The first wash
Wash your new Patang piece once, on its own, in cold water on a gentle cycle, before the first wear. The bio-wash we apply in Tirupur is gentle, but any small amount of loose dye will rinse out in this first cycle. Line dry — don't tumble dry — and you'll never see colour transfer again.
Everyday washing
Machine wash cold, on a gentle or normal cycle, with similar colours. Inside out is better — it protects the printed neck label and reduces friction on the outside of the fabric. Use a mild liquid detergent. Skip the fabric softener completely — it coats the cotton fibres in silicone and over time stops the fabric from breathing.
For the wide-leg trousers, untie the drawcord before washing. The cord can tangle around itself otherwise.
Stains
Toddlers stain things. Most stains — mango, dal, sambar, ketchup, paint, mud — come out of organic cotton if you treat them within an hour. Run cold water through the stain from the back of the fabric (not the front) to push the stain out the way it came in. Then a dab of mild liquid detergent, rubbed gently, and a normal cold wash.
For curry and turmeric stains specifically: don't panic, don't use hot water, don't use bleach. Cold rinse, sunlight on the wet fabric for thirty minutes, then a normal wash. The UV does most of the work.
Drying
Always line dry. The Patang fabrics are pre-shrunk, but heat is the enemy of any natural fibre — tumble drying will shorten the garment's life by half. Indoors near a fan is fine. Outdoors in direct sun is even better, but not for hours on end, because UV will gently fade darker colours over time.
Beanies should be reshaped while damp and laid flat to dry — never hung from the cuff, which will stretch the rib.
Storage
Fold, don't hang. Toddler shoulders aren't strong enough to hold the weight of a wet-wash organic cotton tee on a hanger — over a few weeks the shoulders will distort.
Between seasons, fold and store in a breathable cotton bag (we ship one with every order — keep it). Don't store in plastic, which traps moisture, and don't store with mothballs, which leave a chemical residue.
When to retire to The Loop
Patang pieces are designed to come back to us when your child outgrows them. The moment to start a trade-in is the moment the piece stops fitting — not the moment it starts looking worn. We grade pieces fairly: a tee with thirty washes on it, still in shape, still clean, still bright, is a "Like New" by our rubric. The Loop is the reason we made this fabric so robust.