Garment Washed
Treatment — one of 37 in the glossary
A finishing process in which the completed garment is washed, usually with softeners and sometimes with enzymes or abrasives, to relax the fabric before it is sold. It takes most of the shrinkage out, softens the hand and gives the shirt a slightly broken-in look and a fuller, thicker appearance — without changing its colour, which is what separates it from garment dyeing.
Washed, not dyed
A garment-washed shirt is dyed in the usual way — as yarn or as fabric — and then washed as a finished piece. A garment-dyed shirt is sewn undyed and coloured as a finished piece.
So garment washing gives you the softness and the pre-shrinking without the lot-to-lot colour variation that garment dyeing brings. Two garment-washed shirts in the same colour will match; two garment-dyed ones will not.
It also means the colour is even, including on seams and thread, where a garment-dyed shirt often shows contrast.
What the wash actually changes
Shrinkage, mostly. The process is a hot wet cycle, so it does to the shirt at the factory what the customer's first wash would have done. Residual shrinkage drops accordingly.
Hand. Softeners and mechanical action break the fabric's stiffness, which is why a garment-washed tee feels like one that has been worn for a season.
Appearance. The relaxed fabric reads slightly thicker and less flat, which is the look people are buying.
Related washes worth knowing
Enzyme wash uses cellulase enzymes to nibble at surface fibres, giving a softer, slightly faded, peached result. Common on cotton twill and denim.
Stone wash uses abrasives for a much more aggressive, visibly distressed effect.
Silicone or softener wash is the gentlest: chemical softening with little mechanical action, which softens the hand without much change to appearance.
Common questions
- What does garment washed mean?
- That the finished garment was washed, usually with softeners, before being sold. It relaxes the fabric, removes most of the shrinkage and softens the hand without changing the colour.
- What is the difference between garment washed and garment dyed?
- When and why. Garment washing is a softening and pre-shrinking wash on an already-dyed shirt. Garment dyeing colours a shirt that was sewn undyed, which softens it too but introduces lot-to-lot colour variation.
- Do garment-washed shirts still shrink?
- A little, but much less than an untreated shirt, because most of the movement happened in the factory wash.
- What is an enzyme wash?
- A wash using cellulase enzymes to break down surface fibres, giving a softer, slightly faded and peached finish. It is a more aggressive treatment than a plain softener wash.
See also
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