Silk is everywhere and despite the difficulties with caring for it, it remains popular! Its natural characteristics make it quite difficult to keep silk clothes in good condition. The silk doesn’t like to be washed, you should just air the clothes or very occasionally wash them under special conditions.
If you need to wash your silk blouse or dress you should ideally do it by hand and following special rules:
- Hand wash in slightly warm water between 25 and 30 degrees C with special liquid or shampoo for a silk wash. You can find it in any supermarket.
- Add special shampoo to a bowl full of water and only after you’ve prepared the water should you put the clothes in.
- Unlike white cotton shirts which you leave to soak overnight, you mustn’t do this with silk. Never leave silk clothes in soapy water; you need to wash them as soon as you put them in the water.
- Don’t rub dry. Try to just gently crumple it or use a towel to absorb the water from them. Wet silk is very fragile and any touch can destroy the cloth.
- After washing them you need to rinse the clothes 3 times in clean water. The 4th time add 9% white vinegar (add 15 ml to 5 liter of water) then rinse and dry out of direct sunlight in a well ventilated place.
- Try to iron inside-out at a low temperature. Don’t iron totally dry silk clothes as they can be destroyed by the heat of the iron. If your clothes are dry when you come to iron them, spread a little water on the clothes and then iron them inside-out. Ideally use a steam iron with a special setting for delicate materials.
- Silk has to be stored in a well ventilated place. In your wardrobe it’s better to keep it in a cotton cover to stop it touching other clothes. Don’t keep silk in plastic or vacuum packaging because it doesn’t allow ventilation and can cause mould and yellowing. Besides, this silk is a delicacy for moths and other insects. If you need to store it put something with it that will repel insects.
