Africans love to embellish and decorate their clothes! Embroidery on mainly cotton materials are very common in African countries and especially in West Africa.
Striking bright colours of the embroidery threads and the stitches make the designs stand out. Other materials like sequins or beads may be added.
Embroidered African clothing are wonderful pieces of artwork with great attention to detail.
Any embroidered clothing is delicate, so special care is needed when looking after them. Even greater care is needed for embroidered African clothes, so it’s a no-no for you to wash them in washing machines. Doing that will ruin your outfit.
We would recommend hand-washing or taking the clothes to the dry-cleaners.
When you hand-wash, use cool or lukewarm water, so that the colours of the embroidery threads don’t run. Be sure to use a gentle detergent for cleaning. Don’t wring the embroidered part of the clothes. Gently squeeze water out of the clothes.
Roll your outfit in a dry towel to take out excess water. Dry the outfit flat on a dry towel. To press your outfit, when dry, use the iron on the wrong side. You shouldn’t use the iron directly on the embroidered pattern, as that will damage the threads, sequins or beads.
You’d want your beautifully embroidered and/or embellished African clothes to last a long while, so take extra care of them.