Garment care: how to make your clothes last

A quality garment lasts for years if you care for it simply: wash cool, air-dry natural fabrics, and store them properly. Here is how to make your clothes last — the same pieces we would wear ourselves.

None of this asks for special products or extra time. It's a handful of small habits that, repeated wash after wash, keep colour, shape and fabric looking new. Learn them once and every piece in your wardrobe rewards you for it.

Why does care matter? (cost per wear)

The real price of a garment isn't what's on the tag — it's the tag divided by how many times you wear it. A well-made dress you wear fifty times costs a fraction, per wear, of a cheap one that stretches out of shape after five washes. This is what stylists call cost per wear, and it's the honest way to think about clothes.

Good care is what pushes those numbers in your favour. Simple habits can easily double the working life of a garment — the difference between two seasons and five. A linen dress that's washed cool and dried in the shade looks and hangs the same in its third summer as it did on the first day. Care doesn't just protect the fabric; it protects the money you spent and the way the piece makes you feel when you put it on.

How do I read the care label?

Every garment carries a small tag with washing symbols, and it's there for a reason: the maker knows the fabric better than anyone. Before the first wash, take ten seconds to read it. A few symbols cover almost everything:

• The tub with a number (30, 40): the highest water temperature. Lower is always safer for colour and shape.
• The tub with a hand: hand wash only — gentle, no machine.
• The square with a circle: tumble-drying. A crossed-out symbol means keep it out of the dryer.
• The iron with dots: how hot to iron; more dots means more heat.
• The triangle: whether bleach is safe (crossed out means never).

When in doubt, treat the piece gently — cool water and air-drying rarely harm anything. And if a symbol is unclear, send us a photo of the label. We'll tell you in plain words what it wants.

How do I wash natural fabrics?

Greek fashion leans on beautiful natural fibres — linen, cotton, viscose blends — and these fabrics love a gentle routine. Heat and rough cycles are what age clothes fastest, so the rule is simple: cool and calm.

• Wash cool. 30°C is plenty for everyday wear. It protects colour from fading and stops natural fibres from shrinking.
• Choose a gentle cycle. Less spinning means less stress on seams and shape.
• Turn pieces inside out and close zips before washing to protect the outer surface and prevent snags.
• Wash similar colours together and don't overload the drum — clothes need room to move to come out clean and uncreased.
• Go easy on detergent. More soap doesn't mean cleaner; it leaves residue that dulls fabric over time.

Delicate or embellished pieces are happiest hand-washed in lukewarm water. It takes five minutes and adds years to a garment you love.

How do I dry and store clothes right?

Drying is where good habits are won or lost. The tumble dryer is convenient, but its heat is the enemy of natural fabric — it shrinks linen and cotton, weakens the fibres and fades colour faster than anything else. For these fabrics, always air-dry.

• Dry in the shade. Direct sun bleaches colour; a breezy, shaded spot dries gently and keeps shades rich.
• Reshape while damp. Smooth linen and cotton flat with your hands as they dry and you'll barely need to iron.
• Fold knits, don't hang them. Hangers stretch the shoulders of jumpers and knitted tops out of shape. Fold them and lay them flat instead.
• Hang structured pieces — dresses, blouses, blazers — on proper hangers so they keep their line.

Storage is the quiet half of care. Always put clothes away clean and dry: stains and damp set in over a season and attract moths. Give pieces room to breathe rather than cramming the wardrobe — squeezed clothes crease, lose shape and never air out. A little space is the cheapest care of all.

It starts with buying well

All of this rewards you most when the garment was worth caring for in the first place. A well-cut piece in a good fabric holds its shape wash after wash; a poorly made one falls apart no matter how gently you treat it. That's why we pick original Greek brands with our own hands and stand behind every seam — it's how we choose what we sell. Buy quality once, care for it simply, and you'll wear it for years.