(4 min read)
With energy bills soaring to new heights, it’s becoming more and more expensive just to do the daily jobs we once thought very little about. Most of us are looking at ways of saving money by being more energy efficient. This is great news for football kits! When washing your kits, usually a little goes a long way. Read on for how you might make kits last longer and cost you less in the long run.
Getting it right the first time around
Below are 5 of our top tips to help you avoid kit washing and drying nightmares. Of course, what suits one person best doesn’t necessarily another and that’s absolutely fine. These mere guidelines are what we’ve found through experience and the experience of our customers. Hopefully after reading, you’ll feel that there’s a solution to all your washing needs! Let’s dive in.
You can also find washing instructions in brief on our Size Guides & Care Instructions page.
1. Wash on a lower temperature
This was doing the rounds a few years ago – ‘washing at 30 is the new 40’ – it isn’t far wrong, and as long as something isn’t absolutely caked in all sorts (see our advice below for this) it will still clean fine at 30. We’d always advise 30-degree washes for personalised playing kit, even if adding it to a mixed load (again read on for why you should not do this). In addition, your garment tags will tell you what temperature to wash it at, but be warned this was pre-decoration! So if in doubt, wash at 30.
If something personalised is caked in mud, give it a soak and handwash it first in a sink of regular warm water from the tap, and remove any bigger stains or debris manually. Then stick it in the machine.
2. Laundry powder vs. liquid vs. fabric softener!
As a golden rule, don’t use fabric softener on any personalised garments, especially not on any water-resistant items like a rain jacket. It might seem a tad over the top, but wash all these items separate to regular loads without fabric softener and use a little less detergent (powder or liquid is fine, there’s not much difference). Yes, you’ll be doing an extra wash, but unless they’re absolutely caked (follow step above on manual washing) rainwear won’t need as long or as warm a wash as your other items, and you won’t be using anywhere near as much detergent, or power!
Stain removers like Vanish should be ok to use on isolated stains, as long as you read the care instructions first!
3. Wash it inside out
Sounds obvious doesn’t it? But it isn’t the nicest thing to do when your kit is soaking wet from a downpour and covered in mud! Even on these occasions, make the effort to turn all items inside out, particularly those with printing on them. It will help protect the colour of multicolour prints and prevent scratching caused by other items with things like zips.
4. Choose a less powerful spin cycle
Most modern washing machines are easy to adjust the spin cycle speed. On my machine, I can simply switch between 1200, 900, 700 and 500 RPM. I always use the 700 or 500, ones, because my machine is considerably noisier at higher RPMs and two, it means my machine works less hard, thus saving energy. My clothes always come out as clean as if they were on a higher setting though they may be damper, but that’s the trade off! Polyester garments don’t absorb as much water as say jeans, so they will still dry in no time. Speaking of which...
5. DO NOT MACHINE DRY!
This will only end badly. Printed vinyl personalisation (and embroidery to some extent) doesn’t react well to extreme heat when wet. Think about your nice pair of football boots, the ones with the genuine kangaroo leather… You wouldn’t whack them under a red-hot radiator to dry straight after playing on a soggy pitch would you!? Same thing here. Like leather, wet vinyl may crack after being exposed to extreme heat, the embroidery will shrink and therefore pucker and the garment itself may shrink if you get the timing or settings wrong. It’s a no-brainer for us!
Dry clothes naturally – out on a line in the garden if you have one and on a mild, breezy day. Otherwise, dry clothes inside your home nicely spread out so they can air, near a radiator or even better, invest a tiny amount of money on a heated drying device. These are life savers in winter months when clothes can often stay damp for days if not by an appropriate heat source. They cost less to keep on than a radiator and we use ours to double up as an alternative heat source in our main room during the winter. There’s a two for the price of one solution for you! And one last tip, you guessed it, dry clothes inside out!
We hope these tips on washing your kits and teamwear will help you save time, energy and hassle. If you pay attention to these things your kits will go the distance and, what’s more, your electricity bills should fall a little over time and your washing machine life should increase too!
twentytwo have specialised in sport teamwear for over 15 years from their shop on the high street in Sheffield. We aspire to offer friendly advice and the highest quality products and service to all who walk through our door.