Durability · 4 min read
Kit does not wear out. It fails in specific places
Failure, in order
A jersey that is "worn out" almost never has worn-out fabric. It has a failed seam, a lifted print or a stretched waistband, and the garment around those is usually fine. Knowing the order they fail in is what makes a kit budget predictable.
The order things go
Roughly, for a garment worn and washed through a normal season.
- First, within weeks
- Pressed vinyl on a garment that has met a tumble dryer
- Early season
- Shoulder seams on practice tops, where a bag strap sits
- Mid season
- Waistband elastic on shorts, especially without a drawcord
- Late season
- Hem stitching, from being pulled over pads or tucked repeatedly
- Season two
- Screen print cracking, if it was plastisol and dried hot
- Years later
- The fabric itself, and sublimated colour with it
Which of these you can buy your way out of
Seams, mostly. Reinforcement at the shoulder, hem and neck costs very little at production and removes the two earliest failures on the list entirely — which is why we do it as standard on practice gear rather than as an upgrade.
Prints, by choosing dye over press wherever the design allows it. There is nothing on the surface of a sublimated garment to lift, and the difference is explained on our page about colour bonded into the fibre at heat.
Elastic, by specifying a bonded waistband with an internal drawcord. It is a small addition to the quote and it is the difference between shorts that finish the season and shorts that do not.
What you cannot buy your way out of is heat. A tumble dryer will undo every one of those decisions, and no specification survives it.
What fails, when, and whether it was preventable
Ordered by how early in a season it typically shows up.
- Pressed vinyl numbers — weeks 3 to 8
- The corner lifts, then the edge, then the number. Preventable: sublimate the numbers, or accept vinyl as a season-long decoration rather than a durable one.
- Seams at the underarm and side — month 2 onward
- A stress point that opens under repeated overhead movement. Preventable at construction; not repairable well afterwards.
- Baseball pants at knee and seat — month 1 in a busy season
- The most predictable failure in the whole range, and the one reinforcement exists for.
- Pilling on cheap fabric — after roughly twenty washes
- Not a failure exactly, but it is what makes a set look old while it is still functionally fine. It is a yarn-quality question and it is decided at fabric choice.
- Colour fade — season 2 and later, on printed-on decoration
- Sublimated colour does not fade this way because it is in the fibre. Anything sitting on top of the fabric does.
- Elastic and drawcords — season 2
- The part nobody specifies and everybody notices. Worth asking about, because it is cheap to do properly and invisible until it goes.
Washing does more damage than playing
This surprises people, and it holds across every sport we make for. A jersey is worn hard for a few hours a week and washed hard several times a week, and the heat in a dryer does more cumulative harm than any amount of contact on the field.
The specific culprits are high dryer heat, which degrades elastane and lifts anything pressed onto the surface, and fabric softener, which coats the fibre and destroys the wicking the fabric was chosen for. Both are things a program does to itself with the best of intentions.
Which means the highest-return durability intervention is not a fabric upgrade. It is a laminated card taped above the washing machine, and we would rather send you one than sell you a heavier fabric to survive the dryer. What it should say is set out in the care and washing guide.
Quick answers
Is it worth repairing kit?
A stitched twill number, yes — that is its main advantage. A lifted vinyl print or a failed seam on a light garment, usually not.
How long should a kit last?
Game kit, three seasons with reasonable care. Practice gear, one to two, because it is worn several times as often.
What fails first?
Pressed vinyl numbers, usually between weeks three and eight. The corner lifts, then the edge, then the number. It is preventable by sublimating the numbers instead, or by accepting vinyl as season-long decoration rather than a durable one.
Is washing really worse than playing?
Yes, and it holds across every sport we make for. A jersey is worn hard a few hours a week and washed hard several times a week, and dryer heat does more cumulative damage than any amount of contact on the field.
What specifically causes the damage in the wash?
High dryer heat, which degrades elastane and lifts anything pressed onto the surface, and fabric softener, which coats the fibre and destroys the wicking the fabric was chosen for. Both are done with good intentions.
Where do seams fail?
Underarm and side seams, typically from the second month, under repeated overhead movement. It is preventable at construction and it does not repair well afterwards, which is why seam specification is worth asking about before ordering.
What is pilling and is it a defect?
Small fibre balls on the surface after roughly twenty washes. It is not a failure — the garment still works — but it is what makes a set look old while it is functionally fine. It is decided by yarn quality at fabric choice.
Does sublimated colour fade?
Not the way surface decoration does. The colour sits inside the fibre, so what ages is the fabric itself. Anything printed on top of the fabric rather than into it will fade over a second season.
What is the most overlooked failure point?
Elastic and drawcords, usually in season two. Nobody specifies them and everybody notices when they go. They are cheap to do properly and invisible until they are not, so they are worth one question at order stage.
What is the highest-return thing we can do?
A laminated card taped above the washing machine. We would genuinely rather send you one than sell you a heavier fabric to survive the dryer, because the dryer is what is doing the damage.