How to Care for African Print and Adire Clothing
African print clothing gets ruined in two ways. Either someone throws it in a hot wash without thinking, or someone is so afraid of damaging it that they never wash it properly and it ends up smelling stale at the back of the wardrobe. Neither of those outcomes is necessary. This fabric is not as fragile as people think, but it does respond badly to specific things, and knowing which things matters.
This guide covers everything practically. How to wash it, how to dry it, how to iron it without wrecking the print, how to store it, and what the differences are between caring for 100% cotton Ankara, sublimation-printed polyester pieces, and hand-dyed Adire. Because those three are not the same, and treating them identically is the main reason prints fade faster than they should.
What Kind of African Print Do You Actually Have?
Before you do anything else, check the label. This is not generic advice; it genuinely changes the approach.
100% Cotton Wax Print (Ankara): This is what most African print dresses and sets are made from. The print sits on the surface of the cotton. It is durable but sensitive to heat and harsh detergents. The Mona-Mari Long Sleeve Ankara Wrap Dress is a good example of this, made from 100% cotton with a crisp wax print finish. The care instruction on that piece says dry clean recommended, cold hand wash separately if needed.
Polyester with Sublimation Print: This is what ASAKE-OGE uses for the athletic and activewear pieces. The Rekiana Crop Top, Chi Mask leggings, and similar pieces are 95% polyester with 5% elastane. The print is baked into the fabric through heat rather than sitting on the surface, which makes it significantly more wash-resistant. Machine washable cold, inside out. No bleach. Low tumble dry or air dry.
Adire: Adire is a Yoruba resist-dyeing tradition, traditionally done with indigo on cotton. The dye sits deep in the fabric rather than being printed onto the surface. Genuine hand-dyed Adire is more colour-stable than mass-produced Ankara in some ways, but still cold wash only, separate from other items.
When in doubt, cold water and a gentle detergent will never hurt any of the three.
Shop the Mona-Mari Long Sleeve Ankara Wrap Dress
How to Wash African Print Clothing
For cotton Ankara pieces, the safest wash is by hand.
Fill a basin or sink with cold water. Not cool, not lukewarm. Cold. Cotton wax print shrinks in heat, and more importantly, the wax coating that gives Ankara its characteristic sheen and stiffness begins to break down above 30 degrees Celsius. The key to washing African print fabrics is to use water no warmer than 30 degrees. Every time you exceed that, you lose a little more of the print's depth. Nkitidesigns
Use a mild detergent. Something labelled colour-safe or delicate. Avoid anything marketed as a stain remover or with bleach in the formula. Harsh detergents cause the fabric to fade a lot quicker over time. African print fabric is made using wax and soaps loaded with chemicals can easily cause the fabric to lose its colour. La Passion Voutee
Turn the garment inside out before it goes in the water. This is the single most effective thing you can do to preserve the print over multiple washes. The agitation of washing happens on the inside, not the face of the fabric.
Wash it separately or with similar dark colours. New Ankara, especially deep-coloured pieces, can bleed on the first or second wash. A white dress does not survive that. Before you wash your African wax print fabrics, it is important to test the material's colour fast properties. Dampen a piece of white fabric and press it against the wax print fabric using an iron to slowly dry both pieces. If the colour transfers, you know you need to wash it separately.
If you are using a washing machine for Ankara cotton, set it to the gentlest cycle available, cold water only, and keep it to a short cycle. Skip the spin if your machine allows it, or wrap the garment in a dark towel and press out the water by hand before hanging.
For the sublimation-print polyester pieces like the Omi Crossover African Print Leggings or the Duro African Art Short Sleeve Women's T-Shirt, machine washing cold inside out is fine. The print is not going anywhere. No bleach, no fabric softener, low-temperature tumble dry or air dry.
Shop Duro African Art Short Sleeve Women's T-Shirt
How to Dry African Print Clothing
Air dry is always the better option. Hang the piece on a wide hanger or lay flat, and let it dry naturally.
The nuance with Ankara cotton is sunlight. Some people say avoid direct sun entirely to prevent fading. The reality is a bit more specific: hanging it in the sun for a couple of hours is fine and actually helps with any lingering odour. Leaving it pinned to a line for eight hours in full afternoon sun, repeatedly, is what causes fading. The difference is duration and frequency, not sunlight itself.
For the polyester athletic pieces, tumble dry low is fine. The non-fade sublimation print is heat-set into the fabric, so the dryer is not going to lift the colour the way it would with surface-printed Ankara cotton. Just keep it on a low heat setting, not a hot cycle.
Never iron Ankara cotton wet. Let it dry to damp, then iron. Never iron polyester sublimation pieces at all. The heat will damage the synthetic fibres and potentially warp the print.
How to Iron African Print Clothing
Ankara cotton irons beautifully when you do it right.
Set the iron to medium heat, not high. Turn the garment inside out or lay a thin pressing cloth over the print before the iron touches it. Never iron directly on the face of the fabric if you can avoid it. The direct heat contact is what causes that slightly scorched look on older Ankara pieces where the print looks flattened or shiny in certain spots.
Steam is useful but not essential. A light mist of water from a spray bottle before ironing smooths things out well without needing a steam iron.
The structured pieces, particularly anything with smocking, like the Farida Smocked Off-Shoulder Ankara Midi Dress, need different treatment. Do not iron the smocking directly. The elastic gathers in smocked sections will flatten and lose their texture if you press over them. Iron the skirt and sleeves, avoid the smocked bodice entirely, and let gravity and light steam do the work on that section by hanging it in a bathroom after a warm shower.
