How to take care of your silk
Like all precious and quality things, silk is a delicate material that must be protected and treated following specific rules. First things first, contrary to what many people think, it is not necessary to send the silk garments to expensive dry cleaners, but you can totally take care of them at home!
Second, the real secret is easy to remember and apply: if you want to keep your silk always soft and shiny, then what you need to do is wash it the old-fashioned way: elbow grease and a dedicated hand-wash! Why not the washing machine? Even if silk can partially resist to the aggressivity of the washing machine, this material requires a delicate care and protection that nothing but a hand-wash can offer.
Below are the five steps that will guide you across the process of washing and taking care of your silk products (watch the video here).
The 5 steps
1. Fill the basin or the sink with 30 degrees water. This is so that the color can be maintained. Add a mild detergent - do not use harsh detergents, they can ruin the fabric in the long-term.
2. Soak the garment in the water and let it stay for a few minutes. As one of the silk properties is to release stains quickly, 20 minutes will be enough to leave our silk in water.
3. Rinse the product with cold water until the soap has been completely removed. Psst! Never wring your silk garments and never throw toss them in the dryer.
4. It’s drying time! To dry the silk clothes and remove excess water, place the wet garment on a cotton towel (preferably white), fold the towel and dry gently. Otherwise, you can get a similar effect by pressing the garment between your handsand get rid of the surplus water.
5. Last step is to hang the garment in a dry place for about an hour or two. It is important to remember not to hang silk products in the sun, as the sun's rays tend to accelerate color fading.
Unfortunately, washing silk is not always a smooth process. In fact, how do you proceed if the silk garment has stains?
When dealing with the combination of stain and silk, it is necessary to wash the entire garment following the process explained above. But there is an addition: a homade stain removal solution that consists of a simple mix of two cups of warm water with two tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar. This solution should be sprayed and gently rubbed with a sponge on each stain.
Ps: we recommend to dry clean silk garments that are multi coloured - like our classic tux robes. As natural silk is white in color and it is dyed to be any other shades, the dye can spread in water and color the lighter material. In this case it is best to clean it waterless at the dry cleaners.
How to get rid of silk wrinkles?
Once the washing is complete, there are two options to smooth it back to shine, one riskier than the other. You can either iron the silk garment or steam it (which is the safest option). In particular, when it comes to iron silk products, it is important to set the iron heat at the lowest level and turn the garment inside out to protect it from being ruined.
A useful tip: regardless you are using a steamer or an iron, to avoid transferring excessive heat to the silk garment and damaging the fabric, be sure to keep the steamer or the iron at least 10 cm away from silk clothing.
Now that you have all the info that you need, go ahead and keep taking care of your precious silk, because this way it will last you for a long while.