Finn Kit Care - How To Look After Your Clothing

Finn Logo overlaid picture of washing machine and dryer

Avoid Catastrophe (& Reduce Your Impact)

So you get this premium quality merino top for your birthday. Then, your flatmate chucks it through a hot, fast spin wash cycle and the tumble dryer. What comes out is this mini me merino toddlers top that looks like a tornado...

That's a sure fire way to black list your flatmate and have a sub par hand me down present for your nephew. Or worse, a perfectly fine garment potentially destined to the landfill... We hope not.

We started looking at some fashion consumer and waste stats, which provided some perspective and concerned us... Did you know:

You do the math.. Fast fashion is pretty dire and the message is clear. Buy slow. Buy timeless, high quality clothing produced with lower carbon footprint. Look after your clothing and make it last. Then, re-use or recycle the goods.

We've pulled this blog post together to help you up your laundry game and get the most out of your kit. Hopefully you can avoid catastrophe and make little steps towards big change. Because, let's be honest, we need all the help we can get! 

General Laundry Tips

We ran a search and found a multitude of how to care guides online. We found a pretty on point general laundry guide from Good On You, which some of the points below refer to.

  • Read the care instructions. Know what to do, and what not to do. More on this for Finn kit below.
  • Get well around the functionality of all household appliances. Look out for spin speeds, heat settings, product type settings. Factory settings are not a one setting fits all.
  • Use a mesh laundry bag for delicates. It's unlikely you will run a delicates wash often. So use a bag instead. This limits exposure, and protects the garments from twisting and abrasion.
  • Turn your clothing inside out for washing and drying. This reduces snagging on outside features, and helps protect prints. It also reduces the impact of sunlight on clothing when drying.
  • Fill the washing machine optimally and wash less frequently. Washing clothes increases wear and tear. It also uses precious water and energy. It also sheds polluting micro-plastics from synthetics, which find their way to the ocean.
  • Half the prescribed amount washing powder / detergent. Substitute this with baking soda, which is a more eco-friendly agent / booster.
  • Avoid dry cleaning and tumble drying. Chemicals and intense heat aren't good for clothing.
  • Avoid harsh, abrasive washing detergents and powders. Avoid bleach.

Finn Kit Care

Tencel Merino Jumper hanging on fence line.

Tencel™ & Merino Tops

Washing

The good thing is that unless you're rolling through mud, you shouldn't have to wash your Tencel / Merino as frequently as other items in your wardrobe. These fibres have great absorption, evaporating and anti odour qualities that will keep soft and fresh for days of repeated use.

When you do need to wash it, note that natural fibres typically don't react well to higher heats. You will most likely shrink and damage your goods if you chuck them in the hot wash.

Ensure you wash your garment either by hand (the old school way) or in the washing machine on cold-warm (30-40 degrees celsius max.) at a low spin speed.

Longevity tip - turn it inside out and put the garment inside a mesh laundry bag.

Note - avoid higher spin speeds that can leave your top looking like a twisted mess. That said, Tencel & Merino have good elasticity and rebound, so if you give the garments good drying conditions, they should return back to normal.

Drying

Hang your tops on a line, chair, or even lay them flat. Ensure there is good air flow to ensure the garment can breathe.

Also, try not to strictly fasten the garment in place (avoid pegs and other fasteners). It's best to let the garment do its thing from damp to dry. Fibres change density and shape depending on moisture content, so they will want to move back to an optimal state when dry.

Ironing

We typically wouldn't suggest ironing any tops in our range. If you have dried the garment flat, and folded it nicely, it will come up looking pretty on point. However, if you want to iron out any residue wrinkles, make sure you put the iron on the coldest setting or the 'wool' setting.

Things to avoid

  • Do not bleach - you don't want your premium stylish goods looking like an outfit for a psychedelic tie-dye party (nothing against those parties).
  • Do not dry clean or tumble dry. 
  • Avoid harsh enzymes and chemicals in soaps and softeners.
  • Avoid hangers. We advise you fold and shelve our tops to keep their shape and look for longer.

Things to watch out for

  • Pilling - is when the finer shorter fibres separate and surface themselves from the fabric. It's best to wash your garment early enough (even before your first wear) to reduce the risk of pilling.
  • Abrasion - whilst Tencel Merino fibres are strong and elastic, they are less abrasion resistant than synthetics. Avoid rolling around on concrete or abrasive surfaces without a mat, as this may cause pilling or damage your favourite new top.

