Washing and caring for hand embroidery

Yes, you can wash embroidery stitched in colorfast cotton floss on cotton or linen. Wash it by hand in cold or cool water with a little mild soap, do not wring or scrub it, roll it in a towel to take out the water, dry it flat, and press it face down on a towel while it is still slightly damp.

Hand-embroidered clothes and household linens can go in the washing machine, inside out, though washing by hand is gentler. What you can do depends on what the thread and the fabric are.

Washing instructions, by item

Before the first wash

Check that the colors will not run. DMC describes the dyes in its stranded cotton as colorfast, and most major brands are. It still does not hurt to test, especially dark colors such as reds and purples. Hand-dyed and overdyed threads are the usual exceptions. To test, work a few stitches of each doubtful color on a scrap of your fabric, soak the scrap in warm water, then iron it while it is damp. Warm water, and heat with moisture, are when color is most likely to run. If dye shows on the scrap, do not wash the real piece.

Rinse out pen marks first. Remove water-soluble pen lines with plain cool water before any detergent and before any ironing. Heat and some laundry products can set the marks for good. Heat-erase pen lines turn invisible under an iron instead. For what each pen needs, see how to transfer a pattern.

Wash away stick-and-stitch sheets. Follow the package. One maker says to hold the piece under warm running water and rub gently with your fingers until the sheet dissolves, and not to leave it sitting in a bowl, where printer ink can settle into the fabric. These sheets usually leave a little residue, so finish with a good rinse.

How to hand wash embroidery

1. Wash the piece by itself, in a clean sink or basin.
2. Rinse it first under cold running water.
3. Fill the basin with cold or cool water and mix in a small amount of mild detergent or dish soap. Do not use chlorine bleach, harsh detergents or wool wash.
4. If there is a mark on the fabric, treat that one spot first. You can rub the fabric gently there.
5. Lay the piece in the water and swish it gently. Let it soak for 5 to 10 minutes. Do not rub or squeeze the stitching.
6. Rinse several times in cold water, front and back, until no suds remain and the water runs clear.
7. Do not wring it. Lay it flat on a clean towel, roll the towel up and press gently to take out the water.
8. Unroll it and lay it flat on a dry towel or a rack. Pull it gently back into square. If you are going to iron it, let it air dry only until it is just damp.

How to wash embroidered clothes

Washing by hand is gentler on stitches than a machine, and machine washing will probably shorten the life of the embroidery.

By hand: turn the garment inside out and wash it by itself in cold water with a little mild soap. Let it soak for a few minutes and squeeze it gently, without rubbing the stitches. Rinse, press the water out in a towel without wringing, and hang it to dry.

By machine: turn the garment inside out, put it in a laundry bag to cut down on rubbing, and use a delicate cycle with cold water and mild detergent. Skip bleach and fabric softener.

Drying: air drying is the gentle choice. Sources disagree about dryers. A DMC care chart from 2004 allows tumble drying for its cotton floss on cotton and linen, and one experienced stitcher puts everyday dish towels through the dryer. One embroidery teacher warns that a dryer can leave thread fuzzy and frayed and can shrink the garment.

To protect embroidery on clothing over the long run, wash it less often, spot clean when you can, turn it inside out, and secure every thread end well. See how to embroider on clothes.

How to dry and iron embroidery

1. Lay a thick, clean towel, or several layers of soft cloth, on the ironing board.
2. Place the embroidery face down on it while it is still slightly damp. The stitches sink into the padding and are not flattened.
3. Set the iron for the fabric, and no hotter than you need. A DMC care chart from 2004 gives 150°C (about 300°F) as the top iron temperature for its cotton floss, and less than 120°C (about 250°F) for its metallic thread.
4. If you do not trust your iron, lay a second clean cloth over the back of the work.
5. Move the iron in one direction, lift it, and set it down again. Do not scrub back and forth, and do not hold it in one place, which can scorch the fabric.
6. Leave the piece flat until it is fully dry.

For raised stitches such as French knots, add more layers of padding and stay off the front.

Pressing a dampened piece like this is also the easiest way to take out hoop creases. For a stubborn crease, pin the damp piece out square on a board and let it dry there.

What to do if the thread color bleeds

1. Keep rinsing in cold water. DMC's washing instructions say not to worry if the water colors, and to go on rinsing until it runs clear.
2. Do not iron it or put it in a dryer while any stain remains. Heat can set a stain.
3. If a halo is left, soak the piece for about 30 minutes in lukewarm water with a little mild dish soap, rinse under cool running water, and repeat if you need to.
4. Leave bleach alone. It weakens the fabric and strips color from the thread.

There is no fix that is certain to work once dye has run, which is why the test comes first. One stitcher saved a piece by embroidering extra vines over the stained area.

How to store embroidery

• Put it away clean and completely dry.
• Lay it flat, or roll it around a cardboard tube covered with acid-free tissue paper. Avoid folding. If you must fold, pad the inside of each fold so it does not crease.
• Do not store it in plastic, which does not breathe and can lead to mildew. Use a lined box or a drawer. Line a wooden drawer with acid-free tissue, because wood discolors fabric over time.
• Keep it somewhere cool, dry and dark. Attics and basements swing the most in temperature and humidity.
• Do not leave an unfinished piece tight in the hoop between sessions. Take it out or loosen the hoop, or it can leave a permanent ring.

For pieces you want on a wall, see how to finish a hoop.

Common problems

• The embroidery puckers after washing. Fabric that was not pre-shrunk can shrink in the wash. Wash and dry garments and fabric before you stitch on them. Small puckers can ease when the piece is pressed damp, pinned out to dry, or stretched in a hoop or over a board.
• There is residue where the stick-and-stitch sheet was. Rinse it again.
• Blue pen marks came back, or turned yellow or brown. They were not fully out before heat reached them, or the ink was never fully gone. Rinse in plain cool water and keep the iron away. Some will not come out.
• The stitches look fuzzy. That is wear from rubbing and from the dryer. Turn the item inside out, use a laundry bag, and air dry.
• Thread ends are coming loose on the back. Run each end under the backs of nearby stitches and finish with a small knot around them.