Most prints that crack or fade were washed wrong, not printed wrong. Five habits keep a printed t-shirt looking new.
The five habits
1. Turn it inside out. The print rubs against the drum and other clothes far less. 2. Wash cold. Hot water loosens prints and shrinks cotton. Thirty degrees or a cold cycle is enough for everyday dirt. 3. Mild detergent, no bleach. Bleach attacks both the print and the dye in the cloth. 4. Dry in the shade. Strong sun fades colour quickly; the Indian midday sun most of all. Skip the tumble dryer if you can. 5. Iron on the reverse. Never iron directly on a print. Turn the shirt inside out and use a low or medium setting.
By printing method
- Screen printing: the most durable. Follow the five habits and it outlasts the shirt.
- DTF: a flexible film on the surface. Inside out, cold, and never iron the print directly, or it can soften and stick.
- DTG: ink in the cotton fibres. The first few washes take off a little loose ink; cold and inside out keeps it bright.
- Sublimation: dyed into polyester, so nothing can crack or peel. Heat is the only enemy: no hot iron, no hot dryer.
- Embroidery: wash inside out so the threads do not snag, and iron around the design, not on it.
Cotton shrinks a little
A cotton t-shirt can shrink slightly in its first hot wash. Washing cold avoids most of it. Our t-shirts are 240 GSM combed cotton; read what GSM means to see why the weight matters for how a shirt wears.
When a print fails anyway
If a Fleeke print is not what you approved on the mockup, we reprint it free. Start your next order on custom t-shirt printing.
