Wash 100 % cotton: Tips for soft & hygienically clean laundry
Cotton is probably the best known and most used material in the clothing industry. Thanks to its robust and easy-care properties, the natural fibre is not only used in T-shirts, but also for the production of socks, towels or bed linens. Jeans are also made of 100 % cotton, but have very different care requirements than cotton underwear, for example. So, what should you consider when washing and caring for cotton? We explain and give you valuable tips!
October 18, 2023 • 5 min reading time
Care for cotton properly: From the choice of detergent to the temperature
Cotton fibres are characterised by their easy-care and robust properties. That’s why you can wash most cotton textiles at 60 °C – a temperature at which other materials would already be damaged or shrink. In particular, underwear made of 100 % cotton is not sensitive and can usually be washed in the boil wash programme of your washing machine.
But what does “usually” mean? For certain material blends or a particular cotton finish, such as found in jeans, you should follow the care instruction found on the label inside your garment. This will ensure that your clothes are not damaged by too high a washing temperature or too high a rotation speed.
Also note that the washing symbols are the maximum temperatures. Due to the self-cleaning properties of the natural fibre, high temperatures of 60 or 95 °C are usually not even necessary for cotton pants. A washing temperature of 40 °C is sufficient to clean your underwear hygienically.
Especially jeans made of tightly woven cotton, but also thin blouses and nightgowns with cotton content are more sensitive than other garments and should therefore be washed as rarely as possible. If the clothes are soiled or contaminated, machine wash them on the gentle cycle or the delicate wash programme with temperatures of 30 °C maximum.
Since cotton is a pure natural material, it has breathable and self-cleaning properties. A mild detergent is therefore perfectly sufficient for cleaning cotton textiles and helps to avoid destroying the soft fibres of the cotton. Not only in terms of sustainability, but also in terms of washing performance, we advise you to use powder detergents.
While colour detergent makes the colours of coloured and dark cotton clothes shine, heavy-duty detergent has a special cleaning power. Especially white underwear and towels, but also light-coloured cotton clothes can be washed deep clean.
To occasionally freshen up your cotton clothes, you can simply hang them out in the fresh air. If you put your cotton clothes in the sun, you can even remove stubborn stains. Just give it a try!
For many people, fabric softeners are part of every normal wash cycle. However, especially with natural materials such as cotton, we recommend that you waive the additional softeners. So, you can experience the natural softness of real cotton fibres.
Especially towels, flannels, spit-up cloths for babies and other laundry items that should retain their absorbency should not be washed with the fat-containing fabric softeners. For cotton clothing, fabric softener is neither harmful nor necessary. So, feel free to leave it out once in a while.
Drying and ironing cotton clothes is also no witchcraft if you keep certain things in mind. Once again, there is the care label. If you find a sign next to the washing symbol on the label in your clothes that depicts a circle in a square, drying in the tumble dryer is allowed.
If the dryer symbol is crossed out, do not use this method, and simply hang your laundry out to dry on the line. Especially in summer, this method is highly recommended, as it’s not only fast, but also power-saving and sustainable. If there is no label in your laundry anymore, 100 % cotton T-shirts, underwear and towels should not be damaged in the normal drying cycle. If you are unsure, simply choose a lower temperature.
You will also find the necessary information for ironing your cotton laundry on the care label: If three dots are shown in the iron symbol, you may iron your laundry at hot temperatures of up to 200 °C. Two dots mean a maximum of 150 °C, and one dot means you should set the iron to the lowest temperature setting. If you are not sure because the label is missing, we recommend a gentle procedure at low ironing temperatures.
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