Care

How to wash a silk-lined hoodie without ruining it.

3 min read

The two things that make this hoodie feel different from a normal one — the 450 GSM fleece and the silk-lined hood — are also the two things people are most nervous about washing. Reasonable nervousness, but the actual routine is simpler than it sounds, and it's exactly what's already printed on the care label sewn inside the hood.

The routine

• Machine wash cold, on gentle, inside out. Turning it inside out protects the puff-print logo on the chest and hood from rubbing against the drum or other clothes.
• Wash with like colors. Sky is a saturated dye — keep it away from anything light enough to pick up color transfer, especially in the first few washes.
• Lay flat or hang to dry. Never tumble dry. Heat is the actual risk to brushed fleece at this weight — it's what causes shrinkage and mats down the nap that makes 450 GSM fleece feel the way it does out of the box.
• Skip the bleach entirely. On the silk lining especially, it's not a "use less" situation — it's a full no.
• Iron low if you need to, and never directly on the print. The chest logo is raised rubber puff print, not embroidery — direct heat is what would flatten or warp it, so iron around it or from the inside out.

Why the hood gets special treatment

Fleece is forgiving; silk is not quite as much. The lining is what actually touches your face and hair when the hood's up, which is the entire reason it's there — but that same smooth fiber is more sensitive to agitation and heat than the fleece around it. Cold water and gentle cycle aren't overcaution for the body of the hoodie so much as the minimum the hood needs. Since it's one wash cycle either way, the hood sets the rule for the whole garment.

Nothing here is a special product or a $30 wool wash. It's cold water, gentle cycle, and staying away from the dryer.

What actually shortens a hoodie's life

In order, the three things most likely to age a hoodie faster than it should: dryer heat, washing it inside-in so the print takes the abrasion, and letting it sit damp in a hamper instead of drying flat. None of those are exotic mistakes — they're just the default settings on most washer/dryer combos, which is why it's worth the ten extra seconds to turn it inside out and hit "no heat" before starting the cycle.