What your care label has to tell you
Before the washing machine, the tag. Under the Federal Trade Commission's Care Labeling Rule, the label sewn into a garment sold in the US has to say whether to wash it by hand or by machine and how to dry it, and it has to warn you away from any step that would damage it. If every bleach is safe, the label is allowed to skip bleach entirely. If a regular hot iron is safe, it is allowed to skip the temperature.
Two more points from the rule save guesswork. A garment that could be washed or drycleaned only needs one safe method on the label, so the tag gives you a way that works, not every way that might. And the maker may print symbols from the ASTM chart in place of words, as long as the label stays readable for as long as the garment is useful.
The fiber line next to it
Right beside the care symbols sits the fiber line. The FTC has fibers listed by generic name and by percentage of weight, largest first, and allows a fiber under 5 percent to be named when it has a definite function, such as spandex for elasticity. Rayon may be called viscose.
Read the two lines together. "80% polyester, 20% spandex" on a pair of dress pants says two things about the wash: the polyester carries the shape, and the spandex is the part that does not like heat. "60% cotton, 40% polyester" on sweatpants points to the cotton, which is the part that can tighten in a hot cycle.
Polyester and spandex dress pants
JEKAOYI High-Rise Pull-On Work Pant
Straight leg dress pants · 80% polyester, 20% spandex · 8 colors
From $14.99Most of our work pants are a polyester knit with 10 to 20 percent spandex, and they are easy to live with if you keep them away from heat. Turn them inside out, which protects the face of the fabric and any pressed crease, and wash cold with a mild detergent. Skip bleach unless the label says otherwise.
The dryer is where these pants lose their stretch. High heat is hard on spandex, and a waistband that has lost its recovery does not come back with the next wash. Tumble on the lowest setting, or better, hang the pants by the waistband while they are still damp. They are usually dry by morning and need little or no ironing.
If you want the crease sharper, press it on a low setting through a cloth rather than pressing the knit directly.
Linen-blend pants
JEKAOYI Linen-Blend Drawstring Straight Leg Pant
Linen pants · 48% nylon, 30% rayon, 17% linen, 5% spandex · 6 colors
From $19.99Our linen pants are blends, with 17 to 20 percent linen mixed with cotton, rayon or nylon. The blend keeps the dry, open feel of linen and creases less than a pure linen trouser, but it still creases, and that is part of how it should look.
- Wash cold on a gentle cycle, inside out.
- Take the pants out while they are still slightly damp.
- Hang them by the waistband and smooth the legs with your hands.
- If you want them crisp, iron on warm from the inside while there is still a little moisture in the fabric.
A drawstring waist dries slower than the legs. Give it an extra hour before the pants go into a drawer.
Cotton shirts and cotton-blend sweatpants
Cotton is the fiber most likely to change size in hot water and a hot dryer, so our cotton button-down shirts and the cotton-blend sweatpants get the coolest treatment of all. Wash shirts cold with the buttons undone and hang them straight on a hanger. The weight of the damp shirt pulls most of the wrinkles out, which saves you most of the ironing.
Sweatpants can go in the dryer, on low. The high setting is what takes length off the leg, and on a wide leg that falls to the hem, a lost inch shows.
A weekly routine that keeps a small wardrobe going
Work pants do not need a wash after every wear. Hang a pair to air overnight, and wash it after two or three days in the office unless something spilled. Sort darks, light linen and cotton shirts into separate loads, because a new navy knit and a cream linen pant should not share water.
Store the knit dress pants folded over a hanger bar or folded in a drawer. Clip hangers hold them by the waistband and can stretch it over time. Linen can hang, which keeps the creases soft, and cotton shirts belong on a hanger with the top button done up so the collar keeps its shape.
Unsure about a size, an inseam or a wash? Write to inseam@jekaoyi.net and the JEKAOYI team will answer.