Why Your Screen Printed Shirts Are Cracking (Hint: It's You, Not Me)

1. You Don't Need to Cook Your Clothes in the Dryer (Stop the Heat) 

Look, the "High Heat" setting on your dryer is for towels and nothing else. If you’re wondering why your graphic is starting to crack, it’s because you’ve basically turned your dryer into a really poorly designed convection oven. 

• Pro Tip: Air dry your clothes, or use the "Air Fluff" setting if you absolutely have to.

• Pro Tip 2: Please don't try to cook dinner in your dryer. 

2. Stop Letting Your Zippers Attack Your Shirts

Every time you wash a shirt print-side out, you’re letting that print go head-to-head with any zippers, buttons, or abrasive seams in the same wash cycle. Spoilers: The ink always loses. 

• The Fix: Flip it inside out. It takes three seconds and creates a protective shield so your clothes don't look like they got dragged behind a truck. 

3. Stop Boiling Your Shirts in the Washing Machine

Warm water is great for washing any lingering COVID off your hands, but it has no business being near your graphic tees. High temperatures make the fabric fibers expand and relax, which is basically asking for the ink and shirt to divorce. 

• The Rule: Turn the dial to Cold. Unless you’re sizing your shirts down a size or two, there is no reason to use heat. 

4. Stop Playing Chemist in the Laundry Room

Stop trying to ‘optimize’ your wash with a labs worth of different additives. Fabric softeners and bleach are basically ink poison; they add a waxy coating that breaks down the ink and can even make it peel off in chunks. Your shirt doesn't need to smell like a 'Spring Meadow'—it just needs to be clean. 

• The Fix: A mild (natural if possible) detergent is all you need. Leave the lab coat in the closet. 

5. The Iron is Not Your Friend

Putting a hot iron directly on a screen print is a great way to turn that print of yours into a ruined melted mess. That said, if you want to turn your old favourite shirt's design into a new weird abstract design... this could work. 

• The Fix: If you’re that worried about wrinkles, iron it inside out on the lowest setting possible.

• Pro Tip: Better yet, just learn to embrace the wrinkles. It helps build character. 

Look, if you had already made all of these mistakes and your favourite shirt now looks like hell, it’s probably too late. I'm told you can’t un-boil an egg, and you can’t really un-ruin a print. The good news is you can always print new shirts!

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