Cotton improves with washing, up to a point, and then it stops. Which side of that line a garment ends up on has less to do with the cotton than with what has been done to it. What follows is everything worth knowing, in the order you will need it.
Before the first wear
Wash it once before wearing. This is worth doing with any new garment, and it does two things: it removes anything left from finishing and handling, and it settles the fibres so that the fit you have after the first wash is the fit you will keep.
Washing
Thirty degrees, gentle cycle. Cotton does not need heat to come clean. Modern detergents work perfectly well at thirty, and lower temperatures reduce shrinkage, protect the colour, and use markedly less energy.
Turn them inside out. Abrasion in the drum is what dulls a printed surface and produces pilling. Turning the garment inside out means the friction lands on the inside face.
Fasten the buttons. Open plackets twist, catch and pull at the buttonholes.
Do not fill the machine. Clothes need room to move for water and detergent to circulate. An overloaded drum washes badly and creases everything, and the extra friction is exactly what wears fabric out.
Wash with similar colours and similar weights. Keep them away from anything with a zip, a hook, or a rough denim edge.
The one thing to avoid
Skip the fabric softener. This is the single most common mistake with good cotton.
Softener works by coating the fibres in a thin waxy film. That produces a soft feel immediately and causes three problems over time: it reduces absorbency, which is the main reason to wear cotton next to the skin in the first place; it builds up with every wash, leaving the fabric dull and slightly greasy; and it traps odour rather than releasing it.
Good cotton is soft because of its fibre structure, not because of a coating. It will get softer on its own with each wash. Softener works against that.
If your water is hard and you want the effect, a small amount of white vinegar in the rinse drawer does the job without the film. It rinses away completely and leaves no smell.
Drying
Line dry wherever you can. Heat is what shrinks cotton and breaks fibres down. Air drying costs nothing and adds years.
Shake each piece out before hanging, and smooth the seams and collar with your hands. Two minutes here saves considerably more with an iron later.
Dry printed pieces out of direct sunlight. Sun will fade a print faster than any number of washes.
If you must tumble dry, use the lowest heat setting and take the garment out while it is still very slightly damp. Cotton left to tumble until bone dry is cotton being cooked.
Ironing
Iron while slightly damp, on a medium setting. Damp cotton releases creases with almost no effort. Dry cotton needs heat and pressure, which is harder work and harder on the fabric.
Turn printed pieces inside out, or lay a cloth over the print. Direct contact between a hot plate and a print will glaze it.
If you would rather not iron at all, hang the pieces in the bathroom while you shower. Steam does most of it.
Stains
Speed matters more than product. Blot rather than rub, working from the outside of the mark inwards so it does not spread.
Use cold water first for almost everything. Heat sets protein stains permanently, so anything from the body or from food should never meet hot water until it has gone.
Never put a stained garment in the dryer. If the mark survives the wash, the heat will fix it for good.
Storing
Fold rather than hang. Hanging pulls a soft cotton shoulder out of shape over months, and there is nothing to be gained from it.
Store completely dry. Anything folded away slightly damp will develop a smell that is very difficult to remove.
Give the pile a little air. Cedar rings or a lavender sachet are pleasant and mildly deterrent. Airtight plastic is not: cotton needs to breathe, and sealed containers encourage mildew.
Repairing
A lost button or an opened seam is worth twenty minutes rather than a replacement. Both are among the easiest repairs there are, and a garment mended once tends to be kept for years afterwards, in a way that a garment quietly retired is not.
The short version
- Wash at thirty, inside out, buttons done up
- No fabric softener, ever
- Line dry out of direct sun
- Iron slightly damp, print side down
- Cold water on stains, immediately
- Fold, do not hang
Six habits, none of which takes extra time once they are yours. Done consistently, they are the difference between a piece that lasts two years and one that lasts ten.