Care Instructions for African Clothing & Fabrics

African clothing and attires are, in general, made from fine fabrics. Popular fabrics range from 100% plain cotton, printed cotton (wax print), cotton-kente, and cotton brocade with elaborate designs woven into the fabrics.

Upscale fabrics include George, Damask, various varieties of lace fabrics, and hand-loomed Aso Oke fabrics which are most popular with Yoruba Royalty of Nigeria. In turn, Aso Oke fabrics are hand-loomed either with pure cotton yarn, cotton with metallic thread accents, or completely with metallic silk threads.

Many African outfits come with heavy embroideries, often hand crafted, that require careful handling and care.

Wax prints, Brocade prints, and solid Brocade

Most of the wax, brocade and solid-print African attires on the Africastyles web site are 100% cotton. Outfits made from such fabrics have a tendency to shrink depending on how it is cared for. We advise that you follow the recommended care instructions in order to get the best out of your unique African clothes.

• Machine wash with warm water and mild soap.
• Avoid the spin cycle
• Hang to dry
• Iron on the wrong side using the setting for Cotton, or use cooler settings.

Cotton Aso Oke

As the name indicates, the cotton Aso Oke are hand-woven with 100% cotton yarns. Because these clothes are not everyday clothes, they do not require frequent care. On average, you only need to clean/wash your Aso Oke once every three to four wearing. Though cotton is machine washable, we strongly discourage you from machine washing your Aso Oke for whatever reason. If you can find a knowledgeable dry-cleaner, the best practice is to use a dry cleaning service. Otherwise, don't despair.

• Hand wash with mild soap
• Hang to dry
• Iron with hot iron (setting for cotton)

Metalic Aso Oke

The metallic Aso Oke is hand-woven with synthetic or silk yarn and they are very good at repelling dirt. When and if you must clean/wash your metallic Aso Oke set, follow the outlined care instruction.

1. Dry clean or hand wash with very mild liquid soap
2. Hang to dry
3. No ironing (they don't need ironing)

About the Author: Liz Akano is a Teacher, Entrepreneur, Fashion Designer and Co-owner of Africastyles. Africastyles African Clothing manufactures and markets authentic African clothing attires world-wide through a network of Distributor Partners. Join us.

Copyright 2005, Africastyles. All Rights Reserved. You may reprint, republish or circulate this article provided that you leave the author attribution and all links intact. You may not edit the article in any way.