Shop the Farida Smocked Off-Shoulder Ankara Midi Dress
How to Care for Adire Specifically
Adire, whether hand-dyed in indigo or machine-produced in an Adire-inspired print like the OMI print in the Omi African Print Ankara Skater Dress, is still a cotton-base fabric at its core. The care principles are the same as Ankara: cold water, mild detergent, inside out, air dry.
Where genuine hand-dyed Adire differs is in the first few washes. Traditional indigo-dyed Adire will bleed blue on the first wash. Sometimes the second. This is completely normal and not a sign that the piece is faulty. Wash it separately until the bleeding stops, which usually takes two or three washes. After that, the dye stabilises and the piece is significantly more wash-stable.
If you own a piece with Adire-inspired printed cotton rather than hand-dyed Adire, the bleeding risk is much lower because the colour is applied through a controlled printing process rather than an immersion dye bath.
Shop Omi African Print Ankara Skater Dress
How to Store African Print Clothing
Hanging is better than folding for most Ankara cotton pieces. Cotton wax print develops deep creases when folded and stored, and some of those creases are very difficult to iron out without risk. A wide hanger keeps the silhouette intact and prevents the hanger-shoulder bumps you sometimes see on lighter fabrics.
For pieces that do need to be folded, fold along the seams rather than across the print. The fold lines show less where the fabric naturally wants to fold anyway.
Keep African print clothing away from direct sunlight in storage. A wardrobe or a cool dark drawer. Prolonged light exposure fades colour gradually even when the garment is not being worn.
For pieces with embellishment, structured boning, or special fabric combinations like the couture pieces in the ASAKE-OGE Atelier Collection, hanging on a padded hanger and covering loosely with a garment bag is the right approach. The boning in the Obsidian Sun Corset Dress, for instance, needs to rest without being compressed or folded.
Shop the ASAKE-OGE Atelier Collection,
What Ruins African Print Clothing Faster Than Anything Else
Three things come up repeatedly.
Hot water. Cotton shrinks and wax prints break down. The colour does not bleed, exactly; it just slowly becomes less vivid. You will not notice after one hot wash. You will notice after twelve.
Bleach. Do not use bleach on Ankara cotton or polyester African print pieces. It does not just remove stains; it strips the print chemistry. Spot treatment with a damp cloth and mild soap is the right approach for stains on these fabrics.
Over-washing. African print clothing does not need to be washed after every single wear unless it is activewear or it is visibly dirty. Spot clean when you can. Air the garment between wears. The Ankara cotton pieces from ASAKE-OGE, like the Mona-Mari Wrap Dress or the Igba Unisex African Print Button Shirt, will stay sharp and vivid for years if you are not washing them unnecessarily.
Igba Unisex African Print Button Shirt
Quick Reference: Care by Fabric Type
100% Cotton Ankara (Mona-Mari Wrap Dress, Farida Smocked Dress, Igba Button Shirt, Omi Skater Dress):
Cold water only. Hand wash preferred, gentle machine cycle acceptable. Mild detergent. Inside out. No bleach. Air dry, limited sun exposure. Iron on medium heat inside out, pressing cloth recommended. Hang to store.
Polyester/Elastane Sublimation Print (Duro T-Shirt, Omi Crossover Leggings, Rekiana Crop Top, Chi Mask athletic pieces):
Machine wash cold inside out. No bleach, no fabric softener. Tumble dry low or air dry. Do not iron.
Adire or Adire-inspired printed cotton:
Same as 100% cotton Ankara. Wash separately for first two to three washes due to potential indigo bleed. Cold water. Mild detergent. Air dry.
Structured couture pieces (Solara Fringe Gown, Obsidian Sun Corset):
Dry clean recommended. Spot clean only between professional cleans. Store on padded hangers with garment bag. Do not fold.
The Question Nobody Asks But Should: When to See a Professional
If a piece is genuinely valuable to you, either financially or sentimentally, dry cleaning is not expensive relative to the cost of replacing it. The specific caveat for African print fabric: tell the dry cleaner what fabric it is before you leave it with them. A word of caution before you send your African print fabrics to a professional cleaner: make sure they have experience working with these fabrics. You would be surprised how many dry cleaners do not have experience cleaning African print fabrics and might ruin them because they just followed their normal procedure.
Ask directly. A good dry cleaner will know what you are talking about and will either confirm they can handle it or tell you honestly that they cannot.
A Note on Fabric Going Stiff After Washing
New Ankara cotton, especially pieces that are freshly off a bolt or newly produced, arrives with a noticeable stiffness. That is the wax finish and the fabric sizing that manufacturers apply. It softens with each wash. If your Mona-Mari or your Farida Dress feels a little crisp and structured when it first arrives, that is correct. It will soften over the first two to three washes into something that drapes more fluidly.
Some people actively prefer the crisp wax-heavy feel of unwashed Ankara. If that is you, hand wash gently in cold water without soaking and do not use fabric softener. If you want the softer feel sooner, a brief cold soak with a small amount of fabric softener before the first wash will speed that up without damaging the print.
For more on the fabric traditions behind ASAKE-OGE's prints, including the history of Ankara, Adire, and West African wax print culture, read The Ultimate Guide to African Print Clothing. And if you want to understand what makes each ASAKE-OGE print distinct, the What Black Men Have Always Known About Getting Dressed essay covers the cultural weight of African print clothing in more depth.
Browse the full ASAKE-OGE Ready to Wear collection and the ASAKE-OGE Atelier Collection at asakeogewoman.com.
About the Author
This guide was written by the ASAKE-OGE editorial team, drawing on 15 years of working with West African textile traditions including Ankara wax print, Adire, and sublimation-printed heritage fabric. Questions about a specific piece? Reach out via the ASAKE-OGE contact page.