How to care for silk

 

One of the most popular fabrics which are used in clothing is silk. Good insulator, Lightweight, Smooth, Soft are some characteristics.
As silk is a natural protein fiber and a delicate fabric, you may feel nervous about washing any silk clothing you own. In this article on London Dry Cleaning Company, we will show you how to care for silk and simple steps to keep your items beautiful and soft even when you wash silk at home.
How you store, wear, and wash your silk will help the longevity of your silk’s life.

 

According to our experts experiences, we divided washing silk into two categories:

• Washing with hands
• Washing in washing machine.

 

Whether you need to wash silk by hand or in a machine, it’s important you keep the following in mind to protect the garment you wash.

 

The basic tips to wash silk

• Check the care label.

  The fabric care label tells you how that specific item needs to be washed and cared for. If it says washing your silk leaving it to the experts at the dry cleaners is the absolute best way to extend the life of your silk especially if we’re talking stains.

 

• Never wash with chlorine bleach.

  It can damage your clothing’s natural fibers.

 

• Do not dry in direct sunlight.

  sunlight can cause the colors to fade or even damage your silk fabrics.

• Do not tumble dry.

  As Silk is very delicate, the high temperatures of the tumble dryer can shrink or damage your silks.

• Use an appropriate detergent.

  Some detergent have been specifically designed to take care of silk.

• Check for colorfastness.

  Some silk garments may bleed in the wash, so test an area by dabbing with a wet, white cloth to see if any color leaks onto it.

  

 

7 steps to wash silk in washing machine

Some people believe that washing silk in the washing machine is wrong, and will damage the fabric. But we want to show you how to wash silk items in the washing machine.

At first, As we said before, you should check the fabric care label to see if it can be machine washed. Some silk items may lose colour or get damaged in the machine.

1- Sort the laundry

Washing silk and delicate fabrics with a heavy piece like jeans can damage the items.

 

2- Use a mesh laundry bag

           Placing items inside a mesh bag prevents them from getting damaged, especially if you have a mixed laundry load.

3- Load the machine

Make sure you don’t overload the washing machine.

 

4- Add delicate detergent

Use the detergent specifically designed to care for the silk garments. Follow the dosing instructions on the bottle.

 

5- Select the relevant plan

Choose the shortest spin cycle and wash on the temperature recommended by the fabric care label

 

6- Use a towel to soak after washing

After taking the garment out of the machine, use a towel to soak up excess moisture.

 

7- Hang or lay flat to dry

Don’t dry in direct sunlight.

 

7 Steps to hand wash silk

The safest way to wash delicate fabrics is hand washing. .Here are some instructions that help you to wash and care these items.

 

1-Use cold water

 

2-Mix a few drops of gentle detergent with water

 

3-Plunge the garment up and down in the water gently to remove any dirt with your hands

 

4-Take the garment out of dirty water. Rinse the item under cold water till it runs clear, and all the soap             has been washed out.

 

5-Use a towel to soak up the moisture from your silk garment.

 

6-Hang the item and leave to dry out of the way of direct sunlight

 

Cleaning silk with a harsh chemical can easily damage the natural fibres.

 

 

Removing stains from silk

We have already fully explained how to get rid of stains, but now we want to speak specifically de-stain silk fabrics.

 

1- Pretreat Stains with delicate detergent

If there is a spot stain on the fabric, put a dab of gentle detergent directly to the stain and allow it to work for at least 15 minutes      before you hand wash the entire silk garment.

 

2- Hand wash with cold water

As we mentioned before high temperature will damage the delicate fabrics. So Use a soft touch when washing and no scrubbing only with cold water.

 

3- If you decide to wash the items in the washing machine to remove the stain, be in your mind to use a      mesh bag.

 

With these instructions, cleaning silk next time you have a laundry emergency shouldn’t be difficult. Just remember we can do all the steps above instead of you with click on order.