Wear, Care & Repair

At Isabella Oliver we make clothes to be worn and loved for a lifetime! From our use of premium eco-friendly fabrics to our production values, we take every care to ensure the sustainability of your garments. As a family-run business, leaving a positive legacy behind is important to us. Considering the whole lifespan of our clothing is part of this legacy, so we’d like to share how best to care for your garments.

A large part of the environmental footprint of clothes happens after you’ve bought them, as a direct result of all the washing and drying. The great news is that taking good care of clothing significantly lowers the impact of your laundry. Additionally, for each year you continue wearing an item (instead of replacing it), you’ll reduce its total carbon footprint by 24%.

We hope these tips will help you confidently care for your clothes, and if you have any questions our team will be happy to hear from you.

General Tips

Wash only when needed - Each time you machine wash your clothes, they lose fibres and colour pigment, which in time makes them look tired. If something isn’t really dirty, try brushing, spot cleaning or even just hanging outside the wardrobe for a couple of days instead

Load up - A standard washing machine uses an average of 90 litres of water per load, 3.5 kwh of energy and causes water pollution. So, when you machine wash, it’s best to load up aiming for about 90% full. Not only does this save water and energy, it saves you time and money too

Keep it cool – Did you know that heat is the main culprit of damaged clothes? It causes fibres to contract and others to extend, causing garments to lose their shape. Washing at 20º or 30º is enough to activate the ingredients in your detergent and as up to 90% of the energy used by the machine is to heat up the water, you’ll be helping both your clothes and the environment

Watch out for microplastics – When synthetic clothes are washed, they shed tiny fibres of what is essentially plastic. These microfibres are going down our drains and polluting our planet. To prevent this, you can use a GuppyBag or install PlanetCare on your machine

Keep it natural – Try to use planet-friendly laundry detergents and softeners and only use a small amount. These have an all-round smaller impact on the environment and are less likely to negatively affect your health

Hanging out – Skip the dryer and instead try hanging your clothes to dry. Dryers cause the fibres in clothes to break and are responsible for up to 90% of the energy used in laundry. Simply give your clothes a shake and then carefully hang them to dry, using the lateral seams as the folds to reduce wrinkling. Even in winter, you can dry clothes indoors. Knits will last considerably longer if they are always air dried. Linens and silks should be dried out of the sun to avoid discolouration

Freshen it up – If an item of clothing isn’t dirty per se but smells like it has been worn, you can freshen it up instead of washing it. Just hang it in the bathroom while you shower or use a steamer (the vapour will help release bacteria from the fibres and get rid of wrinkles)

Try Green Cleaning – For items that require dry cleaning, try to find an eco-friendly business who doesn’t use conventional toxic chemicals such as perc (known to be carcinogenic), hydrocarbons and/or D-5

Keep a sewing box at hand – Often when you buy a new garment from us, we include an extra button or embellishment. These are sent to you just in case, and we recommend you keep hold of them

Specific care for Specific Fibres and Fabrics

Whilst most denim fabrics are made from cotton, jeans and other denim items require an altogether different approach to other cotton clothing items to other cotton clothing items.
When taken good care of, denim can last for many years and age beautifully. The dyes traditionally used in denim are made from Indigo, which is a natural pigment that gently fades away over time to develop patterns of wear.

The first thing to take into consideration is colour transfer, especially if your denim is dark blue. Keep it away from anything light in colour when you wear new denim as the colour can transfer to your tops, handbags and even chairs – and those stains are challenging to get rid of.

The second thing to keep in mind is that while denim is heavy duty in wear, it needs to be serviced lightly, i.e. not washed too frequently. You can go for a very long time without washing your denim jeans and jackets. Just air them out, brush away any dirt and hang them in your closet afterwards.
Preferably wash your denim by hand on cold water, with some natural soap or other gentle laundry liquid, always inside out. You can check our hand washing guide here .
If you’re going to wash your jeans in the machine, remember to turn inside out, wash only with other similar coloured denim or black clothes on a cycle for delicates with cold water and no spin cycle. Use a tiny amount of detergent and avoid using a softener. If you want to keep a dark colour from washing away you can add a small sprinkle of rock salt to the tumbler, inside a front pocket or closed wash bag. The salt is used to set the dye and will help keep runoff to a minimum.

After washing, you can gently fold and press the water out of your jeans but please don’t wring them.

