Element Blog

How to Wash a Down Jacket

A down jacket that has gone flat is usually not worn out. It is coated — with body oil, with detergent residue, or with both — and the loft that keeps you warm is trapped underneath. Washing it cor...

“Dry Clean Only”: What It Means and When It Is Negotiable

Dry clean only is not a law of physics. It is a manufacturer telling you which method they are prepared to stand behind — and on a great many garments it is chosen because it is the safest thing to...

How to Wash Shirts So the Collar and Cuffs Last

A shirt almost never wears out across the body. It fails at the collar and the cuffs, in that order, and both failures start with the same invisible deposit that a normal wash was never asked to re...

Bed Linen and Towels: Temperature, Dosing and Why Towels Go Stiff

Household linen is the load most people get wrong in the same 2 ways: not hot enough for the job, and far too much product for the fabric. Towels tell you about both, because they go stiff long bef...

How to Wash Denim Without Losing the Colour

Denim fades because indigo was never fixed into the yarn in the first place — it sits on the surface and leaves a little at a time. You cannot stop that. You can slow it down considerably.

How to Wash Wool and Merino Without Felting It

A wool jumper does not shrink. It felts — the fibres lock together and the garment gets smaller and denser in a way that no amount of stretching undoes. 3 things cause it, and you control all 3.