer — shrinkage is what makes embroidery pucker Iron on the reverse, or face down on a towel, so the stitches aren’t flattened Wash separately from anything with velcro, zips or hooks If a thread comes loose, snip it — don’t pull it Sublimated garments Sublimation puts the dye into the fibre rather than on top of it, so it can’t crack or peel. It’s the most durable decoration we offer. The catch is that sublimated gear is polyester, and polyester doesn’t like heat. Cold wash only — never hot No fabric softener; it coats the fibres and ruins the moisture-wicking Line dry in the shade — it dries very quickly, so there’s no reason to use a dryer Avoid ironing altogether if you can. If you must, use the lowest setting with a cloth over the garment Don’t leave sports gear balled up wet in a bag — that’s how you get dye transfer and odour that won’t come out Wash away from velcro and abrasive items Hi-vis and workwear Retroreflective tape has a limited life and is affected by both heat and detergent build-up. Wash at 30°C or below, separately from general laundry No fabric softener — it coats the tape and reduces reflectivity Line dry Check the garment’s own label; most hi-vis is rated for a set number of washes before it no longer meets standard Stains Deal with a stain as soon as you can. Dab it, don’t rub, and keep solvents and stain removers off the decoration itself — most will attack a print faster than they’ll shift the stain. Our workmanship guarantee We stand behind our decoration. If a print or embroidery fails through a fault in our work, we’ll put it right. Damage caused by washing outside these instructions isn’t covered under our workmanship guarantee. Please leave new garments at least 24 hours before the first wash. If you’re not sure how your gear was decorated, or something doesn’t look right, get in touch before you wash it again — enquiries@cus.kiwi.nz or 04 237 4274.