Hang outside to dry or flat dry indoors, still inside out. Do not allow your denim to dry 100% as it will become stiff. Instead put them on when they are 85% to 90% dry, or cool iron them (still inside out).

Follow these instructions and you’ll have beautiful denim for many years, with straight seams and a fit that only ever gets better with time!

Tencel™ and other Lyocell are woven fabrics made from wood pulp, known for being cool to the touch and having a fantastic draping quality. To preserve the original look and feel of your garments, you’ll want to follow the instructions on the care label.

Care label instructions for Tencel™ and Lyocell clothing can vary a lot depending on the type of dyes, print and finish applied to the fabric, which impact the recommended washing method and temperature. Therefore, please refer to the care label on your garment. In general, they should be kept out of direct sunlight to avoid discolouration and you can steam these fabrics or iron inside out

To keep leather items looking good you’ll need to do very little, this material really is made to last.

The first thing to know about leather is that it remains supple thanks to its natural oils. Care for your leather items by applying a leather balm once a year (more often for shoes and belts), working a small amount of product into the leather using a soft cloth and circular motions. Choose a balm that is made of natural oils and waxes for the best results (carnauba wax and beeswax are two star ingredients to keep an eye out for).

If you live somewhere humid, it’s also good to give your leather garments some time in the sun come Spring. This will help to keep any mould at bay, which can be an issue in natural leather.

Generally speaking, leather and water don’t go well together. If your leather gets wet, lay it flat and allow to dry naturally. Once dry, apply a natural leather wax to keep your goods from becoming stiff or developing cracks.

The oily base of leather helps to keep grime and stains at bay, so that any dirt can be easily wiped off (the sooner the better). If you need to, you can use a wet cloth to gently press on a stain.

If you have a leather garment that needs more in-depth cleaning, take it to a specialist dry cleaner.

These fibres are very easy care because they have natural hydrophobic and antimicrobial properties! Thanks to that, most wools don’t need to be washed on a regular basis.

After wearing a Cashmere, Merino, Greencash or Delicate Wool knit, simply turn it inside out and leave it outside the closet for a day or two to air it out. Alternatively, you can place it in the bathroom next time you shower for the steam to gently clean the fibres, then allow to dry before putting it away.

That said, please avoid hanging your knitwear! The weight of the garment will pull on the fibres, so you’ll end up with an imprint of your hanger or some other funny shape.

Stains should be spot cleaned as soon as possible, using a dry cloth on one side and a wet cloth on the other to try and ‘push’ the stain out. You can use gentle soap but avoid abrasive cleaners (they can create a stain of their own); rub as little as possible, then rinse thoroughly.

When you think it’s time for a wash, follow our handy guide for handwashing delicates. Never twist or wring out the water, gently press it out instead. Please don’t use any fabric softener, ironically it will have the opposite effect on woollens. Always flat dry, using a towel or large swath of fabric on the bottom.

Most wools don’t really require ironing, but you can iron them on a low heat setting while using a pressing cloth (a clean tea towel or similar placed between the iron and the fabric to avoid damage).

To prevent and address piling, please use a pilling comb.

Many of our delicates benefit from being handwashed even if they can technically go in the washing machine. Lingerie, woollens and silks are all considered delicate garments that can easily snag or break down when washing.

Handwashing is the natural alternative and doesn’t require as much time and effort as you might initially think. You’ll just need a container or a clean sink and a clothing detergent or soap that is formulated for handwashing. Detergents for handwashing are gentler (should have neutral pH) and don’t need warm water to be activated.

Separate your delicate garments according to their colours, fill up your container or sink with lukewarm water and add a little detergent. Gently submerge your delicates and leave them for 10 to 20 minutes, allowing the detergent to lift the dirt from the fibres. Empty the water from your container or sink, fill up with clean water again and ensure clothes are submerged. Repeat once or twice until the water runs clean.

Do not wring the water off your clothes, simply fold them and press the water out of them (you can press against the side of your container for example).

Flat dry to avoid creasing the fabric (you can lay bath towels on your drying rack to create drying surfaces for your heavier items, such as sweaters)

Cotton is a relatively sturdy fibre that doesn’t require special attention, however cotton garments can lose shape over time. To avoid damaging cotton garments, keep the heat and wringing to a minimum.

Cotton clothing can be machine washed (we recommend 30º, maximum 40º), turned inside out, with spin cycles no higher than 1200. Cotton is very prone to staining, so we recommend you wash with similar colours only. If you get a stain on a cotton garment, hand wash it as soon as possible and then machine wash with a small amount of stain remover.

