Care Guide
Lawn Care: Keep Your Prints Vivid
Cold water, shade and a little white vinegar: our fabric team’s guide to washing, drying, ironing and storing lawn so this summer’s prints look new next summer too.
By Hina Javed, Head of Fabric & Quality
4 min read
Lawn is the fabric of a Pakistani summer: fine, breathable cotton that softens with every wash. Treated well, a good lawn suit will see you through three or four seasons with its colours intact. Treated badly, it can fade by August. This is how our fabric team cares for theirs.
Before the first wash
Lawn prints are set with heat during finishing, but a little surplus dye can still release in the first wash, especially from deep shades like indigo, rani pink and emerald. Soak new pieces for twenty minutes in cold water with a tablespoon of white vinegar or a pinch of salt. It helps fix the colour and softens the finish.
Always wash each colour separately the first time. If the rinse water stays clear, you can wash it with similar shades from then on.
Washing
- Cold water only. Never above 30°C. Heat is the single biggest cause of fading.
- Turn it inside out. Friction dulls the surface of a print, and washing inside out protects it.
- Choose a mild, colour-safe detergent. Avoid bleach and optical brighteners, which leave a chalky cast on printed cotton.
- Hand wash, or use a gentle cycle. Hand washing is best for embroidered shirts. Printed trousers and dupattas are fine on a delicate cycle in a mesh laundry bag.
- Don’t soak embroidered pieces. Resham and thread embroidery can bleed into the base fabric if left wet for too long.
Drying
Summer sun here is fierce: wonderful for drying, terrible for colour. Dry lawn in the shade, inside out, and bring it in while it is still very slightly damp. Never wring it. Roll the piece in a clean towel and press to lift out the excess water.
Treated well, a good lawn suit will see you through three or four summers with its colours intact.
Ironing
Iron on the reverse while slightly damp, on a medium cotton setting. For embroidered panels, place the embroidery face down on a folded towel and iron from the back. The towel cushions the stitches so they keep their relief instead of being pressed flat.
Removing stains
Act quickly and work from the back of the fabric. Blot, never rub, and test any treatment on an inside seam first.
| Stain | What to do |
|---|---|
| Oil or haldi | Blot, cover with cornflour for 30 minutes, brush off, then wash the reverse with a drop of dish soap |
| Chai | Rinse under cold running water straight away, then dab with diluted white vinegar |
| Mehndi | Let it dry, lift off gently, then soak in cold water with a little lemon juice |
| Lipstick or kajal | Dab with a cotton pad and micellar water before washing |
Storing between seasons
At the end of summer, wash and fully dry every piece before you put it away, because any trace of perspiration can yellow cotton over the winter. Fold with acid-free tissue between the layers, store in a cotton or muslin bag rather than plastic, which traps moisture, and tuck in a few dried neem leaves or a cedar block to keep moths away.
Reviving tired lawn
If a favourite piece has started to look dull, the cause is usually detergent residue rather than fading. Soak it for half an hour in cold water with a cup of white vinegar, then rinse and dry in the shade. For whites and off-whites that have yellowed, a long soak in cold water with a spoonful of baking soda is far gentler than any whitener. And if a hem or neckline has frayed, bring it to any of our boutiques and we can usually repair it.
Voile and printed dupattas
Lighter fabrics need lighter handling. Hand wash voile and lawn dupattas on their own, squeeze them gently rather than wringing, and dry them flat on a towel so their own weight doesn’t pull them out of shape.
A note on unstitched
If you are having an unstitched suit tailored, ask your darzi to pre-wash the fabric before cutting. Lawn can shrink by two to three per cent on its first wash, and pre-washing means the fit you are measured for is the fit you keep. Our in-store bespoke stitching service does this as standard.
