Care instead of discarding: How to keep your GeorgWerner shirt in top shape for a long time
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A good sports shirt is not a disposable item for us. Relying on organic materials, fair production, and print-on-demand instead of stock items is only half the battle – the other half is up to you. How you wash, dry, and wear your shirt ultimately helps determine whether it lasts two seasons or two years. And honestly: the most sustainable clothing is always the piece you wear the longest – not the one you replace the cheapest.
Wash cold, wash less
The most common mistake with sportswear: washing it too hot, too often, and too aggressively. Organic cotton and functional fibers lose their shape and color significantly faster at 60 degrees than at 30 degrees. Our tip from our own daily routine: turn the shirt inside out, wash cold, and skip the fabric softener. It coats the very fibers meant to provide breathability – thereby ruining exactly what you chose it for in the first place. And not every training session requires an immediate trip to the washing machine. Airing it out briefly is often perfectly sufficient.
Dry without heat, print without risk
Our designs are created using a print-on-demand process – printed directly onto each individual shirt, no stock, no overproduction, every piece a unique item. To ensure the print lasts as long as the fabric itself, the shirt does not belong in the dryer. Instead, hang it up to air dry, ideally inside out so the design is not exposed to direct sunlight. This keeps colors vibrant and makes cracks in the print the exception rather than the rule.
This is essentially the point we are trying to make: sustainability doesn't end at the checkout. A shirt made from organic material, produced fairly, and manufactured without overproduction, but which ends up worn out in the laundry basket after five washes, hasn't really helped anyone. For us, honest design also means showing you how to get the most out of your garment – instead of just selling you the next one in two years.
In the end, it’s simple: wash cold, air dry, design inside. Small habits, big impact – for your shirt and for what we actually want to achieve with GeorgWerner: sportswear that lasts.