Air dry whenever possible and shape your items when you hang them in order to avoid twisting. T-shirts, jerseys and knits should be hung from the bottom lateral seams to help retain shape. Structured cotton shirts and dresses can be dried on a wide hanger to reduce wrinkling. Cotton feels softer when it retains some moisture in the fibres, which is another reason to avoid the dryer. If you are ironing, use a steam setting to avoid damage.

Our EcoVero™, Ponte and other Viscose garments can be either handwashed or machine washed on a gentle or wool cycle, at 30º. These clothes can be ironed on a cool setting, turned inside out to prevent sheen.

Most viscose garments are jersey and when a thread breaks you’ll see a small hole. This can be easily fixed with a needle and thread, turn your garment inside out and simply knot the new thread on the lose thread to close the gap. This should result in an invisible mend. You’ll want to mend before washing your garment to avoid the broken thread from ‘escaping’ and create a larger hole.

Linen and hemp are wonders of the world of natural fibres, being naturally anti-bacterial and anti-microbial. This basically means that the bacteria that usually makes clothes smelly doesn’t like linen and hemp, which in turn means you don’t need to wash them often.

Our top tips for linen and hemp are to keep coloured items out of the sun to avoid discolouration, and otherwise brush and spot clean as needed.

Linen and hemp have very long fibres but are brittle, so please don’t put them in the dryer and don’t wring them.

Keep your linens and hemp garments looking and feeling fresh by steaming them, as the heat will kill bacteria and the water particles will permeate the fibres and get rid of wrinkles. Now that’s the kind of two-for-one we can get behind!

If you machine wash your linen and hemp garments, please wash them at 30º on a delicate program and with a short spin cycle. Washing at higher temperatures will cause the fibres to contract and the clothes to shrink.

Fold your linen and hemp clothes and hang them in your wardrobe, or otherwise keep them at the top of your drawers – the weight from other clothes can result in deep creases that are hard to get rid of.

To keep leather items looking good you’ll need to do very little, this material really is made to last.

The first thing to know about leather is that it remains supple thanks to its natural oils. Care for your leather items by applying a leather balm once a year (more often for shoes and belts), working a small amount of product into the leather using a soft cloth and circular motions. Choose a balm that is made of natural oils and waxes for the best results (carnauba wax and beeswax are two star ingredients to keep an eye out for).

If you live somewhere humid, it’s also good to give your leather garments some time in the sun come Spring. This will help to keep any mould at bay, which can be an issue in natural leather.

Generally speaking, leather and water don’t go well together. If your leather gets wet, lay it flat and allow to dry naturally. Once dry, apply a natural leather wax to keep your goods from becoming stiff or developing cracks.

The oily base of leather helps to keep grime and stains at bay, so that any dirt can be easily wiped off (the sooner the better). If you need to, you can use a wet cloth to gently press on a stain.

If you have a leather garment that needs more in-depth cleaning, take it to a specialist dry cleaner.

Repair Tips

In our eyes, some things never go out of Fashion. Perhaps we’re old school but we think repairing things is one of them.

There are many different ways in which we can repair our garments and continue using them, all it takes is a sewing kit and a little patience. The internet is also your friend and you’ll find that there’s an enthusiastic community of sewers and menders online! In this page we’re sharing a few of our favourite tips to get you started.

Alternatively, you can just take your clothes to a local garment alterations business, they’ll know what to do with it!

A sewing kit should include a couple of needles, threads of different colours, pins and small scissors. We also like to keep a thimble around.

You know the extra buttons, thread and trimmings that we sometimes send with our clothes? As tempting as it is to throw them away, you’ll be glad you kept them in the long run. We like to keep ours with our sewing kit.

Invisible mending works well on knits and clothes that are not worn thin. Use thread that’s the same colour as the area you are mending and work with your garment turned inside out. Working close to the edges of your hole or tear, use the thread to narrow the gap and close it only at the last pull. Carefully knot the beginning and end.

Woven fabrics can more easily be mended using a patch, but you can choose to either place a visible patch on the outside or your garment or place a piece of cloth on the inside. If you can get a piece of fabric in the same colour, you can make this close to invisible.

Visible mending with yarn - Mending is nothing to be shy about, in fact it can add character to your piece and communicate how much you care about your clothes and the planet. Using a thick thread (such as embroidery yarn), create a pattern over the area that needs mending, complementing it with other details on the same piece of clothing.