It’s important to take great care of your abaya and keep it in pristine condition, so you can always look your absolute best.

How To Care For Your Abaya

Most abayas are made from delicate fabric and some have embellishments like sequins on them, so it’s important that you check the care label for the appropriate cleaning method.

Abayas with beading, sequins or metal embellishments should be hand-washed or dry-cleaned as these are more gentle cleaning processes that won’t ruin the embroideries.

Hand Washing Your Abaya

If you’re considering to hand-wash, it would be the same process as hand-washing your ordinary clothes, but just with extra caution.

Here are some key points to follow when hand-washing your abaya:

• Don’t soak your Abaya for longer than 10 mins
• Use cold water
• Use a mild detergent and only a small amount of it
• Avoid rubbing the areas of embroidery
• Only scrub the stained/dirty areas

Machine Washing Your Abaya

Just as you would with your regular clothes, separate and wash your abaya with similar colours. This will prevent colours from bleeding onto other fabrics and will avoid unwanted discolouration.

Again, because Abayas are delicate clothing, you want to machine wash them in a way that will prevent damage to the fabric.

• Use the delicate cycle, at a low temperature (no more than 30°C) to prevent shrinkage from the heat and avoid the stitching from coming loose.
• Wash inside out to prevent the colour from fading.
• Use a mild detergent or abaya shampoo.

Drying Your Abaya

After washing, always air dry your abaya and as much as possible, avoid tumble drying. This is because the heat and agitation of the dryer can wear out the fabric overtime, making it look dull. If you hand-washed your abaya, gently wring out the excess water before hanging to dry.

Ironing Your Abaya

It’s better to press/ steam your abaya using a low heat setting, as this is more gentle for the fabric. This is especially beneficial to your abayas with embellishments.

If you prefer to iron, use a low temperature and iron the abayas inside out. For abayas with embroidery, you should also iron them inside out but use a piece of fabric over the embellishments so it acts as a safety barrier from the heat.

Remember to:

• Store your abayas away neatly to avoid creases.
• Avoid hanging them on thin plastic/wired hangers, as this can deform the shoulder shape. Instead, use thick felt or velvet hangers.

If you’re in need of a top quality dry-cleaner to clean your abaya, Laundryheap will collect, clean and deliver your abayas to you within 24 hours.