Like mac­hi­nery, workwear needs main­te­nance to stay in good con­di­tion. Taking pro­per care of your workwear is impor­tant because it pro­longs their life and, the­re­fore, touc­hes your wal­let less. In par­ticu­lar, the zip­pers on your clot­hes are posed to mec­ha­nical stress and dirt, such as sand. Workwear manu­fac­tu­rers strongly advise users to wash their clot­hes frequently to keep the zip­pers in good con­di­tion.

Ensu­ring that the gar­ments per­form as desig­ned, cor­rect care is crucial. In reflec­tive clot­hing, dirt on reflec­tive sur­faces reduces visi­bi­lity, which in turn reduces the safety pro­per­ties of the clot­hing. In fire-retar­dant workwear, dirt wea­kens fire pro­tec­tion. In addi­tion, taking care of the clean­li­ness of clot­hing inc­rea­ses hygiene.

Well-cared workwear does its job the best!

WASH
Check the care instruc­tions on the gar­ment’s care label before was­hing it. The label will tell you the cor­rect was­hing tem­pe­ra­ture, as a wrong tem­pe­ra­ture may damage the gar­ment. When deci­ding which pro­duct can be used to wash the workwear, the choice is partly dri­ven by the mate­rial. Polyes­ter, softshell, and shell clot­hing can­not handle fabric sof­te­ner as it binds to the fibres while degra­ding its mois­ture-wic­king pro­per­ties among other things. Liquid deter­gents are gene­rally pre­fe­rable for colou­red gar­ments as they dis­solve bet­ter during a wash cycle and rinse more effec­ti­vely. Remem­ber to fol­low the dosage instruc­tions to avoid deter­gent resi­dues.

Before was­hing, flip the gar­ment inside out to reduce wear and tear. If the gar­ment is par­ticu­larly soi­led, it may be was­hed wit­hout tur­ning it inside out. Zip­pers and Velcro tapes should be fas­te­ned before was­hing to pre­vent them from stic­king to other gar­ments.

Please wash full loads, as mec­ha­nical rub­bing is part of the wash cycle and full loads reduce energy con­sump­tion, as well. Howe­ver, over­fil­ling the mac­hine may cause dec­rea­sed wash results and deter­gent resi­dues.

Remem­ber also that only a clean was­hing mac­hine will gua­ran­tee clean clot­hes. The dirt that comes out of clot­hes during was­hing accu­mu­la­tes in the mac­hine over time, especially at low tem­pe­ra­tu­res, so it is impor­tant to main­tain the was­hing mac­hine accor­ding to the manu­fac­tu­rer’s instruc­tions. Usually, an unplea­sant smell in clot­hes after a wash cycle reveals a dirty was­hing mac­hine.

DRY
The care instruc­tions also pro­vi­des instruc­tions for drying and iro­nin. Many pro­ducts can handle tumble drying but air-drying is often the best option as it does not shrink or damage the gar­ments — it saves energy, too! By sha­ping the gar­ments while they are damp, you ensure that no big wrinkles remain.

REPAIR
A cost-saving and envi­ron­men­tally friendly way of taking care of your workwear is to repair smal­ler dama­ges. It also saves you the hunt for sui­table new gar­ments. These small repairs, such as patc­hing a small hole and fixing loose but­tons, can be done at home, but for lar­ger jobs it is bet­ter to use a pro­fes­sio­nal. Just remem­ber to bring only clean workwear for repair! Howe­ver, a badly dama­ged gar­ment will not pro­tect you as a new piece.