A screen-printed hockey tee will outlast your favourite jersey if you treat it right. Here's how.
Every Skate Like A Girl Hockey tee and hoodie is built on real cotton — soft, breathable, and meant to be worn constantly. That means the print needs a little care to stay sharp through wash after wash. None of this is complicated, but skipping it is the fastest way to crack a graphic or fade a colour early.
Before it goes in the wash
Turn it inside out. Every time. The print sits on the outside of the fabric, and every wash cycle is friction against whatever's facing the drum — you want that friction hitting the inside of the shirt, not the graphic.
Water and detergent
Cold water, always. Hot water is what breaks down the print binder over time and is also what shrinks cotton fastest. Use a normal detergent — skip the bleach entirely, even "colour-safe" versions, since they still work harder on a print than plain cotton can handle.
Drying
Line dry when you can. If you're using a dryer, low heat, and pull it out while it's still slightly damp rather than running a full high-heat cycle. Heat is the single biggest factor in how fast a print starts to crack — more than washing, more than wear.
What to skip entirely
No fabric softener directly on the print, no ironing over the graphic (iron it inside-out if you must), and don't leave it balled up damp in a hockey bag after a game — that's a fast track to both mildew and a stretched-out collar.
The short version
Inside out, cold wash, no bleach, low heat or line dry. Follow that and a Skate Like A Girl tee or hoodie holds its print and its shape for years, not months — worth it for something you're actually going to wear to every game.