With the help of machine embroidery, it’s possible to make some incredible and custom embroidery designs on clothing and other cloth products. After you’ve received your order of custom embroidery though, how do you plan on taking care of all the intricate threading that you’ve paid good money to have created?

At Goodbye Blue Monday in Boulder, we offer a variety of custom embroidery products to help you spread brand awareness for your company or to help you express your personal style. If you’re interested in having custom embroidery done, keep reading our blog to learn how to maintain the intricate stitches of your custom embroidery apparel, and contact us when you’re ready to get started.

Pre-Shrink The Fabric

If you’ve chosen a fabric that hasn’t been pre-shrunk, make sure to wash and dry it on the hottest settings possible to get all potential shrinking out of the way before you have your apparel embroidered.

If you don’t have this done, your custom embroidery can cause the fabric to look permanently wrinkled and puckered as the fabric shrinks under the threading.

Use A Stabilizer

Using a stabilizer during the embroidery process will help prevent your fabric from moving under the machine. Different fabrics will benefit from different types of stabilizers to keep it from moving.

Learn more about different types of stabilizers that will improve the quality of your custom embroidery.

Wash As Gently As Possible

After your embroidery design is complete, the best way to maintain its integrity is to wash the item as gently as possible. In this case, it would be to hand-wash and then air-dry and embroidered clothing.

This can feel like a tedious process though, and there are other washing options available to keep your embroidery in good condition. Keep reading for more suggestions.

Turn The Item Inside-Out

If you decide that it would be easier to machine-wash your custom embroidery, you can do so safely by turning the article of clothing inside-out. This will protect the design by preventing the thread from being exposed to anything it could get caught on, like hooks, zippers, or buttons.

Tip: This is also the recommended way to wash graphic and screen-printed T-shirts if you want to keep the design looking fresh.

Use Cold Water

Especially if your embroidery uses colors that are likely to bleed, such as rich blues and reds, wash it in cold water. If you find that colors are still bleeding from the custom embroidery or fabric of the apparel, try rinsing it gently in cold water until the bleeding stops.

Follow Washing Instructions

If you do nothing else, at least follow the washing instructions printed on your apparel’s tag. These instructions are specifically for the types of materials used to manufacture the article of clothing, so following these instructions are your best bet for preserving your custom embroidery.

 

If you have any questions about the custom embroidery process or which materials you should purchase, feel free to contact us. At Goodbye Blue Monday, we are dedicated to creating custom and quality products for all of our clients.