Check out our Tencel Merino tops here.

Organic Cotton Tops

Washing

Like any cotton top, you need to carefully think about temperature, spin speed, and harsh detergents. All to avoid fibre degradation, deformation and shrinkage.

Ensure you wash your garment either by hand (the old school way) or in the washing machine on cold-warm (30-40 degrees celsius max.) at a low to medium spin speed.

Drying

Hang your tops on a line, chair, or even lay them flat. Ensure there is good air flow to ensure the garment can breathe.

Also, try not to strictly fasten the garment in place (avoid pegs and other fasteners). It's best to let the garment do its thing from damp to dry. Fibres change density and shape depending on moisture content, so they will want to move back to an optimal state when dry.

Ironing

If you want to iron out any residue wrinkles and make these tops on point for going out, make sure you put the iron on the warm. Avoid high temperatures in general.

Things to avoid

  • Do not bleach - you don't want your premium stylish goods looking like an outfit for a psychedelic tie-dye party (nothing against those parties).
  • Do not dry clean or tumble dry. 
  • Avoid harsh enzymes and chemicals in soaps and softeners.
  • Avoid hangers. We advise you fold and shelve our tops to keep their shape and look for longer.

Hats & Caps

You've got your fresh new lid, which you wear day after day for about a month straight. The hat has been great at wicking sweat and drying quickly, and is starting to develop a slight smell. Time to wash it. You're probably thinking, should I put it in the washing machine? 

The answer is no. This can cause havoc on the shape, look and feel of the hat. We would recommend against this.

Washing

We recommend hand washing the hat as follows:

  1. Fill up a bucket with warm water and add a tablespoon of washing powder.
  2. Spot clean any marks or soiling (use an old toothbrush if needed).
  3. Soak the hat in the water for 10-15mins, and hand wash the fabric. Give the sweatband some good attention.
  4. Pull the hat from the water and leave to drip dry away from heat or sunlight.

Drying

Ensure the hat is not folded or compressed when drying. Hang or lay it in its natural shape / form and away from sunlight / heaters.

Do not tumble dry the hat. This is a sure fire way to ruin it forever.

Ironing

Haha - good luck trying to iron a cap! We do not recommend this.

Things to avoid

  • Do not bleach.
  • Do not iron.
  • Do not dry clean or tumble dry. 
  • Avoid harsh enzymes and chemicals in soaps and softeners.

The Always Ready Shorts

These bad boys are made from REPREVE® recycled polyester and elastane. Despite being UV resistant, durable, abrasion resistant and almost bulletproof, you still need to take notes on some things below.

Washing

Like other fabrics above, synthetic doesn't respond well to intense heat. We recommend you wash on cold, and even spot hand wash any stains or soiling before chucking them in the machine. If you've been rolling around in the mud and the shorts are particularly dirty, put them in a warm wash.

Given all synthetics can shed micro plastics into the ocean, we'd recommend putting these inside a laundry bag that catches the fibres. You can find one of these from multiple outlets online.

Drying

The shorts are best dried laid flat or hung over a rail / line. Again, avoid pegs and fasteners, as they crease or damage the fabric.

We wouldn't recommend putting the shorts in the tumble dryer, as polyester and elastane can deform / damage under the heat. 

But if you are desperate to get them dry quickly, a very low heat / cool air dry in the tumble dryer should be fine.

Ironing

We don't recommend ironing the shorts for the same heat reasons as above. If you dry them flat straight from the wash, there shouldn't be any noteworthy creases. If you are using an iron on synthetics, it must have and be set to the lowest setting for 'synthetics'. However, this is a bit risky and we don't want you to melt or deform your best shorts for the sake of a crease.

Things to avoid

  • Do not bleach.
  • Do not dry clean or tumble dry. 
  • Do not iron.
  • Avoid harsh enzymes, chemicals and abrasive soaps and softeners.

Things to watch out for

  • Un-necessary washing - most synthetics can be spot washed by hand and occasionally be machine washed. That way you reduce water use and micro plastics heading to the oceans.

Check out our shorts here.

If you read this and have a mate that could use some help with their laundry game, do the right thing and share this with them! As always, if you have any questions or feedback, get in touch with us at hello@finnathleisure.com.

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