Embroidery is a painstaking and arduous process that creates something beautiful but delicate once the process is finished.

When embroidering the last thing you or anyone else would want to do is to damage your work in any way. As embroidery is such a delicate process and the art is made from threads it only takes a small nick or the curiosity of a child to cause irreparable damage to something you worked on for weeks.

Moreover, even if you aren’t an embroiderer yourself, you may have favoured a piece of clothing that has embroidery on it and want to protect it for years to come.

In either situation, it can be hard to know what methods work and what methods are wives tales. We have found some useful ways to protect embroidery on clothing, read on to find out more.

Protecting as a embroiderer

Protection starts at the very start of the garment's life. This means choosing the right materials that are strong and tensile and not cheap. This requires the right threads and applying the right tension when embroidering. Using thin or cheap thread will lead to most damage caused to embroidery.

Another way to prevent damage is by understanding which materials work best with certain materials. If you use the wrong material your thread could be creating holes that are too large, or it could mean that the thread will tear the material and vice versa.

More so, using the right backing material is also crucial to protecting your embroidery from wear. A flimsy backing will cause your embroidery to lose its shape unless threads are matched, and backing that is too thick will make the garment look strange if not matched correctly.

Some embroiders chose to embroider the backing first and then actually glue the embroidery onto a garment. If this is a choice you have made you need to make sure that you use the right glue that will hold the meborided piece to the garment. 

Protecting during washing

Another of the leading causes of embroidery damage is due to improper washing methods. When you have embroidered a garnet, or bought a garment with embroidery, you need to follow its washing regulations to a tee in order to make sure the embroidery doesn't wear.

Nowadays, most garments come with clear and direct washing instructions, follow these instructions should you buy a garment.

Conversely, if you have made a garment from scratch and included embroidery, make sure your customer knows what washing conditions should be followed to protect their garment. This protects the garment and embroidery’s color as well.

At the same time, you may want to double check the detergents or conditioner you are using won’t cause damage to your embroidery. This could cause the embroidery to fade in color or could be so damaging to cause the thread to become thin and break.

To test, get a paper towel and soak it in a little water and your chosen detergent, dab this on the embroidery to see if it causes damage. If your garment is fading, dabbing some vinegar onto the surface will reduce this happening more, but doing this from the get go could cause damage to the embroidery.

Here are some general rules to follow when washing a garment with embroidery:

• Wash the garment inside out in order to stop the thread catching on the drum of the washing machine
• Avoid packing the embroidered garment in with lots of other clothes, especially if it is a very delicate item.
• Use the gentle setting on your  machine that is both low on heat and in terms of gyration. 
• Using cold water to wash your garment will keep delicate fibers closed and will also trap the colors inside. 
• Don’t let dry in direct sunlight or at a temperature that is very high. Drying out the fibres could cause them damage. 
• In general, reducing the amount of times you wash a garment will always mean it will be preserved for longer. Washing for long periods, such as having a garment for a period of years, will undeniably cause damage.
• Never wring out your garment if embroidered. Similarly, dont pull or twist the garment in any way or let it crease too greatly.

Pretreating the stains on your garment before washing, while avoiding the embroidered section, will help you get stains out without damaging the garment by washing too hard or for too long.

Avoid bleach and very corrosive detergents as you can’t stop this from running into the embroidery while washing and could cause discoloration as well as damage.

Protecting your garment while ironing

Ironing is always going to be a tough one to avoid, if you like your garment enough to protect it this much then you will probably want to iron it to show it off in all its glory.

However, ironing can obviously cause damage to your garment with its direct heat.

To avoid damaging your garment while you are ironing, the best step is to turn the garment inside out so that the embroidery and its thread never make direct contact with the intense heat of the iron.

Even after this, make sure you avoid the embroidered area as much as you can and also make sure that when you do come in contact with it, it's not for long.

You could even go as far as padding the underside of the embroidery so that the thread isn't damaged by the friction against the ironing board.

General Care

As you can see there are many ways your embroidery could be damaged in the normal life of a  garment. Time will generally wear on any piece of clothing whether it is embroidered or not. Avoiding general damage caused by catching the threads on things, scratching gat the embroidery, causing friction damage accidentally, will always help. 

Generally, another great practice is simply keeping the garment away from children and pets who could play or scratch at the material. Keeping the garment in a plastic covering while in your wardrobe could prevent damage over time as well.