How do you care for the items of clothing you love? The good news is for your shweshwe kimono it’s not difficult but it’s good to know.

Shweshwe is 100% cotton with a coating of starch so it starts off very stiff. It gets pre-washed before sewing but residual starch may be present. So like a new pair of true denim jeans, the more you wash and wear the softer they will become. 

The makers of shweshwe, De Gama Textiles, recommends to:

• Wash separately 
• 40° Wash (104 F)
• Do not bleach 
• Do not tumble dry 
• Do not dry clean 
• Warm iron

Instead of washing separately you may want to wash with like colors and as well it can be put into the dryer. However, like all clothing the more frequent it goes into the dryer the quicker the fabric breaks down. 

Colors may fade over time and with washing. Since some of these colorways are no longer in production you may want to limit the frequency of washing and instead spot clean as needed.