Silk Care: Washing Silk

Ever since we launched our line of Hand Painted Silk Apparel on September 5, 2007, we have received questions of diverse nature from TexereSilk customers. Although our website comprehensively covers most of the topics being broached, yet I have decided to take them up in a series of posts on fashionsalad.com. I hope they would be helpful to users of silk clothing in general and TexereSilk customers in particular.

The most commonly asked questions are about silk care and washing & cleaning of silk.

Washing and Cleaning Silk:

Most silk clothes can easily be washed as long as certain important precautions are kept in mind. The most important being the fact that fabric is pre shrunk (washed before cutting and sewing). Dry cleaning is usually recommended for apparel made from Silk Dupioni and Silk Noil because they shrink the most and Silk Dupioni might lose its texture and sheen also. Most ready to wear garments made from these two would usually say “dry cleaning only” on care instructions.

Chiffon shows water marks if exposed to water and therefore requires extra care while washing and drying. The following washing tips will enable your silk to retain its sheen and luster and give it a longer life. These are just general precautions and it is always best to follow the washing and cleaning instructions on the care label of the garment.

• Hand wash silk garments even if they are labeled for machine wash.
• Do a wash test on an inconspicuous part of the garment before washing.
• Use lukewarm water and very mild non-alkaline soap.
• Do not soak for long.
• Gently rub the silk in soap solution for a few minutes.
• Let the soap-water drain by holding the garment up (Do not wring at all)
• Add a few spoons of white distilled vinegar to rinse water to remove alkali traces.
• Rinse in clear cool water several times until all soap is removed.
• It is important not to wring.
• Lay the garment flat or roll in a towel to remove excess water
• Let the garment dry. Iron at low temprature setting.

More detailed information and instructions can be found in Silk Care: Washing and Cleaning Silk section of our website.




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