The RI Care Guide: Part 2

By taking care of the clothes we already have, we can extend their lives and prevent them from going to landfill – hooray. The first volume of our care guide starts here, scroll on for foil print maintenance, stop black clothes from fading, dry cleaning tips and cotton care.


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How to maintain foil printed clothing


We always recommend following the instructions on the care label but here's a few pointers:


  • Wash with colour care detergent.
  • Always wash clothing inside out.
  • Wash at 30C – it's gentle on the earth and your prints.
  • No tumble drying, please. Do it how the cavemen and women did it.
  • Iron on the reverse.

How to keep black clothes from fading


It's the million-dollar question – how to keep our favourite colour of clothing safe from washing out to grey.

  • Always wash your black garments together. There's strength in numbers.
  • Wash garments inside out – this pretty much works for everything.
  • Wash at a low temperature.
  • Use a special colour care detergent, avoid anything too harsh.
  • Use fabric softeners.


Bonus points: How to help reduce clothes shedding small fibres

  • Use a washing bag to not only keep your smaller garments together, but also collect any natural broken fibres so can be easily removed and disposed of. This prevents microplastic fibres from entering into our water systems, oceans and rivers.
  • We recommend microfibre filters for your washing machine.
  • Hot washing temperatures can cause more fibres to shed – stick to 30C or even 20C.
  • Choose a washing machine with a filtration system.
  • Use a microfibre catching ball to prevent/trap microfibres in the washing machine.

More wash care tips…


  • Avoid using colour care detergent when you're washing white clothes, and softeners with denim as it may leach the colourfast staining onto lighter fabrics.
  • Don’t tumble dry knitwear - unless it specifically says on the care label – you may end up with a new jumper perfectly sized for your cat.
  • Always fasten zips and openings when you're washing and/or tumble drying to lessen stress on the fabric.

Using a tumble drier should be a last resort (line drying saves energy and money) but here's our usage guide broken down by fibre type. Lower your energy use by splitting your garments by fibre to reduce the time required.


  • Cotton holds a lot of water so the higher the spin, the less water gets retained. This helps with quicker drying without using a tumble drier.
  • Separate synthetics (polyester and nylon for example) from natural fibres (cotton, silk) as they will dry a lot quicker and probably don’t need machine drying.
  • Always ensure that the machine is full to avoid wasting energy.
  • Washing at lower temperatures reduces the need for tumble drying, and washing similar colours together helps clothes last longer too.

Tips for more sustainable Dry Cleaning


  • Always point out particular stains to dry cleaners.
  • Wait for cologne or perfume to dry before getting dressed to prevent alcohol stains.
  • Take stained items to the dry cleaners as soon as possible.
  • Dry clean matching pieces together (for example, your favourite pastel blue River Island suit) to avoid colour variation developing.
  • Check with your dry cleaner if they have a sustainable alternative to using Perchloroethylene solvent. Viable alternatives are available in most countries including hydrocarbon, silicone and professional wet cleaning.