Woven Cotton Fabric Care Guide

Cotton is one of the most versatile fibres we work with, breathable, durable, and endlessly adaptable, which is exactly why it turns up across so much of our range. From crisp shirting cottons to hard-wearing denims, drills & twills, "cotton" covers a lot of ground, and each of these fabrics has its own personality when it comes to care.

This guide covers the essentials that apply across the board, along with a few extra pointers for denim, drills & twills where they need slightly different handling. As with all our fabrics, individual pieces can vary depending on weight, weave, and finish, so use this as your starting point and always test a swatch first if you're unsure.

All Woven Cotton fabrics need slightly different treatment as they vary in weight, weave texture and handle.

Please use this page as a general guide to caring for your cotton fabrics.

Preparation for Sewing

If you're planning to launder your finished piece down the line, it's worth pre-washing your fabric before you cut into it, cotton can shrink more than you'd expect on its first wash, and pre-washing means your measurements stay true once it's made up.

Laundering

Most woven cottons are happy on a machine wash, cool to warm, with a normal or gentle cycle depending on the weight and weave. Lighter shirting cottons do best on a gentler cycle to keep them looking crisp for longer, while heavier weaves can generally take a slightly more robust wash.

Caring for Denim: wash denim inside out and on a cold cycle to protect the indigo and reduce fading, and always wash denim with other denim or dark colours, that famous dye loves to migrate onto anything pale sharing the drum with it. Denim also doesn't need washing nearly as often as you'd think; the occasional wash (or even an airing instead) helps it keep its character and colour for longer.

Drills, Twills & Heavier Weaves: these tend to be the workhorses of the cotton family and can generally handle a slightly warmer, more standard wash than shirting cottons. That said, if yours has any colour depth to it, the same inside-out, like-with-like approach used for denim is a good habit to borrow.

Drying

Line drying is kindest to all woven cottons and helps avoid unnecessary shrinkage. If you do tumble dry, use a low heat setting and remove while still slightly damp, this is especially worth doing with shirting cottons, as it makes ironing far easier.

Denim prefers to dry away from direct, strong sunlight, which can accelerate fading, inside out, on the line, is the sweet spot.

Ironing & Steaming

Shirting cottons iron best while still slightly damp, on a hot cotton setting, and take a steam very well if you're after a crisp finish. Drills and twills can generally handle medium-high heat too. Denim is best ironed inside out, or with a pressing cloth, to protect that indigo colour from direct heat.

Storage

Fold your fabrics and finished garments to store, hanging can pull heavier cottons like denim, drill, and twill out of shape over time, particularly around seams. Keep everything somewhere cool and dry, and steer clear of plastic covers where you can; cotton likes to breathe just as much as you'd expect.

A Few More Helpful Notes

First wash, first wear: denim in particular tends to lose a little colour in its first couple of washes, this is completely normal and part of how it develops its character over time.
Every weave is a little different: finer weaves like poplin or sateen behave more like shirting cotton, while anything with real weight and texture leans closer to drill and twill territory, when in doubt, treat it gently and test first.
Less is often more: cotton fades and softens beautifully with time, so washing only when needed (rather than after every single wear) tends to keep it looking its best for longest.