Free shipping over $40 · Flat-measurement charts · 30-day returns
Home Shop All About Us
Home/Fabric Notes
Giggelle

Fabric Notes

Materials, how they wear over time, and the washing advice that actually applies to them.

Reading a fabric listing

We list the fibre content and the fabric weight rather than describing a hand-feel with adjectives. Whether a knit has width stretch, vertical stretch or both is on the page, since the direction changes how a garment ages.

Knit, woven and stretch

Knitted fabrics follow the body and recover; woven fabrics hold a shape and crease. Wovens hold a line and want a cool iron on the reverse. Anything containing elastane loses its recovery in a hot dryer faster than in any other way.

Care that actually works

Wash cool, turn garments inside out, and skip fabric softener — it coats the fibres and flattens brushed surfaces. Heat is what distorts fine ribs and dulls prints, so line drying in shade keeps both.

What the listing tells you

Composition and weight

We give fibre percentages rather than a general impression of softness, and where a fabric has a meaningful weight we give it in grams per square metre. Weight, where we can state it, is given in grams per square metre — the number that tells you whether something is a summer shirt or a winter one.

Stretch, drape and shrinkage

Elastane content above a couple of percent changes how a garment behaves over a season, and we name it where it matters. Where drape is the point — a fluid knit, a heavier woven — the listing says which and what it does.

Care by material

Knits and ribbed fabrics

Treat a knit as you would a wool jumper even when it is cotton: cool water, low spin, dry flat and away from a radiator. Hanging a wet ribbed top on a hanger is what turns a fitted cuff into a loose one.

Wovens, prints and trims

Woven pieces tolerate a normal cool cycle and a warm iron, but a printed surface should be pressed from the reverse or through a cloth — a hot iron on the face of a print will glaze it. Turn anything with a zip or metal trim inside out before washing so the hardware cannot abrade the fabric it sits next to.

Storage and season

Between seasons

Put things away washed and bone dry. Fold knitwear instead of hanging it, keep everything away from direct sun, and use a cotton bag rather than sealed plastic so the fibre can breathe through the winter.

Travel and packing

Roll the woven pieces and let knitwear travel flat above them. A creased woven usually hangs out overnight; a flattened rib or a glazed print generally will not, which is worth remembering when space is tight.

Questions about this page? Write to [email protected] and we will answer within one business day.