bamboo ·
care ·
cleaning ·
cotton ·
denim ·
dry clean ·
dryer ·
fabric ·
laundry ·
linen ·
maintenance ·
quality ·
rayon ·
viscose ·
washing ·
Little Guide to Make Your Clothes Last Longer
At Odeyalo, our mission is to encourage slow fashion, local production and transparency. In order to participate to sustainable fashion and to be environmentally responsible, we use different techniques. For example, we recycle our scraps by creating tote bags and we collaborate with different local entrepreneurs who are also transforming these scraps into other products. It goes without saying that the fabrics used to make our clothes are carefully chosen to maximise their lifetime. However, it does not only depend of their confection. That is why we would like to take the time to tell you about the care that clothing needs, depending on their composition.
First and foremost, it is important to know that if you really want to wash your clothes using the machine, then we recommend you to use cold water. Not only it is more ecological, but you will avoid bad surprises like the discoloration or the shrinkage of your favorite garment.
Cotton
Let’s start with Odeyalo’s most commonly used fiber, the cotton. Two clothes of our basics, the BLOOM kimono and the SEPTEMBER top, are made solely of cotton. We especially appreciate this material due to its natural origin and its softness. One of the significant features of the cotton is its great lifetime as it resists well to frictions and tearings.
For the washing, we strongly recommend avoiding hot water so you will not risk to shrink or discolour your garment made of cotton. It is also important that you make sure that your clothing is well dried before storing it, as it could cause some mold.
Granny’s little tip :
Let’s start with Odeyalo’s most commonly used fiber, the cotton. Two clothes of our basics, the BLOOM kimono and the SEPTEMBER top, are made solely of cotton. We especially appreciate this material due to its natural origin and its softness. One of the significant features of the cotton is its great lifetime as it resists well to frictions and tearings.
For the washing, we strongly recommend avoiding hot water so you will not risk to shrink or discolour your garment made of cotton. It is also important that you make sure that your clothing is well dried before storing it, as it could cause some mold.
Granny’s little tip :
To make the white colour of your cotton more vibrant, add a lemon zest to the washing machine.
Denim
Concerning the denim, it is a fabric made of cotton that requires a special care. The first washing of a pair of jeans can be tricky, as the colour may run a bit. As we have thought about everything, the denim that we use has been pre-washed and pre-shrunk. For example the SNACK N’ BLUES pants are made from this fabric. They have already lost most of the colour that it was possible for them to lose. They will continue to fade lightly and naturally over time, but not in a significant way. It will give you a representative idea of what your pants will look like in several months as they will be similar to their original appearance.
Regarding the cleaning of this fabric, it is possible to wash it inside out with cold water using the delicate cycle option. However, some people prefer to totally avoid water, and refresh it by letting it spend a few nights in the freezer. Apparently, it would kill bacterias and control odours. The method begins as follows : shake the jeans to remove the residues, fold it, wrap it in a plastic bag, squeeze out the air from the bag, then place it in the freezer for a few days. It is up to you to see if this technique suits you more !
Wool
Let’s now look at another natural fiber often used during the making of our clothes, the wool. This fabric is known for its thermal isolation and its resistance. Moreover, the wool does not keep odours, which is a nice attribute for the persons who sweat easily.
We have to let you know that this fabric hates friction, and if you ever end up with a sweater that came out of the washing with half its size, it is possibly due to rubbing or hot water utilisation. So if you really want to wash your wool sweater using the machine, do it with cold water at delicate cycle. Don’t forget to put your garment inside out. We also suggest you to use a wash net to avoid as much abrasion as possible. Or else, Odeyalo’s founder, Marie-Eve, strongly propose her method which consists to fill a vessel with cold water and mild soap, and let the garment soak. When you will remove it, it is important to know that you must not twist it. Instead, press it with your hands to extract as much water as possible. Place it flat on a towel that you will roll up and twist it to drain most of the water from the sweater. After that, your top can then be dried flat, so it won’t hold the humidity. It is important not to dry a wool item in the machine.
Granny’s little tip :
If your favorite wool sweater were to disform and become too small, there is a simple “home” method to get it back to its original state. In a water bucket, pour 2 spoons of conditionner or baby shampoo and let your garment soak in for half an hour. You can try Marie-Eve’s technique for the drying. And here is the come back of your lovely sweater !
Linen
Linen is a natural fiber that does not require chimical product to grow. In addition, the transformation from a plant to a thread is realized by natural processes. This fabric posseses thermoregulatory qualities that allow it to keep its wearer fresh in summer and warm in winter. Despite this, the linen is particularly popular for summer collections. Slowly, we notice it more in autumn and spring clothes. This fiber is the more resistant fiber of all. It softens after each washing.
We do not recommend you once again the dryer so the linen won’t wrinkle and that it creates bad folds in the fabric. If you really want to use your drying machine, then avoid filling it to its maximum for the same reasons. In addition, keep your linen pieces away from chlorinated laundry detergents to prevent them from becoming yellow and getting damaged.
First Granny’s little tip :
There is an effective method to soften your linen clothes, give them resistance to stains and help the colors so that they soak up in the fiber. The technique is quite common : let your garment soak in a bucket containing cold water and a cup of white vinegar for about 10 hours. Make sure you do this before you even wear and wash the clothes!
Second Granny’s little tip :
Since linen is a particularly worn fiber in warm seasons, we dare to believe that you might be wearing your lovely white linen pants during a relaxing summer evening with friends and a few bottles of wine in a park. And if with bad luck, you drank one drop too many and then fall on the grass while spilling the remaining red wine of your glass on your pant… what should you do? 😂
For the red wine stain, simply rub sparkling water or white wine on it. 😉
Concerning the grass stain, do the same thing, but with a cloth soaked of lemon juice.
Bamboo
Bamboo is also a natural fiber from which bamboo rayon and viscose are created. Rayon bamboo is a fabric that we appreciate a lot due to its silky, softness, lightness and comfort. It is perfect for sensible skins.
Viscose is easy to clean. However, when it is humid, this fiber is pretty fragile. You can not twist it or wring it out to drain the water. Moreover, we suggest to not dry the garment in the machine so you will avoid the possibility that it shrinks. However, it can be washed inside out with cold water by using the machine. Such as the rayon, it should be dried while being suspended or flat.
Let us conclude by dealing with dry cleaning. I think we all already lived a moment of hesitation thinking whether or not we should get a garment that recommend this type of care. Only a few persons like this technique that requires not only time, but money (in the long run, that is a lot of money spent!). That is why we care about informing you about special cares that we have developed over time. We see the “Dry clean” label more as a warning. Unless it is a piece that costs us an arm or a coat, we’re not going to the cleaner. Instead, we will take care to wash it by hand and dry it flat on a towel. Feel free to slip a fragile garment into a washing net and to wash it in a delicate cycle. For less capricious garments, use the options offered by your washer and your dryer as “wool”, “white”, “quick drying” and “crease recovery” for example. At the end of the day, we think that it is better to take more precautions in the care of our clothes than take too few (prevention is better than cure, right?)!
Our care techniques are not perfect, but are efficient for most of the cases. If you would like to learn more about the subject, our friend Marie-Anne de Miljours wrote a precious blog post concerning the reading of the care symbols as well as on labelling in general, we invite you to read it here if you want.
Despite the fact that we work fabrics of all types everyday, it does not make us the biggest experts in maintenance. That is why we are very curious to know YOUR granny’ tips when it comes to taking care of clothes, whether it concerns daily caring, stains or methods to beautify some fabrics! What are they?
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