Most cashmere comes with a label that reads: Hand-wash only. Lay flat to dry. Do not tumble. Do not bleach. Do not, frankly, get this anywhere near a six-year-old.
We took a different view.
If a fabric is going to live in the wardrobe of a child — be pulled over the head before breakfast, get jam on it by 9am, and survive a tantrum about whose turn it is on the swing — it has to be washable. Not gently, occasionally, when the planets align. Properly washable. In a normal washing machine. With other clothes.
Our 95/5 organic cotton and cashmere blend is engineered for that. Here's how.
Why most cashmere isn't machine-washable
Pure cashmere can technically be machine-washed, but most adult cashmere garments are knitted in a way that doesn't tolerate it well. Loose stitches stretch in agitation. Surface fibres pill aggressively against zips and buttons in mixed loads. The garment ends up out of shape, fuzzy, and flat after a few cycles.
Brands cope with this by writing "hand-wash only" on the label and letting customers do the work. For an adult cardigan worn to a meeting and gently spot-cleaned, that's reasonable. For a kid's cardigan that comes home from playgroup wearing half a yoghurt pot, it's not.
So we changed the inputs. Three things make our blend different:
1. The yarn is pre-treated for shrink resistance before it's knitted, using a low-impact mechanical (not chemical) treatment that locks the fibre's surface scales — the parts that cause shrinking and felting in hot water.
2. The 95% organic cotton stabilises the cloth. Cotton is far less reactive to water and agitation than pure cashmere. The blend doesn't lose its shape the way 100% cashmere can.
3. We use a tighter, full-fashion knit construction. The garment is knitted to its finished shape, not cut and sewn. There are no glued seams to come apart, no cut edges to fray, and a more uniform stitch tension that holds up to repeated machine washing.
That's why our cardigans, jumpers, and onesies say 'machine wash, cool, gentle cycle, mesh bag' on the label. We meant it.
The wash cycle (one more time)
We covered this in detail in our care guide
Quick version:
- 30°C or below
- Gentle/delicate/wool cycle
- Mesh laundry bag, garment turned inside out
- Non-bio liquid detergent (or a wool/cashmere wash)
- Low spin (400–800 rpm)
- Lay flat to dry — never tumble dry
Five minutes of attention before the wash, zero supervision during it. That's the design brief.
What we tested before saying "machine washable"
The 95/5 blend went through a long programme of in-house and third-party wash testing before we put it on the label. The headline points:
- 50 cycles at 30°C with no measurable loss of shape across cardigans, jumpers, onesies, and dresses
- 100 cycles before any visible change in surface texture (and the change was a faint thinning of pile, not pilling or matting)
- Stability at 40°C for accidental warm-wash forgiveness (we don't recommend it, but it won't ruin a piece)
- Colourfastness across our entire palette
These aren't industry-shattering numbers. They are, however, very different from what most cashmere can survive. They're the floor of what we'd ask of a fabric we put on children.
Comparison: pure cashmere care vs. 95/5 blend
| | Pure cashmere | 95/5 organic cotton & cashmere |
|---|---|---|
| Wash | Cool hand-wash recommended; machine cool gentle possible with care | Cool machine wash, gentle cycle, mesh bag |
| Shrinkage risk | Higher; sensitive to heat and agitation | Lower; pre-treated yarn and cotton stabilisation |
| Pilling | More visible early on | Visible early, settles after first few washes |
| Drying | Lay flat | Lay flat |
| Best for | Babies, accessories, occasion pieces | Everyday kidswear (1–12 years) |
The blend is more forgiving of the kind of laundry mistakes that happen at 7am in a house with three children getting ready for school. The pure cashmere is the right choice for the moments — and the ages — that warrant a little more ceremony.
What about the other things on the label?
No tumble drying. Tumble drying shrinks knits, full stop. Air-dry flat. Always.
No bleach. Bleach destroys protein fibres (the cashmere component) and weakens cellulose fibres (the cotton). Both of these are bad. Use a wool/cashmere wash or non-bio liquid for stains.
No fabric softener. Modern softeners coat the fibre with a hydrophobic film. The fabric feels softer for the first few minutes, then loses absorbency and breathability. Skip it.
Cool iron, reverse side, with a cloth. Most pieces don't need ironing — they recover their shape on a flat dry. If you do iron, low temperature, on the inside, with a cotton press cloth between the iron and the fabric.
When something does go wrong
We've designed the blend to be forgiving, but the universe is wide. If a piece comes out of the wash looking sad:
Smaller. Almost certainly not actual shrinkage. Reshape while damp on a flat towel and pin to size; the cloth almost always returns.
Felted (densely matted). This means it's seen high heat. We can sometimes recover a piece with steam blocking — get in touch.
Out of shape. Lay flat, reshape, dry. Nine times out of ten, it returns.
You can usually rescue a mistake. We'd rather you didn't have to.
Frequently asked questions
Are MIKA & MILO cashmere clothes really machine washable?
Yes. The 95/5 organic cotton and cashmere blend is engineered for cool machine washing on a gentle cycle. We tested it through 50–100 cycles before it went on the label.
What's the right cycle?
A gentle, wool, or delicate cycle. 30°C or below. Mesh bag. Non-bio liquid detergent. Low spin (400–800 rpm). Lay flat to dry.
Will it shrink?
Not at 30°C and below. The yarn is pre-treated for shrink resistance. Hot water (40°C+) can shrink most cashmere blends, including ours.
Is the machine-washable claim only for the blend?
The 95/5 kids' collection is engineered for the machine. Our pure-cashmere accessories (baby shoes, blankets) are best hand-washed. Care labels on each piece confirm.
What if I wash it on the wrong cycle by mistake?
Probably nothing serious. The blend is forgiving. Reshape while damp, lay flat, and assess. If something is felted from heat, contact us and we'll see what's recoverable.
Do I need a special detergent?
A non-bio liquid detergent is fine. A dedicated wool/cashmere wash (Eucalan, The Laundress) is a small upgrade. Avoid biological detergents and fabric softener.
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What to do next
The cardigans, jumpers, and onesies in the main kids' collection are all designed for the everyday machine-wash life. If you'd like the full care detail, see our care guide
Shop machine-washable kids' cashmere
