Here at Spirit, we understand the importance of the sustainability and longevity of your clubs teamwear. To achieve this longevity, kit care is critical. The longer the kit is maintained, the better it looks on the pitch and the less money you have to spend on replacing garments! This is why everyone of our customers is directed to this page, to understand exactly how the maintain the quality of your kits. Below is multiple tips and tricks on how to keep your clubs team wear looking and smelling fresh!
1. Wash your kits ASAP! ⏳
Everyone has done it. You get back from your game, chuck your kit bag on the floor and forget about it until next week. We get it! But this is actually the worst thing you can do to your kits. The quicker you act on grass and mud stains, the easier they are to remove. Equally, the longer you leave your sweaty kit unwashed, the more likely it is for the odour to attach itself to the fabric of the kit permanently, and literally NO ONE wants that. So to mitigate these issues, please wash your kit after using it in a sports session as soon as you possibly can.
2. Wash your kits inside out 🔄
Whether you chose sublimation, embroidery or heat press when designing your kits with us, always make sure that when washing the kit, to turn the kit inside out. By doing this, it decreases the chance of the logos on the kit scratching or wearing in any way, making the kit overall, look better, for longer. When you look good, you play good!
3. Separate your kit into colours 🎨
Another step, which is obvious too many, but one that should never be overlooked, is to separate your kits into colours. Even the highest quality of garments, will in some way leak a small amount of colour, especially on their first couple of washes. So to prevent any colour disasters, make sure to always separate your kit into dark, light and white colours before washing your kits. For example, if your team plays in red shirts and white shorts and socks, make sure to wash the shirts separate to the shorts and socks!
4. Wash no warmer than 30 degrees 🌡
If a team wear garment is caked in mud and sweat, the natural consensus is to put it on a hot wash to give the kit the best chance of removing any stains long term however, this should actually be avoided at all costs. Washing a kit on a higher heat than 30 degrees can damage the fibres of the garments material, causing the fibres to break down more easily, leading to fading and shrinking, which is never a good look! Moreover, many of our fabrics have performance related properties within them, such as odour control and moisture wicking, which, under a hot wash, can be deactivated, reducing the efficiency of the kit performance long term. Therefore, to keep the kits longevity of performance, please wash your kits on no more than 30 degree heat to reduce the chances of the aforementioned issues arising.
5. DO NOT use liquid detergents 🧪
Liquid detergents, due to their high volume of chemicals, can destroy the material of your team wear. It can also leave stains on your kit as many liquid detergent contain bleach, which will remove the colours in your kit very easily. Instead, resort to a powdered detergent with little to no bleach contents to preserve the quality of your kits. If there is still stains on your kit after washing using powdered detergents, try to spot wash the area where the stain is using a toothbrush and a pre-wash stain removal product to gently disturb the area before washing in the washing machine again.
6. Do not overload the washing machine drum 🧺
Even though it may save you doing two washes, overloading the drum of the washing machine can lead to many issues for your kit. an overpacked washing machine for example, can lead to garments snagging on other garments and tearing under strain. It will also lead to your kits being very creased when coming out of the machine, as more volume equals more pressure on the fabric, creating creasing. So the time you thought you saved by filling up the washing machine, is actually just used ironing the creases out your kits after washing is complete! So make sure to load the drum of the machine to an appropriate amount each wash, to keep your kits in the best condition possible.
7. Air dry your kits after washing 💨
Using a tumble dryer to wash your kits is a big no no for many reason. Tumble dryers can damage many attributes of your kit from the logos, to the fabric, to even the breathability and performance of the kit. Many of these issues boil down to the high heat being used within a tumble dryer, to dry the garment quickly. This also goes for things such as radiators, as due to the high heat, the fabric and the logos on it, can burn and even melt very easily due to this heat.
Always when possible, the best way to dry your kit is naturally, either on a line outside or in a airer. In todays age, football kits and the materials use to make them, dry extremely fast, so even though you think a tumble dryer will be faster, in fact waiting for the kit to dry naturally won't take as long as you think. So we ask you always veer on the side of caution when drying your kit and let nature do its thing.
8. Iron on low heat, inside out and avoid ironing over logos 👔
Many people will opt not to iron their kits, however it can be done if the correct measures are followed. As stated many times on this blog post, there is three key things to consider. Use a very low heat on the iron, iron the kit inside out and avoid going over any logos on the kit with the iron. If you have access to a steamer however, this is always a safer bet to get the creases out of your garments rather than an iron, as the steamer does not come into direct contact with the fabric of the kit at any time.
If you follow these steps, you will have the best chance of keeping your Spirit kits in tip top condition! To summarise this post, the key points to remember are :
