Best Way to Wash a Thobe and Iron It: A Fabric Guide

The thobe is the long white robe Saudi men wear, and if you have just started wearing one in Riyadh or look after the laundry for a household that does, the best way to wash a thobe starts with one question: what is it made of? Polyester is damaged by high heat, cotton and linen need high heat when ironed, and blends sit somewhere in between. This guide collects the rules Wilow's laundry workers follow for thobes: water temperature, bleaching, drying, iron settings and stains. The goal is a thobe that stays white and crisp, without shine marks or shrinkage.

How do you tell what fabric your thobe is?

Check the care label inside the thobe first; if there isn't one, the feel of the fabric will tell you. Wilow's fabric handbook lists four thobe fabrics: polyester, cotton, cotton-polyester blend and linen.

• Polyester: smooth and slightly shiny, almost silky to the touch, and it doesn't wrinkle much.
• 100% cotton: heavier, with a more matte finish than polyester, and it wrinkles a lot after washing.
• Cotton-polyester blend: looks and feels like cotton but wrinkles less and dries faster. The label shows the mix, for example 65/35 or 60/40.
• Linen: slightly rough and textured, cool and breathable, wrinkles very easily, and is used for lighter summer thobes.

If you can't identify the fabric and there is no label, use the safe fallback from Wilow's handbook: a delicate cycle in cold water (30 C) with mild detergent, air drying, and ironing that starts at the lowest setting after a test on an inside seam.

What water temperature should you wash a thobe in?

Between 30 and 40 C, and never hot. Heat sets stains, can yellow a white polyester thobe, and shrinks cotton and linen.

By fabric:

• Polyester: cold to warm (30 to 40 C) on a normal or gentle cycle, with mild liquid detergent.
• Cotton and blends: 40 C for white thobes, 30 C for coloured ones so they don't fade.
• Linen: 30 to 40 C on a gentle cycle or by hand, with no fabric softener, because softener coats the fibres and makes the fabric less breathable.

The number inside the washtub symbol on the label is the maximum temperature the thobe can take, so don't go above it. Two of Wilow's worker rules help at home too: don't overload the machine, since overcrowding causes more wrinkles and poorer cleaning, and take the thobe out as soon as the cycle ends to prevent wrinkles and odour.

How do you keep a white thobe from turning yellow?

Wash white thobes only with other whites, avoid hot water and chlorine bleach, and use an oxygen-based brightener when needed. That is the recipe Wilow's handbook gives for white thobes.

Chlorine bleach must never be used on polyester. White cotton can yellow over time, and oxygen bleach suits it better than chlorine. Read the triangle on the care label: a triangle with two diagonal lines inside means oxygen bleach only, and a triangle crossed with an X means no bleach at all.

Sorting before you wash does half the work. Wilow's rule is to sort by colour first, whites with whites, and then by weight, so heavy items never go in with delicate ones.

How do you dry a thobe without shrinking it?

Hang it on a hanger and let it air dry, which is the safest option for every thobe fabric. If you need the dryer, use low heat and take the thobe out promptly.

Cotton can shrink 3 to 5% in hot water and a hot dryer, especially in the first wash, so take it out while still slightly damp rather than drying it fully. Linen shrinks more, 3 to 10% in its first wash. Hang it on a padded hanger and never twist or wring it, because wringing leaves permanent creases. Blends shrink less than pure cotton but still shrink somewhat at high heat.

For a coloured thobe, look for the dry-in-shade symbol on the label (two diagonal lines in the corner of the square). Direct sun fades coloured fabrics.

What iron temperature does each thobe fabric need?

The dots inside the iron symbol on the label set the heat: one dot is 110 C, two dots 150 C and three dots 200 C. Here is what Wilow's handbook uses for thobe fabrics:

When in doubt, treat a blend like polyester, because the polyester part is the more heat-sensitive one.

How do you iron a thobe without shine marks?

Set the iron to medium for polyester and blends, put a pressing cloth between the iron and the thobe or iron it inside-out, and move the iron slowly. That is the most reliable way to press a white thobe without marks.

Shine, yellowing and permanent creases are all signs of too much heat on polyester. Wilow's handbook adds a subtle point: moving the iron too fast at medium heat can still leave shine on a white thobe, so slow and steady matters more than speed.

Cotton needs high heat and steam, and gives the best result when ironed slightly damp. Linen needs high heat and plenty of steam, must be ironed damp, and should be ironed on the reverse side to avoid shine. Before ironing a thobe whose fabric you don't know, test on an inside seam, start at the lowest setting and raise it gradually.

How do you treat oil and other stains on a thobe?

Treat the stain before washing, not after, because hot water and the dryer set it. For oil on polyester, start with cold water; hot water can set an oil stain permanently.

Blended fabrics trap stains, so deal with them before the thobe goes into the machine. Don't turn up the heat hoping to shift a stain. If it survives the first wash, treat and wash it again before any heat drying. As Wilow's handbook puts it, you can always re-wash something, but you cannot un-shrink it.

What happens to a thobe you send to Wilow?

It is logged at sorting, washed in the way its fabric needs, ironed and returned to you. With the wash and iron service, delivery is within an estimated 24 hours of pickup; this is an estimate, not a guaranteed time.

Every item is recorded at sorting. If a thobe has a stain or damage, it is photographed under the camera, and you receive an in-app notification and an email with the photos before washing begins. The laundry specialist then decides whether it needs a regular, steam or hand wash, and your clothes are always washed separately from other customers' clothes. In the app preferences you can choose starch for a firmer finish after ironing, steam ironing (known locally as mirzam), and whether your thobes come back hung or folded. The app saves these choices for future orders.

If your thobes are already washed and just need pressing, the separate iron-only service starts at 79 SAR for a Mini 3 kg bag holding approximately 20 items, delivered within an estimated 24 hours of pickup. Wool, silk or two-tone pieces are not part of the clothes plans; they are booked as separate dry cleaning in the app. There, a full outfit such as a bisht or an abaya is 39 SAR, delivered within an estimated 3 days. If you have a luxury thobe or a delicate fabric, tell Wilow before pickup.

You'll find the other prices and plans in the plans section (in Arabic), and pickup and delivery questions on the FAQ page (in Arabic). If there's also an abaya in your household that needs similar care, read the fabric-by-fabric abaya care guide.