Fabric & Care
These are heavy clothes. Treated reasonably well, a Held Open tee should outlast three cheap ones, and it gets better looking the whole time.
What the pieces are made of
Garment-dyed heavyweight tees
6.1 oz ring-spun cotton, dyed after the shirt is sewn. That's why the color looks lived-in on day one and why no two are quite identical. It will soften and settle over the first few washes. That's the fabric doing what it's supposed to do, not fading.
Pigment-dyed crewnecks
9 oz fleece, dyed piece by piece. Expect small differences in shade between pieces and even across one garment. Bought in a pair, they won't match. That's the whole appeal.
Heavyweight crewneck fleece
10 oz, brushed soft on the inside, with ribbing at the neck, cuffs and waistband that holds its shape. Most of the fall pieces are embroidered rather than printed, so the design is thread, not ink.
How to wash it
- Cold water, inside out, gentle cycle.
- Wash dark garment-dyed pieces on their own the first time. Loose dye is normal and it will come off on your white towels.
- Tumble dry low, or hang it. Low heat is the single biggest thing you can do for the print and for the length.
- Skip the bleach and skip fabric softener. Softener coats the cotton and dulls both the color and the hand feel.
- If you iron, go inside out, or press around the design. Never set a hot iron directly on a print.
Keeping the print and the embroidery good
Prints are cured into the fabric, not stuck on top, so they don't peel if you keep them away from high heat. The two things that kill a print are a hot dryer and a hot iron face-down on it.
Embroidery is simpler. Wash it cold, don't dry it on high, and don't catch the threads on a zipper. It will outlive the shirt.
The patch
The patch near the hem is printed the same way the rest of the design is. It washes like the shirt does. It is supposed to go slightly soft and faded with time, like something you've had a while.
First wash, honestly
Wash it before you wear it if you're planning on hot-drying it later, so the shrink happens before the fit matters. If you're line-drying or tumbling low, just wear it.