I recently bought some nice shirts that have some large silk-screened logos on them. I’d like them to last for a while without fading or cracking, but I know that they usually last a few years at best before cracking or fading.
Anything I can do? Wash by hand, maybe? Drip dry instead of machine dry?
Have you tried washing inside out?
Have you tried washing them inside… oh. Never mind then.
Yeah. Hasn’t seem to have done much. Maybe I just got some poorly-screen shirts?
If you handwash and hang dry, they’ll last virtually forever.
Maybe try washing them in a mesh lingerie bag? It also may help to use one of those detergents formulated for delicate clothing.
If you’re washing the shirt because you’ve worn it, maybe sweated in it, but there are no obvious stains, gently hand-washing in one of the above-mentioned detergents then drying over a rack could help. IME, the fading is inevitable (after a time) but the cracking is usually a result of the dryer heat. So even if you do machine wash, hang-drying could help.
keep them out of the dryer.
Another vote for air-dry.
I’ve been wearing and air-drying silkscreened shirts of various quality for over 20 years now and have never once had one print give up before the fabric or my tastes gave up.
Seems that the dryer is the culprit…