Stick with cold water: Hot water is exceptionally harsh & typically unnecessary. Using cold water, you will be treating your t-shirts to a gentler bath & preventing unnecessary strain. Moreover, you will use less electricity, reducing your impact on the environment & lowering your utility bill!
Avoid harsh cleaning products: Put away the bleach & avoid harsh detergents. They are not needed & that they may slowly destroy the condition of your t-shirts. Instead, get a mild detergent & use an essential (no bleach) stain remover when necessary.
Turn your t-shirt inside out: It only takes a moment to turn your screen or digitally printed tees inside out before placing them in the washing machine (or under a hot iron), but this simple step will reduce fading & stress. If the quality of the screen or digital printed design is important to you, reduce its contact with the washing machine to ensure that the ink won’t be strained.
Don’t wash after every use: Some of you’re probably recoiling in disgust right now. However, remember that each time you wash & dry your clothes, you’re speeding up the aging process. If your t-shirt is dirty (i.e., there’s visible dirt, a stain, or a smell), wash it. If not, fold it back up & return it to your closet.
Hang dry: Heat is your tee’s worst enemy. Additionally, to avoid hot water, keep your t-shirt away from high-heat dryer settings. Instead, allow them to hang dry to prevent damage as well as shrinkage of the t-shirts. If you do not have the time or space, you can also dry your t-shirts on low or remove them from the dryer halfway through the spin cycle (allowing them to hang dry after that).
Sort your laundry: You know the drill. Keeping your clothes by color before washing & washing each pile in a separate load can prevent the colors from running. This is especially important if you are washing a new t-shirt. Placing your favorite white t-shirt into a washer with your new red t-shirt will inevitably cause frustration and a pink t-shirt, most likely.
T-shirts will eventually wear out & fade – it is natural after all. A lot depends on how you take care of your t-shirt, the strength of color dyes used by the garment manufacturer, the printing method used for the design or logo, etc.
At the end of the day, you may find that the worn look is fashionably in any way!