What material is your American flag made of? While they all feature the same design consisting of 50 white stars and 13 red-and-white horizontal stripes, American flags are available in different materials. Some of them are made of cotton, whereas others are made of nylon. If your American flag falls under the latter category, you should consider the following tips to clean and maintain it.
Don’t Let It Touch the Ground
Whether you display it indoors or outdoors, you shouldn’t let your nylon American flag touch the flag. No American flag, in fact, should ever touch the ground. Aside from getting dirty, it’s considered a violation of the U.S. Flag Code. The proper way to display the American flag is to either mount it on a wall or hang it from a pole. Using either of these methods, you can keep your nylon American flag off the ground.
Spot Clean Minor Stains
For minor stains, you can spot clean your nylon American flag. Spot cleaning involves manually cleaning your nylon American flag with a washcloth, soap and warm water. Start by removing it from the wall or pole. Next, run a washcloth under lukewarm water, followed by adding a few drops of gentle dish soap to it. You can then gently scrub the surface of your nylon American flag until the stains are removed. Spot cleaning offers a safe way to clean flags made of most fabrics, including nylon. Just remember to let your nylon American flag dry before hanging it back on the wall or pole.
Machine Wash When Dirty
While spot cleaning can remove minor stains from your nylon American flag, you may need a little extra cleaning power for severe stains. Fortunately, most nylon American flags are machine washable. You can clean them in the washing machine — assuming you use the right settings. When machine washing your nylon American flag, use the delicate or gentle cycle setting. This means the drum will spin slower, thereby exposing your nylon American flag to less mechanical stress.
You should also use cold water when machine washing your nylon American flag. Washing machines can produce hot water. It’s not uncommon for the water temperature to reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit if you set your washing machine to the hot water setting. With the cold water setting, your nylon American flag will be exposed to less heat, so you won’t have to worry about it fading or otherwise suffering damage
