How to look after your golf clothes

Buying well is only half of it. A considered wardrobe is an investment, and like any investment it rewards a little care. The good news is that looking after golf clothes is mostly about doing less, not more. Most premium kit is ruined not by wear but by the wash.

Here are the rules worth knowing, fabric by fabric.

Start with the label, and with cold water

Every fabric blend has its own needs, and the care label is the fastest way to know them. Read it once and you will not have to guess again. Beyond that, three habits protect almost everything you own.

Wash cold. Hot water is the quiet enemy of golf kit: it breaks down stretch fibres and degrades the moisture-moving finish that makes a technical shirt work. Turn garments inside out before they go in, which protects logos, crests and colour from friction. And skip the fabric softener entirely. It leaves a residue that clogs the fabric and stops it breathing, which is the opposite of what you paid for.

Technical polos and trousers

The performance pieces you wear most are also the easiest to look after. Wash them cold, inside out, on a gentle cycle, with a liquid detergent rather than a powder, and avoid softener. Then let them air dry.

Drying is where most damage happens. A hot tumble dryer is harder on stretch fabric than a season of golf. Hang your polos and trousers to dry and they keep their shape and their stretch for years rather than months. It also saves them from the shrinkage that a hot drum causes in a single careless cycle.

Merino and knitwear

Natural fibres ask for a gentler hand, and give a lot back. Merino in particular resists odour naturally, so it needs washing far less often than people think. Airing a merino sweater or base layer overnight is often all it needs between wears.

When it does need a wash, use cool water and a wool-specific detergent, on a hand wash or a dedicated wool cycle. The one rule that matters most: dry it flat, not on a hanger. Wet wool is heavy and will stretch out of shape if you hang it. Lay a piece like the Anders merino sweater flat, away from direct heat and sun, and it holds its shape indefinitely.

The same goes for finer cotton and blended knits. A crew-neck layer like the Johnstone tour pullover keeps its clean line for far longer when it is washed gently and dried flat rather than tumbled and hung. A minute of care after each wear is what separates a knit that looks new after two seasons from one that looks tired after two months.

Waterproofs, the one most people ruin

A good waterproof is the piece people look after worst, usually by never washing it at all. That is a mistake. Dirt, sweat and sun cream clog the breathable membrane and stop it working, so a jacket that is never cleaned actually performs worse over time.

Brush off dried mud first, then close every zip and fasten the cuffs so nothing snags. Wash on a gentle cycle with a technical cleaner made for waterproofs, never ordinary detergent and never softener, both of which damage the coating. Then, counterintuitively, a warm tumble on a low setting for twenty to thirty minutes reactivates the water-repellent finish, so the rain beads and rolls off again. If it stops beading altogether, a reproofing wash or spray brings it back. Treated this way, a jacket from our rainwear or wider outerwear lasts many more seasons than one left to fend for itself.

Storing between rounds

A little order off-season helps too. Make sure everything is clean and fully dry before it is put away, because damp is what causes musty smells and marks. Fold knitwear rather than hanging it so the shoulders keep their line, and give waterproofs room to breathe rather than crushing them into a stuff sack for months.

Buy well, then look after it

None of this takes long. Wash cold, skip the softener, air dry what you can, dry knitwear flat, and keep waterproofs clean so they keep working. A wardrobe treated this way does not just last longer. It looks better for longer, which is rather the point of choosing good pieces in the first place. Have a look at the current Spring/Summer collection for pieces built to reward exactly this kind of care.