How to take care of your African Wax print fabric?
Coo-Mon makes fashion accessories for all audiences: Women, men, kids, and babies. From the young to the elders, everyone finds happiness in our online shop. Our products are the result of a blend of cultures. Coo-Mon is a trendy brand, in the era of time and mingles with a hint of exoticism.
From Madras to printed wax prints, we invite you into our particularly colorful universe. You will discover our flagship accessories, such as our beaded fabric necklaces, belts, headbands and scarves for women and men, bow ties, handkerchiefs and cufflinks for men.
The composition of our Accessories
The majority of our accessories is designed in a 100% cotton fabric, from new or recycled rich printed African wax print …And Very colorful.
African wax print is a printed fabric commonly used in West Africa. It is called So because the method of printing used is largely inspired by the technique of Indonesian batik, where hydrophobic waxes are used to apply successively the colors on the fabric.
The prints of this kind of fabric are characterized by a mix of 3 to 4 bright and intense colors. Fabrics with striking colors, which require a specific care to maintain their brightness durably. Because, unfortunately, one can find themselves confronted with the problem of the fading of the colors. Washing after washing, the colors lose their brightness. Sometimes the brightest dyes leach out of the fiber and go onto other clothes or on the clearer tones of the same fabric. It seems then difficult to keep a uniform hue over time.
Often, immigrants are confronted with cultural ignorance and a blatant lack of resources. For example, it is difficult to find qualified professional cleaners who are able to preserve and treat so-called "exotic" fabrics such as African wax fabric.
Not knowing this type of print on fabric, they do not know how to maintain it and fear that the colors will fade after cleaning.
In fact, African wax print fabric care still remains a mystery to many people.
How to keep the quality and the vibrant colors of African wax print fabric?
How to maintain a fabric dyed with fiery colors?
Coo-Mon shares in this article its tips and tricks to taking care of your clothes and accessories made out of African wax print fabric or Madras!
Do the colors of your fabric rub off?
Before washing your clothes and accessories, it is important to be sure that the colors of the fabric are fixed. If they are not, they will bleed on the rest of the linen.
Method 1: Take a damp cloth of light color (such as a washcloth or a tea towel), and place it on the back of the fabric to be tested. Iron the two pieces together; if the damp cloth is colored, the colors of your fabric are not fixed.
Method 2: Pass a cotton swab under hot water and rub a part of the fabric to test. If your cotton swab is colored, the colors of your fabric are not fixed.
How to wash your African wax print fabric?
If the colors of the fabric are not fixed, and you want to keep them as they are, you will have to wash your items by hand, in cold, soapy water and apart. This will limit the risk of color bleeding onto the rest of your laundry.
If the colors of your fabric do not rub off, as a precaution, It is still advisable to sort your items to be washed: dark colors on one side, lighter colors and the white on the other. If your print is composed of several different colors (dark and clear), wash the fabric apart.
The optimum wash temperature recommended for an African wax fabric is 40 °C. Most of the Coo-Mon accessories being composed of other materials other than African wax print, it is advisable to refer to the product page of the item chosen to get instructions for specific maintenance. A cold wash is generally suggested (temperature less than 30°C).
Choose a mild detergent without a whitening agent, and preferably liquid.
For some accessories that cannot be washed (such as the bow ties, the girl's headband, or the Obi belt), here is a technique in case of they are dirty
Apply a mild soap to a damp, clean sponge or cloth, then rub gently.
Then "Rinse" by passing a damp cloth over it.
If you opt for dry cleaning with a professional, specify that it will be necessary to follow a gentle process for delicate garments.
Bleaching is obviously to be avoided because it would permanently change the colors of the fabric.
How to dry your African wax print fabric?
The majority of our fashion accessories must be dried in the open air and flat, out of the sun.
Some items can still be ironed, by taking a few Precautions. Always iron the reverse side of the fabric at a temperature not exceeding 150°C. Never iron some fabrics such as the Minky, leather or synthetic fabric. For more safety, you can use an ironing pressing pad to be placed between the iron and the fabric, so to protect them against fabric shine and scorch.
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Tips to preserve durably the colors of your African wax fabric
Grandma’s recipe: The power of vinegar!
If you didn't know this, here is the best-known and best-appreciated grandmother's recipe which will help you fix your colors!
To fix the color at first Wash, you will need :
- ½ Cup of white vinegar
- ½ Cup of salt
- 1 Liter of lukewarm water (or the equivalent of a small basin)
Let your garment or accessory soak from 30min to 1h. Rinse with cold water, then immerse your item in water, without the previous vinegar recipe. If the water is colored, repeat « The operation Vinegar-salt » until the water becomes clear. When the colors stop bleeding, wash with mild detergent, then rinse, wring and dry flat
To maintain the colors of your clothes and accessories, add occasionally, a half cup of white vinegar in the rinse step!
Products to help you.
If you do not have the patience to repeat this operation several times, you might be interested in the color fixatives proposed by the fabric dye brands. In solid form, these products are to be poured directly into the washer.
Trust a professional!
If you are running out of time, or are afraid of not following the methods mentioned above, we suggest that you use the services of a fabric expert. The professionals of dry cleaning and maintenance of the delicate garments will take care of your textiles. Mastering several decades of knowledge, they will give life to your clothes and accessories!
For more information about the caring of a specific product: