Washing silk?

[big brown horse]

The tag says to "dry clean only"...do I have to?


It is a silk duvet cover. And I'm not worried about the color fading, I just don't want it to fall apart.

 

[~gd]

The tag says to "dry clean only"...do I have to?


It is a silk duvet cover. And I'm not worried about the color fading, I just don't want it to fall apart.

Well people were wearing silk before there was dry cleaning. Can you get away with just hand spot treatment?
Next step up is hand washing the whole thing, the problems include the weight of the wet fabric and geting it dry again. Cold water and not the lye soap that you made yesterday. Don't grab a hand full of wet frabric and try to lift it that way. get under it and support the whole weight with wide spread fingers. A large strainer works well to remove it from the wash water and to rinse it.
Do I have to tell you not to try wringing it out? Pat And press out what you can and then deposite it on a large flat surface Like a table covered with a white sheet. Spread it out over the surface to dry.
Sometimes "dry clean only" tags mean what they say, more often they really mean don't throw it in with the overalls with the hot wash heavy cycle, spin cycle and then into a hot dryer or for this crowd line hanging from just one edge and three clothes pins.
Good Luck and remember you are assuming the risk, not me.~gd

 

[miss_thenorth]

I found this site: http://www.texeresilk.com/cms-silk_care_cleaning_washing.html

Hope it helps

 

[abifae]

i hand wash all my silk. i use cool water and a gentle soap (usually dr bronners for all my handwash). wash in like colors because the dyes used on silk do bleed a bit. and keep moving it around as it dries because silk will hold fold creases and clothespin creases.

basically with silk: hot water will shrink it. tremendously. hard spin cycle will ruin the texture and lay of the fabric. ditto a lighter spin with hard fabrics (never wash silk with jeans).

 

[dragonlaurel]

I wash it by hand if it's small or in the wash with similar colors. Some colors bleed easier from silk, so that could be important. I don't spot wash silk since if it loses dye, one pale spot would look funny later.

 

[freemotion]

I ask myself....how sad will I be if I completely ruin this? If it is tolerable, I wash it by hand. I would wash it in the bathtub or washing machine WITHOUT agitation the first time, though. If your lawn is clean enough, you might even spread it on the grass to dry until the bulk of the water is out of it, then spread it across several lines of the clothesline to finish. Do not attempt this if you have guinea fowl!

I successfully washed a wool peacoat, which needed a little pressing afterwards but was ok to wear. I just don't do drycleaning chemicals anymore. But still have a few items that are dryclean only and eventually will need to be put through the handwashing test.

 

[~gd]

I ask myself....how sad will I be if I completely ruin this? If it is tolerable, I wash it by hand. I would wash it in the bathtub or washing machine WITHOUT agitation the first time, though. If your lawn is clean enough, you might even spread it on the grass to dry until the bulk of the water is out of it, then spread it across several lines of the clothesline to finish. Do not attempt this if you have guinea fowl!

I successfully washed a wool peacoat, which needed a little pressing afterwards but was ok to wear. I just don't do drycleaning chemicals anymore. But still have a few items that are dryclean only and eventually will need to be put through the handwashing test.

A US Navy Peacoat will take a lot of water as long as you don't try to dry it fast. I served on a boat crew and went overboard in mine in many harbors around the world (like trying to swin in a suit of armor but thats what life jackets are for) We would dunk it in fresh water to get the salt out and let it dry slowly while avoiding mold. Still have mine after all these years.

 

[big brown horse]

Thank you everyone for your ideas!

 

[xpc]

You could always wrap it around you like a fairy princess while leaping and prancing about the backyard sprinkler. Better not those old people will take the farm back for sure.

 

[Blackbird]

I'm thinking that is WHY she needs to wash it. Grass stains and such.