Before wearing for the first time
During their manufacture, textiles pass through many hands and are processed on lots of different machines, so please wash new items of clothing that have direct contact with skin before your child wears them for the first time.
Before washing
- Close Velcro fastenings (or other items could get stuck to them).
- Closing zip fastenings makes sure that they will work later on.
- Treat stubborn stains before washing. So that stains don’t get forgotten, knot the stained item before it goes into the laundry basket!
- Turn printed, embroidered and favourite clothes inside out before washing! Washing clothes inside out usually protects their structure and colours.
- Wash removable parts individually.
- Turn out concealed hoods on jackets.
- Wash clothes that are made up of several parts together, otherwise colour and structural changes could result.
Sorting your washing
You should sort laundry not just by washing temperature, but also by colour. It stops colours from running!
- New clothes should always be washed with clothes of the same colour, because of excess dye!
- Always wash darks separately!
- Our colourful and stripy items are colourfast!
We recommend that you always wash brights together with the palest clothes, e.g. yellow/red/marine sweaters with yellow or light colours.
Basic tips on stain treatment
- The earlier a stain is treated, the easier it is to remove.
- Always treat stains before washing
- For delicate, coloured fabrics, do a test first in an area that is not clearly visible
- Removing the stain from the inside stops the fabric from getting rubbed
- Place some absorbent fabric underneath - preferably something undyed and make sure you change it frequently.
- Work inwards from the edge of the stain to stop it from getting bigger.
- Rinse or wash the item once the stain has been removed - this does not apply to fabrics that aren't washable. If in doubt, dry clean
- Only use a specialist stain remover for synthetic stains (oil paints, emulsion paints or ball point pens)
- Quickly drying areas that have been cleaned stops unsightly edges from forming. Use a hairdryer, for example
Stain removers
The most universal stain removers are ox-gall soap, white vinegar and lemon juice. You don’t need anything else to treat stains quickly!
And what’s more - Stubborn stains that won’t disappear completely can be disguised using patches!
- Blood: Fresh blood stains should be rinsed out immediately with cold water! Soften older bloodstains in hot soap suds or use salt water for really stubborn ones.
- Egg yolk, tomato sauce / ketchup, cocoa: Rub with ox-gall soap in cold water and then rinse.
- Chocolate, chewing gum: Put into the freezer compartment in a plastic bag for about 30 minutes, crumble up and brush out. Treat any remains with gall soap.
- Butter: Hot soap suds should be enough.
- Bike grease, resin, tar: Rub with butter, scratch off and then treat with ox-gall soap.
- Felt tipped pens: Rub yoghurt into the fabric straight away. Dap with vinegar and rinse well.
- Vegetables, fruit, fat: Pre-treat with vinegar, the rub in ox-gall soap and rinse with lukewarm water. Repeat if necessary.
- Fruit juice: Sprinkle salt onto the damp stain and shake out after drying. Sometimes mineral water can be useful.
- Spinach: Rub with a raw potato and then treat with ox-gall soup.
- Wax: Leave to dry and iron between blotting paper.
- Discoloured white washing: Can be whitened again with chlorine bleach. Warning: Poisonous!
- Paints, glues: Soften before washing.
- Oil, fat: Use a pre-wash spray before washing.
Washing
- Make sure your washing machine is full up - protects your washing & the environment!
- Use the appropriate detergents for delicate, bright and white washes. When washing brights, you must make sure that your detergent doesn't contain any bleaches or lighteners.
- Wash functional fabrics and fleeces with special detergents! This helps to preserve qualities such as waterproofness and breathability for longer. Impregnation will protect the outer fabric against water.
- The amount of detergent to be used depends on the water hardness and on how soiled the washing is, less is often more!
- Fabric softeners are rarely necessary. They cause functional fabrics and fleeces to lose their breathable and waterproof qualities!
- Do not spin muddy clothing!
- Rinse swimwear thoroughly with mains water after swimming, because chlorine or salt can quickly destroy the material.
- Avoid rubbing too hard during handwashing!
After washing
- You should never leave coloured washing lying around damp!
- Shake washing well or pull back into shape before line drying or after tumble drying.
Line drying
- Strong sunlight can bleach washing, so it's better to dry inside out.
- Do not leave swimwear to dry in the sun.
- Turn clothes with inner lining inside out every so often so that they dry faster.
Tumble drying
- Clothes with a crossed-out tumble drier symbol are not suitable for tumble drying. They could shrink a lot or develop pills.
- If there is a tumble drier symbol, you can dry the clothes in the drier according to the drier temperature.
- However, tumble-dried washing will pill more quickly than line-dried washing.
- Never tumble dry polyester items!
Ironing
After drying, smooth clothes flat and fold properly. That saves on ironing! The dots on the iron symbol on the care label show the temperature range. If the iron is crossed out, the fabric must not be ironed, because this could cause it to become misshapen, develop shiny patches or go crinkly.
