Ultra Cleaned by Nazafah Labs and Finished by Yola House of Finishing

Step 1: Garment Inspection

The very first thing we do is examine your thobe or kandura by hand. We check for marks, soiling, and anything that may need targeted attention before the main wash begins. The collar gets its own separate assessment because it is the most visible and structurally important part of any thobe. Cuffs and edges are reviewed. Loose threads are noted.

If you wash a stain without pre-treating it, heat and agitation can bond the residue permanently into the fiber. Once that happens, it becomes very difficult to reverse. We identify every problem at this stage, before the wash begins, so it can be addressed correctly.

Our summer and winter garments are made of entirely different materials and respond to water, heat, and movement in very different ways.

Japanese fabric, which we use in our summer thobes and kanduras, is a lightweight fine-weave material with a distinct surface character. It needs a specific temperature, cycle speed, and level of agitation.

Mostly Wool is used in our winter collection. It has a natural fiber that reacts badly to heat and rough handling in ways that Japanese fabric does not.

Before washing begins, every garment gets sorted by fabric type. This means each piece is washed under the exact conditions it needs.

Step 2: Kandura/Thobe Gets Turned Inside Out

The outer surface of a kandura is prone to the mechanical friction of any wash. Turning the garment inside out moves that friction to the inner surface instead. The visible weave, the surface finish, and any fine stitching details on the outside all stay protected.

Step 3: Washing Process

Our Japanese fabric garments are machine-washed, but the machines and settings we use are not standard.

Our machines run a slow cycle configured specifically for fine and structured fabrics. The drum moves gently at low speed to replicate the controlled action of hand washing.

Water temperature is kept cold to cool throughout. High water temperature is one of the most common causes of fabric degradation. It weakens the bonds between fibers, affects the material's natural drape, and initiates a color shift that gradually dulls and flattens a white kandura over time.

The detergent is mild and non-biological, with no optical brighteners. Optical brighteners are chemical additives found in most standard detergents. They brighten the white fabric under UV light by absorbing it and re-emitting it as blue-white light. The problem is that with repeated washes, they accumulate unevenly on the fabric and change its actual color tone over time.

Wool is a natural protein fiber. Expose it to heat and mechanical agitation, and it will contract. The fibers physically tighten, which is how shrinkage occurs. Hand washing in cool to lukewarm water gives us complete control over the pressure, temperature, movement, and duration of every wash.

Step 4: Every Garment Gets Rinsed Completely

After washing, every thobe and kandura is rinsed completely. Detergent residue left in the fabric causes problems that most people never trace back to the right source. It stiffens the natural drape over time and makes the garment slightly rigid.

In garments worn close to the neck and wrists, leftover detergent can cause mild skin irritation, especially for those with sensitive skin. We rinse until the water runs completely clear. Wool requires particular patience here. The fiber holds both water and detergent more readily than most other fabrics.

Step 5: Air Drying

Every thobe and kandura is hung to dry on a wide, shoulder-shaped hanger. As fabric dries, it sets into whatever shape it is holding at that moment. A thin hanger creates a sharp, unnatural peak at each shoulder point, and the garment dries with that built right in. A wide hanger that properly supports the shoulder seam allows the body of the garment to hang as it was designed to, naturally downward without distortion.

While the garment is still damp, the collar and cuffs are gently reshaped by hand and pressed back into their correct, flat position before the fabric fully sets. Damp fabric can be shaped easily, and any correction at this stage holds far better than anything you try to fix with an iron after the garment has already dried.

Each garment then hangs in a clean, well-ventilated space, away from direct sunlight, to avoid color shifting. No tumble dryers. Heat weakens stitching thread bonds and puts stress on the collar and cuff.

Step 6: Perfect Ironing

The kandura/thobe is ironed section by section, from the collar points working inward toward the collar stand, so the outer edges lie completely flat without any lifting or curling at the tips.

The body of the garment is ironed with the grain of the fabric. Moving the iron against the grain disrupts the weave's alignment and creates a dull surface that becomes more visible after each wash. We always work in the direction the weave runs.

Step 7: A Full Quality Check Before Anything Gets Packed

Once ironing is complete, the thobe/kandura is reviewed before it is moved to storage or packing. Collar alignment, cuff finish, the evenness of the pressed body, and the condition of all visible stitching are all checked.

We look at the garment the same way you would before putting it on, because that is the standard it has to meet. If something is not right, it goes back. Not forward.