How to Wash a Jersey
Without Fading the Print

1. Read the care label first.
2. Close buttons and zips, then turn it inside out so nothing catches and the print faces in.
3. Wash cold on gentle with a short spin. The FTC’s care-label glossary puts cold at up to 86 °F (30 °C).
4. Use a little mild detergent, with no bleach, “oxi” booster, or softener. Leftover suds can help bacteria grow.
5. Wash with similar colors only, away from Velcro. Dye from other clothes can move into a sublimated jersey.
6. Take it out when the cycle ends, shake it, and hang it before it turns musty.

If you’re hand-washing on a trip, swish it gently in cold water with a little mild detergent, rinse, press the water out, and hang it. Never pack it damp.

Better not. Hang it inside out on a plastic hanger, in the shade. The most that makers and suppliers of sublimated uniforms allow is an air-only setting or low heat, because heat can make the dye fade or migrate. Dryer heat can also crack pressed-on letters and shrink the fabric.

In a hurry? If your label allows a dryer, use no heat or the lowest (one dot in the tumble-dry symbol).

If you must iron, use the lowest (one-dot) setting, which care labels cap at 230 °F (110 °C). Turn the jersey inside out, lay a pressing cloth on top, skip the steam, and never press directly on the print or stitching.

A hockey jersey gets the same routine, then air-dries. A hockey-jersey retailer warns that high heat makes pressed-on numbers crack, peel, or melt. On printed jerseys like our rave hockey jerseys, there’s nothing to peel, but keep the heat off.

Here’s how to wash a baseball jersey: close the buttons, turn it inside out, wash cold, and hang it on a plastic hanger. For outfits, see how to style a baseball jersey.

A printed name or number is part of the dye, so there’s no layer to crack or peel. Wash embroidery inside out, cold and gentle, with no bleach; air-dry it, and iron it only from the back under a cloth. Tackle twill (fabric letters sewn on) gets a mild detergent, no bleach, and no dry cleaning.

If a jersey mixes print and stitching, follow its most delicate part. The KOALA-T 808 below is printed and edged with an embroidered yellow outline, so the stitching sets the rule: air-dry it, with no dryer.

We can stitch a crest, name, or number on any of our jerseys, even a single one, and we also offer tackle twill. We confirm on the mockup what stitches cleanly; embroidery costs extra, quoted before you pay. See how sublimation and embroidery compare.

Unpack a sweaty jersey as soon as you’re home. In a 2014 study, workout-worn polyester shirts smelled stronger than cotton ones, so air your jersey and wash it soon. If a smell lingers, soak it first for 15 to 30 minutes in cold water with a little detergent.

Sunscreen with avobenzone can react with iron in hard water and leave orange marks on white and light jerseys. Rinse the spot with cold water and pre-treat it with dish liquid, then a non-bleach stain remover (test it on a hidden spot). Check that the mark is gone before it dries, because drying sets it.

Whatever you use to get glitter off, skip the hot dryer.

At camp, don’t leave it wet in a pile or in a hot car. Rinse it and hang it in the shade. Our festival camping checklist has more.