Want to know how to make your Lahay clothing last longer? 👚

As you will know by now, we sew quality garments that we plan on lasting for several seasons. But once we ship your order, the longevity of your garments is in your hands, that is, we have passed the baton onto you😉You're welcome!

I will start this by saying, these are absolutely your garments now, so you do you🧒

I have had customers tell me that " I just throw my Lahay garments in the regular cotton wash and they last forever". To which the fabric snob in me rocks in the corner in the foetal position with hands over her ears 🙉, moaning blah, blah, blah, I don't want to hear! 🤣

There are always care instructions in our garments- most tops' care tags are sewn in the side seam and most of the pants' care tags are sewn in at the waist.

Here is your recipe to keep your Lahay garments looking newer for longer (in fact, any garment made from natural fibres)-

• It goes without saying, but pretreat any stains before washing. Stains soak into cotton (polyester releases quite easily) and should be treated. Most stains will come out if treated. A couple of weekends ago, some silly person🙋‍♀️ decided to bake a mountain load of cooking, including chocolate cake, in her white Lahay t-shirt 🤦‍♀️When I (I mean, she 😉) noticed the chocolate stains later in the week on washing day, a quick spray with my Hudson laundry spray that I've mentioned before and the stain was gone.
• All of our fabrics are recommended to wash at 40deg. This slightly warmer temperature is to prevent the natural fibres in this case, cotton, from going into shock. It also prevents excessive shrinkage and colour bleeding. I never separate my Lahay colours from whites, but I also am very diligent (maybe anal 🤔) about hanging my clothes without delay- see point below. Using warm water has never been an energy issue for me as I have always had solar hot water,  but I realise that some of you may use cold water for this reason- I'm just explaining why warm is suggested.
• We recommend a gentle washing and spin cycle. I alternate between the delicate cycle and the E-cotton cycle, with the spin set on 800rpm. I then hang out my washing straight away, to prevent running and also creasing. You can, of course, iron our clothing, but who wants to? 😉
• Now where to hang 🤷‍♀️ I don't throw out my Lahay clothes because they fall apart, it's always because they're faded. My pre-flood house had the clothesline under a huge, shady tree. This was perfect for protecting our clothing from our sub-tropical summer rays. At our new house, I choose to be fussy and either hang the washing when there is afternoon shade on our line or I hang my Lahay colours on a clothes rack under our awning. That way, I know my blacks and reds are going to stay that way!
• Our clothes should not be tumble dried, for the same reason as the washing temperature. Any natural fibre will be shocked and damaged. I do sometimes run my t-shirts through the dryer on those days when the washing is nearly dry (under 1/2hr drying time), but never straight from the washing machine. 

I hope this expains the thought process behind our care instructions. Of course, you can take it or leave it- it's your clothes, your time and energy!

But, if you would love to get your money's worth out of your Lahay clothes, then give these suggestions a try and watch your clothes last just a little longer😎

Jocelyn