How to care for knit, lace and leather

Most clothes do not wear out. They get washed too hot, dried on a radiator or folded the wrong way, and one day the jumper is a size smaller and the lace has a hole in it. Three materials take most of that damage in autumn: knit, lace and leather, real or faux. Here is what each one needs, in plain steps, and what to leave alone.

Start with the label

Every piece carries a small care label sewn into a side seam or the neck. The symbols follow one international system, so they mean the same in Amsterdam, Milan and Warsaw. Five of them do most of the work:

• The tub is washing. A number in it is the highest temperature in °C. A hand in it means hand wash only. A cross through it means do not wash in water.
• The triangle is bleach. Crossed out, it means no bleach of any kind.
• The square is drying. A circle inside is the tumble dryer; a horizontal line inside means dry flat.
• The iron shows the heat with dots: one dot is low, three is hot.
• The circle on its own is professional cleaning, for the dry cleaner.

The label is the maker's instruction for that exact fabric. When this guide and the label disagree, follow the label.

Knit: cool water, flat drying, folded storage

Knitwear is yarn in loops, and loops stretch when they are wet and heavy. That is why a cardigan hung on a line comes back longer than it went in.

• Wash less. After a night out, air a jumper over a chair by an open window. Wash it when it is marked or when it smells, not after every wear.
• Cool and gentle. Use the wool or hand-wash programme at 30 °C or lower, with a detergent made for wool or delicates. Turn the piece inside out first.
• Never wring. Press the water out, then roll the piece in a dry towel and press again.
• Dry flat. Lay it on a towel or a drying rack, pat it into shape, and keep it away from radiators and direct sun. Heat is what shrinks and felts wool.
• Fold, don't hang. A hanger pulls the shoulders into points within weeks. Fold knits and store them on a shelf or in a drawer.
• Pilling is normal. Small balls of fibre appear where a knit rubs, under the arms and at the sides. Remove them with a fabric comb or a battery shaver, gently and on a flat surface.

Before you put knits away for summer, wash them and store them clean, in a closed bag or box. Moths go for worn wool that has not been washed.

Lace: by hand, in a bag, never twisted

Lace is open work, so every thread carries its own weight. It catches on zips, hooks and the drum of a machine.

• Take rings off first. They catch the thread.
• Hand wash when you can. Cool water and a little delicates detergent. Move it through the water, leave it for ten minutes, rinse in clean cool water.
• If the label allows the machine, close every zip and hook on the rest of the load, put the lace piece in a mesh laundry bag and use the delicates programme.
• Don't wring or twist. Press the water out between two towels.
• Dry flat or on a padded hanger, out of the sun. Never in the tumble dryer.
• Iron with care. Low heat, with a thin cotton cloth between the iron and the lace, from the wrong side. Better still, hang it in the bathroom while you shower and let the steam take the creases out.

Lace blouses and lace-trimmed tops go on last, after perfume, hairspray and body lotion. Those leave marks that are hard to wash out of fine thread.

Leather and faux leather: wipe, don't wash

Read the label first, because the two need different care. Faux leather is a fabric coated with a plastic layer, usually polyurethane, often written as PU. Real leather is an animal hide. Neither likes a washing machine unless the label says so.

Faux leather (PU)

• Wipe it clean with a soft cloth, lukewarm water and a drop of mild soap, then wipe again with a damp cloth and let it dry in the air.
• Keep it away from heat. Radiators, hair dryers and hot car seats soften the coating, and that is when it starts to crack and peel.
• Hang jackets on a wide hanger and skirts and trousers by the waistband, with room around them, so the coating does not stick to itself or crease hard.
• Skip leather conditioner. It is made for hide and does nothing for a plastic coating.

Real leather

• Brush off dirt and wipe with a slightly damp cloth.
• If it gets soaked, let it dry slowly at room temperature, away from heaters. Stuff boots and bag corners with paper so they keep their shape.
• Feed it now and then. A leather conditioner a few times a year keeps the hide supple. Test it on a hidden spot first, because some darken the colour.
• Store it so it can breathe: a cotton bag, not plastic.

Leather boots after a wet night: wipe off the street, stuff them with newspaper, and leave them by an open window, not on the heater. Change the paper once, in the morning.

The night-out pieces: sequins, tights, shimmer

October is party season in Amsterdam, and the pieces that come out for it are often the most fragile in the wardrobe. If you are dressing for ADE this month, three small habits help them last:

• Sequins: hand wash inside out in cool water, or spot clean only. Dry flat. A sequin that hits the drum of a machine bends, and bent sequins don't go back.
• Tights: wash in a mesh bag on a cool, gentle programme, and put them on with your hands flat, gathering the leg first, not pulling from the waist.
• Shimmer and metallic finishes: no ironing, no tumble dryer. A cool iron through a cloth only if the label shows one dot.

Three things to stop doing

1. Washing everything at 40 °C. Most everyday clothes come clean at 30 °C, and knits, lace and coated fabrics last longer for it.
2. Drying on the radiator. It shrinks wool, cracks faux leather and stiffens real leather.
3. Hanging knitwear. Fold it.

Questions about a piece you bought from us? Ask Lucy, our AI stylist, in the chat on any page, or write to our care team. And when something does not fit, the returns page explains the 14 days you have to send it back.