How to care for your Malkauns

Attention!
Our products are handwoven and special. They need sincere care so that they live longer and breathe life just like you 🙂

Wash carefully

Handwoven cotton is soft and and tends to wear fast if washed improperly. Here are some ground rules to keep in mind.

1. Try to wash with hands. Machine spin tires the weave of cotton and takes the strength out of it. Better to wash it separately in a bucket with any mild detergent or few granules of Reetha (soapnut). And don’t wash it too often though. Go easy on washing.

2. Do not dry clean. Dry cleaning bleaches the life out of handwoven cotton. It reduces the spark of natural khadi and decreases its strength.

3. Do not twist dry. Twisting hurts the garment like anything. It strangulates the weave and dissipates the potential energy in it. Just squish them softly, and hang them in open, avoid direct sunlight though.

Naturally Dyed Fabrics (IMP!)

Natural dyes have no synthetic binding chemicals to keep the colour attached to fabric permanently. It tends to fade a bit over time and that is also the beauty of it. Over time it starts to look more and more earthen and accustomed to your body. Here are few important points to remember while caring for your favourite clothes.


1. It is common for the natural dyes to bleed a little bit in the first few washes, do not worry! Although we pre-wash them beforehand for you to minimise the bleed.

2. Pls wash them separately from other colours for at least first 2 washes 🙂 – USE MILD DETERGENT

3. If you’re using colour block dresses, pls dip them in water for an hour first before using!

4. NO DIRECT SUNLIGHT WHILE DRYING – Pls avoid drying washed ‘naturally dyed’ clothes directly in the sun as it will fade the colours very quickly. Dry them in indirect sunlight or in shade under fan.

Loose threads / irregular weave

Handloom fabric can have loose threads or slight irregular weave sometime in the middle of flow here and there, that is purely because it is handmade on a handloom. Please DO NOT pull/pluck them out. Simply clip the loose strings with scissors. It won’t impact the strength of the fabric.

Washing with Reetha

Washing with Reetha is pretty easy and actually good for cotton. Here are few steps

1. Boil the Reetha granules in water, until the water becomes pale (usually in 10-15 mins).

2. Fill half a bucket of warm water, and add Reetha concentrate in it, keep the granules in some pouch to reuse them again next time.

3. Dip the garments properly so that they soak well in it and stir/stroke the water with hand until it forms leather.

4. Rub the areas of garments that are more dirty with your hands

5. Leave the clothes as is in bucket for an hour

6. Rinse them with fresh water, squish them (do not twist dry), and hang them on line in an open air space (avoid direct sunlight for naturally dyed garments if possible)

7. Iron them when dry, and wear at will <3