Clothes embellished with heat transferred designs can last much longer if they are washed and dried properly. There is a correct way to iron, wash and dry clothes having heat transfers. You have to follow a few simple rules to preserve your clothes.
Washing heat transfer design clothes
First things first: there is a lot more things to do to preserve the beauty of your shirt other than separation of white garments from the colored ones. Your main intention must be protecting your shirt's heat transfer applique from wear and tear. This is a real possibility as the garments get rubbed together when they are being washed. To avoid these from happening, turn your clothes inside out. If the transfer is new, wait for a minimum of 24 hours before washing the clothes.
Always wash the heat transfer design clothes at warm or low water temperatures. If you are in doubt, refer to washing instructions stated on garment label. There will also be a product application guide if you have made the transfer yourself. Ideally, you should separate a mix of clothes into different same cloth heaps and wash each same kind of clothes only at one time. Use mild detergent only when washing clothes. Chlorine bleach is not recommended under any condition.
Drying heat transfer design clothes
Driers have high heat. They cause much more damage to the graphics that were originally applied by use of heat. It is important to avoid such heat related damage. Once again, to protect the design from wear and tear as clothes rub each other inside the drying machine, you must turn clothes inside out.
Use the low temperature setting when tumble drying. Do not over dry the clothes. You must remove clothes from the drier when they remain a little damp. Put the clothes on to the hangers for their final drying. It is best to dry them by hanging on the age old system of using the clothes line. A word of caution here: do not dry the clothes in direct sunlight as the sun's UV light will fade the cloth colors much faster.
Ironing garments having heat transfer designs
Turn the garment inside out when there is a heat transferred graphic on it. Another way is to put a cloth on the graphic prior to ironing it. The hot iron must not touch the graphic. If it does, the design will be ruined.
