How to Wash and Care for African or Wax Prints

It is not uncommon to be faced with somewhat of a dilemma on how to wash and care for African or wax print fabrics. Sometimes, there is a love-hate relationship at play when it comes to washing African print clothing and textiles. On one hand, one might love the rich colour and vibrancy of the fabric and on the other, be scared to damage the fabric in a washing machine for the risk of having the colours run or damaging the cloth. Some cheap fabrics are dyed so poorly that immersion in water causes the original color to run but this is not the case for quality African prints. So, make sure you are buying high quality fabrics.

Some people suggest doing a colourfastness test for each fabric to see if the colour runs but the truth is that if you have a lot of clothes, this could take a lot of time and effort that is just not necessary. So, fear not! Taking care of your African print clothing does not have to be rocket science really. Simply follow some of the careful suggestions below and use your own personal discretion where necessary.

Wash only when really dirty

Do you have the habit of tossing your apparel in the dirty clothes basket after just one wear? You might want to rethink that. African print fabrics, depending on the quality and originality can be almost like denim in the sense that they could get weak and the colour could fade out if over-washed. To avoid this, you will want to observe the clothes you wear carefully and how they pick up dirt from your environment so that you know when it is ready to be washed. If they have a foul odour or a weird smell, that is also an indication that they need to be washed. Note: If the fabric is good quality, it can last for many years regardless of how many times you wash it. Always buy the good quality print fabrics  – in some cases, it might mean that the dyes are chemical based and not necessarily sustainable if being eco-friendly is your concern but they won’t wash out.

Machine or Hand wash only

Contrary to popular belief, you can actually machine wash your African print clothing but I would suggest washing using cold water on a delicate wash cycle and a mild detergent. Turn the garment inside out when placing in the washer. Many sources have recommended washing it with similar colours but I think this is very hard to do considering that these fabrics usually come in a mix of prints and patterns of various colours. It would be quite a challenge and tedious to isolate certain colours in order to get a full load and wash them together. As a result, I tend to wash all of my prints together separating only the light from the dark colours. But, I have never had the colours run and this could probably be due to the fact that I purchase only clothing made with high quality African print fabrics. I cannot stress this enough – it is so important that you purchase quality fabrics. Also, this should be a no-brainer but NEVER wash your African prints with white or pale coloured fabrics. Now, some heritage fabrics like mudcloth are made with certain natural dyes such that washing them over time might potentially lead to fading. In this case, always ask the retailer you are buying from about garment care instructions so that you can understand what you are purchasing and how to take care of it.

Dry and iron on a low heat temperature

Many years ago in Nigeria, I remember line drying my clothes but now, I live in Canada and have not had the luxury of doing that for years. As such, I do not prescribe to the notion that you should never place your African prints in the dryer. If you do happen to have a clothes line at your house, say in your yard then this would be a great way to dry your African print clothes – make sure they are not directly under the sun’s rays to prevent sun damage. Otherwise, just toss them in the dryer and place the temperature on the lowest heat setting. Some dryers have a “no heat” setting which works perfect! Once the clothes are dry, you can iron them on the cotton setting and if you have a steamer, that works great too. When deciding to iron your clothes, keep in mind that some African print clothes are lined with linens and silks so it is important to know and align your iron to the right fabric setting.

Dry clean your African prints but with caution

Unless your dry cleaner has enough experience with handling African print fabrics, you should be careful when trying to dry clean your African clothes. Check the care tags for each piece of clothing (if there is one) to make sure the instructions include dry cleaning. The reason for treading with caution at the dry cleaner is because technically, the dry cleaning is not necessary a dry process. Water-less fluid solvents (often made up of chemicals) are often used to wash the clothing, in which case, it still involves a wetting process. The solvents help to dissolve tough oil or grease stains that are hard to remove with just water. Hand washing or machine wash on delicate cycle would work well for mildly soiled garments and here, the most important thing is using the washer in the proper way. If you are scared of washing your African prints in the machine and placing them in the dryer, I suggest doing a test with one or two garments to see how it goes first. Watch for how the fabric feels once done and if the colours actually run. Once you become more confident, then you can wash a full load and not be at risk of damaging your precious clothes.

Tips on hand washing your clothes

It is funny how most people would be completely stranded if their washing machine ever broke down and would be at a loss for how to wash and care for African or wax print fabrics. So, I scoured the internet for some suggestions on how to hand wash your clothes properly. There are quite a few videos on this topic but I selected one that I thought provided a great overview and description on how to do this properly. This video comes the closest to how I usually wash my clothes. In the video, she is not washing any recognizable African prints per say but t