How Do Laundry Shops Wash and Maintain Cool-Touch Fabrics

Recently, cool-touch fabrics have been the popular option in summer due to their light texture, skin-friendly softness, and cool and refreshing feeling when worn. So, what exactly is a cool-touch fabric? How to correctly wash and care for this type of clothing?

Functions of Cool-touch Fabric

Cool-touch fabrics mainly use two kinds of methods to bring people a cool experience. 

● A cool sensation upon contact

When a cool-touch fabric contacts the skin for the first time, the temperature of the fabric is lower than the skin's, so it can quickly remove the heat from the surface of the body and form a temporary cool-touch feeling. It’s as refreshing as suddenly encountering a bamboo mat in summer.

● Constant cooling function

After the human body sweats, cool-touch fabrics can quickly absorb the sweat and expel moisture. By virtue of the evaporation of moisture, it can decrease the temperature and maintain long-term dry and breathable conditions. Its principle is similar to the water-absorption function and quick-drying function of the sportswear. 

Does the Cool-Touch Fabric Have a Coating?

Currently, there are mainly three kinds of cool-touch technologies. Not all of them rely on coatings.

● Cool-touch fibers

Natural or synthetic fibers, such as nylon, polyester, linen, and cotton, inherently have excellent thermal conductivity and moisture-wicking properties.

● Modified fibers

The fibers are modified through physical, chemical, or biological methods (mercerization, shrink-resistant finishing, or the production of fibers with irregular cross-sections). These help improve moisture absorption, sweat-wicking efficiency, and heat dissipation performance.

● Post-wash finishing

Such processes may include coating or spraying. People apply cool-touch additives, which contain xylitol, mint extract, or natural minerals, to the fabric surface. They quickly absorb heat and can create an instant cool feeling.

Washing and Maintenance Guidance of the Cool-Touch Fabric

● How to wash? Can the fabrics be washed in the industrial washing machines?

It can be washed in the industrial washing machines, but the methods should be paid attention to.

- Choose the industrial washing machines whose programs can be edited. Use cold water to wash (below 30 degrees Celsius)

- Use medium detergents. Avoid using bleaching agents and softeners.

- It is recommended to turn over the clothes and wash the piece of clothes alone or put it in the mesh laundry bag for washing. This can avoid pilling or staining due to friction.

● How to dry the cool-touch fabrics?

Avoid direct sunlight exposure. After washing, hang it upside down in a cool and well-ventilated place.

If drying is necessary, people should choose low-temperature drying. Kingstar intelligent industrial dryers can edit drying programs and control drying temperature. The inner drum’s volume is large, which is helpful for high-efficiency drying of the clothes and avoids long-term drying that can cause damage to clothes with special fabrics. Also, the humidity sensor device can effectively control the drying level of the clothes so that people can take out the dry clothes, which avoids excessive drying that can damage the clothes.

● Can wrinkled clothes be ironed?

Many cool-touch clothes have good drape. However, some cool-touch clothes made of cotton and linen fibers may have wrinkles. If they need to be ironed, the ironing temperature should be low.

- It is recommended to use a steam-heated ironer, and the temperature should not be over 110 degrees Celsius.

- The ironer should not directly contact the fabrics. It is best to place a layer of cloth underneath.

- If the wrinkle is light, people can spray water on it, hang it up, and gently pull it to smooth it out.

● Why don’t the cool-touch fabrics feel cold after a few washes

The weakening of the cool feeling may not be caused by a quality problem. It may be caused by improper washing and care. 

- Use softeners or alkaline detergents. Residual detergents cover the fibers and have a bad impact on the heat conduction.

- High-temperature washing, drying, or being under the blazing sun for quite a long time. This will damage the cool-touch fibers or cool-touch coatings.

- Squeeze or rub the fabrics when storing. This will cause the fabrics to pill, deform, and have a poor touch feel.

Conclusion

Laundry shops should inform the customers that the cool-touch effect gradually weakens with increasing numbers of uses and washings. People should use professional and standard washing to extend the fabrics’ service life. Also, laundry shops should carefully read the labels of fabrics when handling this kind of clothes to know the fabrics of the clothes well. When handling, they should be more careful and professional to win the customers’ trust.