Washing Tips

To ensure our nightwear and swimwear bring you joy for many years, you should always follow the care instructions sewn into them. These are sewn into the left inside of tops, nightgowns, and dresses. For trousers, the care instructions are usually found on the waistband.

Improper care of textiles can lead to warping, shrinking, or color bleeding, and appliqués like embroidery, prints, or rhinestones can also be damaged. To ensure you stay happy with Rösch and Féraud garments for a long time, we've put together some of the most important tips for washing your new favorite piece.

• empty the pockets of your garments, as metallic objects can damage the washing drum or tissues can leave lint on the entire load
• close zippers and hooks and tie up drawstrings
• pre-treat heavy stains
• sort laundry by color to prevent discoloration
• place delicate textiles such as nightgowns or underwear in a laundry bag to reduce spinning intensity
• fine wool, printed, or rhinestone-studded nightwear, loungewear, and swimwear should be turned inside out. This prevents prints from fading easily and preserves the appliqués on your textiles for a long time.

• close the washing machine completely and select the correct wash program
• set the temperature as warm as necessary and as cool as possible; this reduces energy consumption and saves money. The energy cost of a 60°C wash is almost as high as two 40°C washes or three 30°C washes.
• in an average household, a wash cycle for normal clothes at 20°C, 30°C, or 40°C is usually sufficient; heavily soiled textiles or those contaminated with microorganisms should be washed at 60°C
• generally, a 60°C wash with a bleach-containing heavy-duty detergent every 2-4 weeks is useful to inhibit bacterial growth in the washing machine; for a stubborn "biofilm," you should exceptionally perform a boil wash with heavy-duty detergent at 90°C / 95°C
  
  As a guideline:
  
  

  Hand wash, Hand wash cycle	Delicate wool and silk. You should only machine wash wool or silk marked accordingly on a very gentle hand wash cycle (not to be confused with the delicate wash cycle often referred to as a wool wash cycle).
  20°C, 30°C, 40°C	For colored and lightly to normally soiled textiles.
  60°C	For underwear, whites, and colored, heavily soiled textiles.
  90°C , 95°C	Generally not necessary, but can be used for durable textiles whose microorganisms need to be killed, e.g., bedding, towels, and underwear.

• always observe the guidelines of the machine manufacturer and the information on the sewn-in care labels
• dose the detergent according to the manufacturer's instructions; too little or too much can damage your nightwear, loungewear, and beachwear

The correct amount is stated on your detergent packaging and depends on the following points:

• How dirty is your laundry?
  • Light: no stains, normally used and sweaty
  • Normal: few, visible but light stains; also suitable for bedding and towels that have been used multiple times
• Heavy: stubborn stains
• How hard is the tap water?
  • you can obtain this information from your local water utility
• How full do you load the drum?
  • the quantities indicated on the package generally apply to a drum load of 4.5 kilograms; reduce or increase the amount of detergent depending on the size and load of your drum

For an average household, three different types of detergents are usually sufficient: heavy-duty detergent, color detergent, and delicate detergent.

Heavy-duty detergent is suitable for all programs and all washing temperatures. Heavy-duty detergents contain bleach and optical brighteners. They are designed to make white laundry white again. Therefore, heavy-duty detergents are not suitable for colored items in the long run.

Various tests have shown that liquid heavy-duty detergents are weaker in their washing performance than powder detergents, as they do not contain bleach but only optical brighteners. In the long run, they can cause your laundry to grey. Since liquid detergents do not contain zeolites for water softening, they leave no white residue on the laundry. Should white stains appear with powder heavy-duty detergent, these can usually be removed by brushing, patting, or wiping with a damp cloth.

For underwear, bedding, towels, and laundry that has been in contact with pets, the use of a bleach-containing heavy-duty detergent at 60°C is recommended for hygienic reasons.

Color detergents generally contain neither bleach nor optical brighteners, whether in liquid or powder form. This helps preserve the colors of garments better than heavy-duty detergents. However, it can happen that color detergents also contain optical brighteners. Caution is advised here, especially for pastel-colored nightwear. When in doubt, you should carefully read the information on the detergent.

Color detergents often contain additives that protect against color bleeding. To protect laundry from discoloration, however, colored laundry should always be pre-sorted; i.e., heavily bleeding laundry should be washed separately, divided into light and dark colors.

With powdered color detergent, white residues may remain in the laundry due to the zeolites used. These can usually be removed by brushing, patting, or wiping with a damp cloth. As with heavy-duty detergent, powdered color detergent usually achieves a stronger washing effect than liquid detergents. The washing temperature ranges are typically between 20°C and 60°C.

Delicate detergents, like color detergents, also contain no bleach or optical brighteners. Their usually low pH value makes them particularly suitable for the gentle washing of delicate textiles. The washing temperature ranges are between 20°C and 40°C.

Delicate detergents are often not suitable for wool or silk and can damage natural fibers. Therefore, you should only use special wool and silk detergents for wool and silk.

