Keeping a rope basket in shape

Cotton rope baskets are sewn in a coil, and a coil holds its shape through tension rather than stiffening. Look after the tension and the basket stands up for years.

Never store one empty

An empty rope basket slumps, the wall folds inward, and the crease sets. Keep something in it even when it is out of use, even if that something is a folded blanket doing nothing.

Washing without wrecking it

Cold or warm, gentle cycle, on its own. Then stuff it full while it is still damp and let it dry standing up. It will dry into whatever shape you gave it, so give it the right one.

A tumble dryer is where rope baskets die. The heat and the tumbling together loosen the stitching that holds the coil, and once that goes there is no fixing it.

Liters, not adjectives

Capacity is printed on every basket here in liters. Roomy is not a measurement, and the difference between a basket that swallows a week of laundry and one that holds two jumpers is entirely a number.