Proper Laundry Care For Your New Custom T-Shirt
October 12, 2010
At ClassB, we know that your custom t-shirts are special to you. So we want to make sure you get the most out of them and make them last as long as possible. To make it happen, proper laundry care is crucial.
To ensure proper care of the t-shirt itself, we always recommend following the manufacturers suggestions which you will find on the label. This will lessen the likelihood of your T-shirts shrinking, stretching or losing their color.
But what about the print?
How do you care for your T-shirt without your custom artwork fading, cracking or chipping?
Sticking to the simple guidelines below can help keep your T-shirts around a lot longer.
Always Remember – Heat Is Bad!
Washing machine tips:
- Turn your washer settings to the “delicate” cycle, and use the cold/cold water temperature selection. Using cold water and delicate settings will help preserve both the colors of your T-shirt and the print.
- Before washing, turn the shirt inside-out. This prevents the design from rubbing against other fabrics and washing machine surfaces, which causes premature fading or chipping of the print.
- Use your detergent and softener as normal, making sure to follow the T-shirt manufacturer’s suggestions. When in doubt, use cold water. Never use hot water!
- Just about every T-shirt manufacturer suggest washing with like colors. This is definitely important, but you should also remember to wash with like fabrics as well. You don’t want to wash your t-shirts with blue jeans or heavy jackets. Instead, wash with other garments that are made from similar or softer fabric, like silk or other jersey knit cotton t-shirts.
- Do not use bleach. Steer clear of laundry detergent that contain bleach as well.
Drying Tips:
- Never tumble dry your T-shirts on the heat cycle. Always let them tumble dry at room temperature.
- Never wring-out the shirt. This will cause cracking and chipping of your custom design.
- If possible, hang your shirt on a hanger and let it air dry naturally. Do not hang the shirt by stretching out the neck – always pull the hanger through the bottom of the shirt.
- It is fine to use an iron on the shirt if the manufacturer’s instructions say so, but DO NOT iron over or close to the print. Remember, heat is bad.
Eventually your shirts will begin to fade and show signs of wear and tear. This happens with all garments and there’s really nothing you can do about it. But following these simple guidelines, you should be able to enjoy your ClassB® custom t-shirt for many years to come!
If you have any other tips on caring for printed T-shirts, please share them with everyone by leaving a comment below.
6 Tips For Unpacking and Distributing Your T-Shirts
July 16, 2010
This weekend, ClassB is having its first ever Family Fun Day at Busch Gardens in Tampa.
Being a T-shirt company, we obviously wanted to design and create custom T-shirts for our employees and their families to wear while attending the event. The actual design we used can be seen in the picture to the right. Another great job by our artists!
But what we wanted to talk about here, is exactly how we handled the shirts once we received the final product from our production staff.
Even though we are right here in the same building, we received the shirts just like you would receive them if we shipped them to you.
With so many shirts to keep track of and distribute, we needed to keep things as organized as possible. So we decided to do just what we suggest our customers do. And it worked great.
Unpacking Tips
When you open the box, you will see an invoice and another slip of paper that says “NOTICE” at the top. Make sure to read the notice and follow the instructions closely.
Here is what you will need to do to assure everyone gets the correct shirt:
- Carefully count all shirts, by size, to make sure that your entire order is complete and accurate.
- Using your sign-up sheet, place each shirt in a bag and write the name of the recipient on the bag. One bag per recipient. If there is more than one garment per recipient, place them all in the same bag.
- If you wish to add anything else for each recipient (tickets, candy, etc…), do it now.
- At the time of distribution to each recipient, only allow one person to hand out the bags.
- Have everyone double-check their bags as soon as they receive them.
- Finally, do not give away any extra shirts, exchange for different sizes or modify the shirts in any way until every shirt has been distributed and has been accounted for.
Distributing the custom shirts for your event can be exciting, and people are going to want their shirts right away. But if you’re not careful, you can really cause a big mess.
Following these simple 6 tips will have each shirt in the hands of the right person and will save you the time of trying to sort out discrepancies later.
Good luck with your event!
Make your t-shirt last longer
January 27, 2010
Most of the time when shirts and their printed decorations become worn out, people usually attribute this to the quality of the material or manufacturer. A lot of the time it is poor treatment of the garments and they are not treated correctly. This is where we come in to give you the best advice to allow your garments look its best and last the longest.
