Fabric care, acrylic jersey.

People keep asking me how to look after the fabrics with care, specially if they are black, as dye is very easy to wear off with time or washes. This is why I am going to start to recopilate posts with fabric care instructions and I will link them to my pieces' descriptions pages on my website. I think that would be very useful for shoppers as it will give them an idea of what kind of texture to expect. As usual, if anyone is still unsure, I will welcome enquiries, via email or phone.

The first fabric I will speak about is jersey, acrylic jersey, to be more specific, as most of my pieces are made of this comfortable and extremely versatile fabric.

Acrylic is a fine, soft and luxurious fabric with a good drape-able quality. It gives warmth without weight. It is basically a fantastic substitute of wool but without being too hot so you can actually wear it throught Spring and even in the early days of Summer.

Acrylic fabric was first developed by DuPont in 1944 and in 1950 it was commercially produced for the first time. Initially it was used for outdoor purposes but now is commonly used in apparel too.

Characteristics of Acrylic Fabric, very similar to wool:

It is lightweight, soft and warm.
It dyes well. It absorbs and releases moisture quickly thus allowing the fabric to "breathe".
It is resilient, strong, flexible. It retains its shape (which makes it excellent to ironing, it is very sensitive to heat so whatever shape you want to apply with the iron, it will adopt it and keep it).
It resists shrinkage and wrinkles. (It still does wrinkle, though, but it is extremely easy to iron, I prefer to steam it. That way is easier and quicker).
It is resistant to moths, oil, chemicals, and sunlight degradation. (Good news for all of those who like to wear plenty of black under the sunlight).
Like most of synthetic fabrics, it is static. And, like wool, it can suffer from piling and abrasion problems. So if you want to keep your item looking like brand new for longer, you can opt for dry-cleaning instead of cool washing.