Keep it Fresh.
Our DTF prints are built to last 50+ washes, but how you treat them matters. Follow these simple rules to keep your merch looking retail-new.
The Golden Rule
COLD WASH ONLY.
Heat is the enemy of all apparel prints. Cold water preserves the bond between the print and the fabric, ensuring zero cracking or peeling.
The Do's
- Cold machine wash only (max 30°C)
- Wash garment inside out
- Use mild detergent
- Line dry in the shade
- Wash with similar colors
The Don'ts
- Do not bleach or use harsh chemicals
- Do not tumble dry (heat kills prints)
- Do not dry clean
- Do not iron directly onto the print
- Do not soak for long periods
Drying Tip
Always line dry your garments in the shade. Direct sunlight can fade both the garment and the print over time. Never tumble dry — the intense heat can weaken the print's adhesion.
Ironing Tip
If you must iron, do it on a cool setting and always iron the garment inside out. Never let a hot iron touch the print directly as it will melt and smudge the design.
Why DTF prints need different care to screen prints
A DTF print is a thin, flexible layer bonded to the fabric surface with heat and adhesive powder. Understanding that explains every care instruction on this page.
Screen printing pushes ink through a mesh into the weave of the fabric, so the ink sits partly inside the garment. DTF sits on top, bonded across the whole print area. The bond is extremely strong — it is what allows a DTF print to survive 50-plus washes without cracking — but it is a bond, and heat is the thing that formed it.
That is why the guidance below focuses so heavily on heat rather than detergent. Washing a DTF print in cold or warm water does essentially nothing to it. Repeatedly putting it through a hot tumble dryer, or pressing a hot iron directly onto the print face, works against the same physics that created the bond in the first place.
The practical summary: wash it however you like within reason, and be careful about heat when drying and ironing.
Getting the longest life from a printed garment
The first wash
There is no curing period to wait out — a DTF print is fully bonded when it leaves us, so the garment can be worn or washed immediately.
Turning the garment inside out for the first wash is still worth doing. Most visible wear on any printed apparel comes from abrasion against other items in the drum, not from the water or detergent.
Washing temperature
Cold or warm water is ideal. Cold water is also gentler on the garment's colour, which matters as much as the print — a faded shirt with a perfect print still looks worn out.
Standard detergent is fine. Avoid bleach and harsh stain removers on the print area, since those attack the pigment directly rather than the bond.
Drying
Air drying is best, and it is the single highest-impact thing you can do for print longevity. Hang drying also reduces shrinkage on cotton garments.
If you must tumble dry, use low heat. High heat over many cycles is the most common cause of premature print wear we see.
Ironing and pressing
Never place a hot iron directly onto the print face. If the garment needs pressing, turn it inside out and iron the reverse, or place a cloth between the iron and the print.
For businesses laundering uniforms commercially, this is worth passing on to whoever handles the washing — it is the instruction most often missed.