After a day is over and you change into your evening attire, most people ball there shirts up and throw them into the hamper. Doing so puts stress on the fibers of the shirt because of the wrinkles that accumulate. Over time, this makes the shirt look less and less crisp. Say goodbye to your “new shirt” look! So, when putting your shirts into the hamper, try folding them into a neat pile until the next time you wash the garments.
Since we’re on the topic, wash your clothes often! The longer you let you clothing stay in the hamper the longer natural day to day stains and smells have to set in. Try to prevent food stains from getting on your shirt (having children may make this nearly impossible). Just in case, here are a few stain remedies:
•Dish soap and warm water are generic stain removers. With little soap and warm water gently use a toothbrush to remove stains.
•For darker stains like tea, coffee, or blueberry juice, immediately run boiling water over the stain until it is gone. Allowing these stains to set will be very difficult to remove. Please be careful with using boiling water!
•With other fruit or dirt stains, sprinkle salt on the stain and use cold water, dish soap, and a toothbrush to gently remove the stain. If this doesn’t work try adding a bit of vinegar into the water.
•Store bought stain removers are probably your best bet for removing stains. Great products like OxiClean, Tide Stain Brush, and Tide to Go work great for most stains.
Most people immediately take their clothing from the washer and toss it into the dryer. But, we must advise you to stay away from dryers as much as possible. Dryers wear clothing out and fades color in fabrics. Excessive drying will cause cracks and fading in decorative prints. Try hanging your garments outside in dry air and natural sunlight.
Clothing dryers use a large amount of electricity resulting in higher electric bills and contributing to global warming. If you have no other choice but to use a dryer set the temperature to a warm setting and clean out the filter before each use. If the temperature of your dryer is set to high your garments will come out wrinkled and fade quickly.
After drying, hang clothing up immediately. Shirts will last longer and look the best when hung up and not folded. Eventually the folded wrinkles will show more the longer they sit in the drawer. If you have to use a dresser, smooth out the folded wrinkles and iron them out before wearing the garment. Avoid using the iron directly on printed decorated areas (try ironing your shirt inside out!).
Taking care of clothing and properly washing them will allow your shirts to last the longest and look the best. We want your shirts to be memorable and last as long as possible. If you have any tried and true methods we haven’t included, feel free to let everyone know with a comment below.
After a day is over and you change into your evening attire, most people ball there shirts up and throw them into the hamper. Doing so puts stress on the fibers of the shirt because of the wrinkles that accumulate. Over time, this makes the shirt look less and less crisp. Say goodbye to your “new shirt” look! So, when putting your shirts into the hamper, try folding them into a neat pile until the next time you wash the garments.
Since we’re on the topic, wash your clothes often! The longer you let you clothing stay in the hamper the longer natural day to day stains and smells have to set in. Try to prevent food stains from getting on your shirt (having children may make this nearly impossible). Just in case, here are a few stain remedies:
•Dish soap and warm water are generic stain removers. With little soap and warm water gently use a toothbrush to remove stains.
•For darker stains like tea, coffee, or blueberry juice, immediately run boiling water over the stain until it is gone. Allowing these stains to set will be very difficult to remove. Please be careful with using boiling water!
•With other fruit or dirt stains, sprinkle salt on the stain and use cold water, dish soap, and a toothbrush to gently remove the stain. If this doesn’t work try adding a bit of vinegar into the water.
•Store bought stain removers are probably your best bet for removing stains. Great products like OxiClean, Tide Stain Brush, and Tide to Go work great for most stains.
Most people immediately take their clothing from the washer and toss it into the dryer. But, we must advise you to stay away from dryers as much as possible. Dryers wear clothing out and fades color in fabrics. Excessive drying will cause cracks and fading in decorative prints. Try hanging your garments outside in dry air and natural sunlight.
Clothing dryers use a large amount of electricity resulting in higher electric bills and contributing to global warming. If you have no other choice but to use a dryer set the temperature to a warm setting and clean out the filter before each use. If the temperature of your dryer is set to high your garments will come out wrinkled and fade quickly.
After drying, hang clothing up immediately. Shirts will last longer and look the best when hung up and not folded. Eventually the folded wrinkles will show more the longer they sit in the drawer. If you have to use a dresser, smooth out the folded wrinkles and iron them out before wearing the garment. Avoid using the iron directly on printed decorated areas (try ironing your shirt inside out!).
Taking care of clothing and properly washing them will allow your shirts to last the longest and look the best. We want your shirts to be memorable and last as long as possible. If you have any tried and true methods we haven’t included, feel free to let everyone know with a comment below.