Advantages:

• fresh scent
• high wearing comfort
• reduced ironing effort
• protection of fibers and color
• extended durability
• reduced electrostatic charge in synthetic materials

Disadvantages:

• discoloration can occur with white laundry
• fabric softener is not suitable for microfiber, as it clogs and destroys it; it can also promote pilling
• when wearing textiles washed with fabric softener, chemicals can enter the body through the skin or respiratory tract and potentially trigger allergic reactions
• reduced water absorption capacity
• additional environmental burden, as residual chemicals enter the wastewater

If you are healthy, the use of disinfectant rinse is generally not necessary, as the bacteria on clothes usually originate from your own skin. In exceptional cases, e.g., in case of illness or other contact with germs, it may still be necessary to kill these germs. For this, you can use a bleach-containing heavy-duty detergent in powder form at a minimum washing temperature of 40°C, and in this case, you will not need a disinfectant rinse.

Fungal infections are an exception. Here you should wash the laundry separately at 60°C with a bleach-containing heavy-duty detergent in powder form. Disinfectant rinses make sense if special, delicate textiles cannot be washed hot or with bleach-containing heavy-duty detergent.

To avoid color bleeding, you should note the following:

• always pay attention to the care label instructions (e.g., "wash separately" or "wash with similar colors")
• white textiles should only be washed with other white textiles and never mixed with colored laundry or pastels
• wash similar colors together so that slight color bleeding is not noticeable
• after a colored wash cycle, you can rinse the washing machine empty to avoid color residue in the machine
• new textiles with intense colors should be hand-washed separately before machine washing to see if the textiles bleed color and to remove excess dyes
• to prevent discoloration from dye particles, you should regularly clean the lint filter

Textiles marked with these symbols can be machine washed. You must not exceed the temperature indicated on the wash tub symbol on the label.

This symbol means that the item may only be machine washed on a gentle or delicate cycle. Again, you must not exceed the specified temperature.

Both the "easy-care" and delicate wash cycles operate at low temperatures and reduced spin speeds, creating only gentle movement to clean the laundry. To achieve this gentle movement, you should avoid washing too many items simultaneously in the washing machine.

Delicate laundry includes sensitive white and colored items. Generally, these are mostly made from specially treated natural fibers (cotton, silk), synthetic fibers (polyamide, nylon), or blended fabrics. Since these fibers absorb less dirt, they are also easier to wash. Additionally, the fibers return to their original shape when drying, which significantly prevents wrinkling of the textiles.

For these wash cycles, you should use liquid detergent or delicate laundry detergent, as these are gentle on colors and fabrics.

Items with this symbol should only be cleaned by hand or on a hand wash cycle. Modern washing machines now offer special programs that can replace hand washing. However, hand washing remains the better choice for particularly delicate textiles such as wool or silk.

The symbol with a crossed-out circle prohibits dry cleaning. Textiles with the circle symbol may be dry cleaned. The letters indicate the permissible cleaning agents. However, only dry cleaning staff need this knowledge.

The crossed-out triangle prohibits bleaching of textiles.

If a simple triangle symbol appears on the care instructions, it means that you must not bleach the item. If light stains appear on dark laundry or textiles suddenly take on a greyish hue, the use of chemical bleaches can help. If bleaching is permitted, the instruction refers to separate, intensive bleaching and not to the use of bleaching agents in laundry powder. These are generally not contained in normal delicate and color detergents. Heavy-duty detergents, however, contain bleaching chemicals that only become effective at high temperatures. Therefore, for targeted application, the agent must be purchased at drugstores or dry cleaners.

Bleaches are chemical additives that remove unwanted discolorations and disinfect at the same time. The basis is the release of aggressive and atomic oxygen, which reacts with unwanted dyes. However, sensitive textile colors can also react with oxygen, which is why it is absolutely necessary to inform yourself about the correct care instructions.

It is advisable to mix the powder in a spray bottle and then spray it directly onto the stain. After a short exposure time and subsequent washing machine cycle, the textile will regain its original color. If textiles are completely grayed, it helps to add the powder separately to the detergent during a washing machine cycle.

Caution when using: Bleaches contain harsh substances. Therefore, they must not come into contact with the eyes or mucous membranes. Bleaches are highly controversial ecologically, as some components of the bleach cannot settle and drain away with the water. If you want to use a more ecological alternative, put some lemon juice on a stubborn stain and let it soak in. Then place the affected textile in the sun for several hours, and with a little luck, the stains will disappear naturally.

If the dryer symbol is crossed out, you must not tumble dry the textiles.

The square with a circle in the middle means that the textile may be tumble dried. The dots inside the circle indicate the maximum permissible thermal load. One dot means that drying is only allowed at a low temperature (max. 60 °C), with two dots, items may be dried at higher temperatures (up to 80 °C).

Not every garment is suitable for the dryer, as the process puts additional strain on materials and colors. After numerous washes, the shape, color, and stability of textiles often change, so they should always be treated with particular care. This treatment includes a low-temperature setting, which prevents the materials from becoming brittle and fragile. We recommend using a program setting that does not completely dry the textiles. These still-damp textiles should never be folded and stored in the closet, as this can lead to mold formation. You should iron out the residual moisture.

Air drying

Care label: Ironing

Cotton

Linen

Viscose

Wool

Silk