You Want your TEATOWELS looking great, and so do we!
Tea Towels are printed using Waterbased dye (not ink), this is great news as it means the towels can be used for drying! It also means they can be ironed if you are into that. The print is lovely and soft and inside the fabric.
The towels actually look, feel and dry MUCH better after the first few washes*. If you want to avoid shrinkage you can stretch the towels back out while they are wet, hang dry and cold water wash only.
*A note on Absorbency and Natural vs White
White Tea Towels have been through a bleaching process, this means that they will soften after a wash or two, though peak absorbency will take a few more. You can speed this up by including a small amount of vinegar in the first wash – Do Not use fabric softeners as this can coat fibers.
Natural Tea Towels have been minimally processed, and certainly not bleached. Unbleached cotton often retains more of the plant’s natural waxes and oils, which make the fabric feel stiffer and less absorbent at first. Bleaching and finishing processes usually strip these away.
A few washes should make a noticeable difference, though it may take 5–10 washes for peak absorbency. You can speed this up by including a small amount of vinegar in the first wash – Do Not use fabric softeners as this can coat fibers.
Dye printing will fade over time, not crack and fall away + you can (though we do not recommend it) use them to pull things out of the oven.
Care tags have unbranded care instructions
Cold Water Wash
Hand Washing is even better!
Dry out of Direct Sunlight
(Hot Washing will speed up ‘softening’, however heat causes fibre shrinking and speeds up fading.)
TEATOWELS & APPAREL
All tea towels and garments have care labels sewn into them which should be always followed.
As a general rule, everything will fade eventually, particularly 100% cotton items or items with a high cotton content, this is why many aprons have a polyester component. There are steps you can take to try and slow this process:
• Heat is the enemy, it breaks down fibres and loosens the dyes hold. Try and Cold wash and avoid the dryer where possible.
Bonus points for washing in a full load. If you are washing apparel do so inside out.
• Where practical dry out of direct sunlight, with apparel you can dry inside out.
• There is some evidence that a small amount of vinegar can help during the rinse cycle. This is probably overkill.
• Always wash with similar colours.
• Use coloured or dark detergents.
SCREENPRINT Waterbased Dye
Unlike Plastisol the Inks we use for teatowels are actually Water based dyes, the dye sits in the teatowel and as such Irons will not affect the “print”.
Some commercial washing machines and dryers can actually strip the print off entirely. With any print, heat particularly when washing, can contribute to ink fade. Watch your temperature.
• Cold water wash.
• Hang Dry outside out of direct sunlight for best longevity.
• Never iron over plastisol print, go ahead and iron tea towels if that’s your thing!
EMBROIDERY
Although not usually applicable to Teatowels, Embroidery is the toughest of Branding methods:
• Cold water washing is best.
• Minimising garment shrinking will avoid puckering around the embroidery, so read garment care labels.
• Try avoid ironing embroidered area.
DIGITAL PRINTS/VINYL
Your teatowels (from us) won’t be vinyl or transfer printed, however if we have branded a different item for you it might be.
• Cold water wash.
• Hang Dry inside out to avoid fading.
• Never iron over transfers.