Silk ties, silk blouses, silk party dresses... it's hard not to feel put together when you're donning silk! To ensure the longevity of your silk items, wash them gently by hand. Here are six easy steps you can follow to hand wash silk:
⚪ Step 1: Check the garment for stains
Prior to washing, inspect your garment for stains. Use a gentle stain remover to pre-treat any stains (something formulated for delicate fabrics).
⚪ Step 2: Add delicates detergent to water
Fill a sink or wash tub with lukewarm to cool water and add a delicates detergent, like this yuzu detergent from Tangent GC. Follow the dosing instructions on your bottle (a little goes a long way).
If you don't have a delicates detergent on hand, you can also use a pH neutral shampoo to wash silk. Submerge the garment in the sudsy water.
⚪ Step 3: Soak & gently massage
Soak for a few minutes, then stir or massage your garment gently.
⚪ Step 4: Rinse & squeeze
Rinse with clear, cool water. Squeeze water out gently and do not wring. Silk is the strongest natural fiber when dry but weaker when fully saturated with water.
⚪ Step 5: Roll & lay flat to dry or drip dry
Roll your wet silk in a clean white towel while gently squeezing out the excess moisture, then lay it flat to dry. You can also hang the garment on a padded hanger and let it drip dry (avoid direct sunlight). Silk will dry fairly quickly given the nature of the material.
⚪ Step 6: Steam out wrinkles
You can use a steamer to eliminate wrinkles. Steam with gentle downward strokes and exercise care with your silk. Hang your freshly washed and steamed silk on a padded hanger until you're ready to wear it again.
Words and gifs by Team Clean
Silk blouse by Vince