Spring-Summer Fabric Care Guide

Light summer clothes fail in the wash more often than they fail from wear. Heat, agitation, and the wrong detergent shrink viscose, felt wool, dull silk, and set creases into linen that no iron will fully remove. Each fiber wants a different treatment.

Silk should be washed by hand in cool water, or cleaned professionally if the cloth is structured or brightly dyed. Skip the tumble dryer, and iron it while it is still slightly damp, on a low setting, from the inside. Linen can go into a machine on a cool cycle; the wrinkles are part of the cloth, and hanging it damp is better than cooking it dry. Cotton tolerates more, but high dryer heat is what shrinks a shirt. Wool and cashmere should be washed cool with a wool detergent and dried flat, never hung, or the shoulder grows. Viscose and rayon weaken when they are wet; wash them gently, do not wring them, and expect some shrinkage unless the label says the cloth is pre-washed.

A few habits protect every fiber. Close zippers, turn dark pieces inside out, and keep perfume and deodorant off the cloth rather than trying to wash the stain out later. If the label says dry-clean only and the garment is lined or tailored, believe the label the first season. Reshaping a shrunken piece is rarely successful.

Heat and water damage summer cloth more than wearing it does. Viscose weakens when wet and shrinks if it is wrung. Linen wrinkles because the fiber is stiff; hanging it damp is better than baking the crease in a dryer. Silk loses its hand in a hot wash and should be pressed from the inside while slightly damp. Cotton tolerates more, but a hot dryer is what shortens a shirt.

A few habits cover every fiber. Turn dark pieces inside out, close zippers, and keep perfume on skin rather than on a neckline. If a lined or tailored piece says dry-clean only, believe it for the first season. Reshaping a shrunken dress is rarely successful, and these fabrics are easier to protect than to repair.