For the long-haul: how to make your Newt products last

At Newt London, we place sustainability at the heart of everything we do - from the materials we use in our products, to the packaging your orders are wrapped in. There are so many pieces to the sustainability puzzle, but a really crucial one is longevity, and ensuring that things are made in a way that means they’ll last for years to come.

We do the first bit for you: we make our designs in small batches, and our expert seamstresses craft everything to the highest standards. We also only make clothes made from recycled materials, repurposing waste that would otherwise remain in landfill (or worse, on our beaches and in our oceans).

But the next bit is also down to you. How you treat your Newt products can have a huge impact on how long they can continue to bring you joy. We’ve pulled together an easy guide of tips to keep your Newt shirts and accessories looking good and feeling fabulous for years to come.

OUR FABRICS

We currently use three fabrics in our range:

Crepe de chine made from 100% recycled plastic bottles (rPet)
This fabric is used in our Cuban collar shirts, camp collar shirts, women’s cropped boxy shirts and men’s and women’s long sleeve shirts. Our colourful shirts also feature some ‘fusing’ (also known as ‘interliner’) to add strength to the cuffs, collars and button plackets. The fusing we use is also recycled.

Satin made from 100% recycled plastic bottles (rPet)
This fabric is used to make our twist knot turban headbands, our super silky hair scrunchies and our reversible, reusable face masks. Our face masks also feature two inner layers of bonded interliner - this is also recycled.

Stretch fabric made from 85% ECONYL® yarn
This fabric is predominantly made from recycled fishing nets and post-consumer polyester. It also features some elastane in order to give it that comfy stretch quality. This fabric is used to make our neck warmer snoods for cycling and running, as well as our stretch flares and mock turtle top statement loungewear sets.

We’re really selective about the fabrics we use, and there’s still not a huge amount of choice when it comes to materials made from recycled materials that (crucially) are of a good enough quality for us to work with. Luckily, these three fabrics are really easy to look after and they can be cared for in exactly the same way. The beauty of these fabrics are that they are very low-maintenance by nature: they are very crease resistant, and don’t need washing often.

Here are our top do's and don'ts to care for our casual shirts, sustainable scrunchies, silky headbands, neck warmer snoods and comfy loungewear:

Dos	Don'ts
Do wash only when you need to Some jeans brands suggest never washing their products. Whilst we won’t go that far, whether it’s a Newt product or not, we suggest only washing your clothes when you really need to. Our fabrics are very breathable, so you should find you rarely need to wash them at all - even our shirts. (Of course, for face masks, we recommend more regular washing for hygiene reasons.)	Don't dry clean The fabrics aren't suitable for dry cleaning, and regardless, dry cleaning typically uses harsh chemicals that we don’t encourage you to use.
Do wash at 30 degrees where possible As with any fabric, the lower the temperature, the better, so stick with 30 degrees celsius if you can. You can wash our face masks at 60 degrees if needed, but as with any fabric, the product won’t last as long when washed regularly at these high temperatures.	Don't tumble dry These fabrics are quick-drying, so you should never need to tumble dry these. But if you ever feel tempted to, please don’t - it uses unnecessary energy and will impact the longevity of the garments.
Do hang out to dry One of the best things about our fabrics is that they don't crease easily. You should never really need to iron these fabrics as long as you hang them out to try as soon as you’ve washed them.	Don't wash with your whites Newt’s colourful shirts and accessories are famously bold. Whilst we’ve never known any of our garments to run through our rigorous tests, we’d rather you didn’t risk it just in case. Wash with similar or dark colours to be on the safe side.
Do iron on a low setting You'll probably never need to iron your Newt products but if you ever need to, please use a low temperature setting.	Don't wring out to dry Wringing fabrics out to dry is never good for them unless it's something very robust like a towel. Just hang up your Newt products - they’ll dry surprisingly quickly, we promise!
Do use a Guppy bag No fabric is perfect and they all shed fibres, but when it comes to washing any synthetic fabrics - even if ours are recycled - we recommend using a Guppy Bag or something similar. This will catch any fibres and microplastics shed by our fabrics and ensure they don’t end up polluting the oceans.	Don't use harsh detergents and bleaches Needless to say, they’ll reduce the longevity of your Newt designs and most aren't good for the planet and our waterways either.

If you have any questions about how to care for your Newt products, just drop us an email at hello@newtlondon.com. We'll be happy to help.

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