Tips for washing silk items

Of course you want your silk items to remain beautiful for a long period and not to wear out quickly. The first thing that makes silk wear out is the washing machine, so never throw silk in the washing machine. You could also choose to take it to the dry cleaner but it is not really necessary. Silk dries so quickly that after a hand wash it can be used within a few hours.

What should you pay attention to before washing silk?

It is important to read the washing instructions before washing silk. In many cases where you have a silk fabric with print, it is strongly recommended to only take it to the dry cleaner. It may be that the color can “bleed” and you can destroy your silk piece if you wash it yourself.

Silk of 1 color, such as our silk pillowcases, can easily be washed by hand. If you have multiple colors, always wash separately.

How should you hand wash silk?

All our current silk items can be hand washed. Please note that if you have multiple colors you have to wash them each separately. Never mix two colors of silk. Use a mild detergent specially made for colored fabrics, as they do not contain bleaching agents. Delicate detergent or special detergent for silk is the only option for this.

  1. Fill a container with cold or lukewarm water. Fill the container with enough water that you can fully immerse the silk in it.
  2. If you are only going to wash 1 piece of silk, a few drops of detergent are enough. You can dose this by using a tea spoon. Mix the detergent with the water.
  3. Let your silk piece soak in the water for about 3 to 5 minutes, completely submerged.
  4. Like a mini tender washing machine, turn the silk piece around in the water and gently dip it up and down. As a result, the entire water flows through the silk and you wash the dirt out.
  5. After washing, throw away the dirty water and rinse the silk with cold water so that all the soap goes out. Stop as soon as you no longer see soapy water flowing out.
  6. It is important not to wring out your silk piece but to dry it with a kitchen towel or towel. Place a clean kitchen towel on the table and place your silk piece in it. Roll the cloth up like a sushi and back. Repeat it 2x.
  7. Hang your silk piece to dry and avoid direct sunlight. After a few hours, your silk is already dry and you can use it again.

 

How should you iron silk?

During washing and drying, your silk can wrinkle a little and you can iron it to get it nice and shiny again. It would be best to steam with a handheld steamer at home.

When ironing silk you should always be slightly damp, NOT wet, and turn inside out.

  1. If you can keep an eye on the time, see if your silk piece is already a little dry but still damp. You can then immediately start ironing. When your silk piece is already completely dry, take a spray bottle and spray a little bit on it. Turn your side inside out.
  2. Put your iron on the lowest setting or side setting and we're going to focus on steaming here. When ironing silk, you should not drag the iron back and forth across the fabric. Focus on the areas where there are wrinkles and very carefully and briefly press and remove. Only hold the iron on your silk fabric for a few seconds. When you are done with one section let it cool and then focus on another section with wrinkles again. You keep repeating this until all wrinkles have been removed.
  3. Before you remove the silk fabric from the ironing board, let it cool completely otherwise you will get wrinkles again.

Tip: You can also hang your silk piece in the bathroom while showering and the steam will get the creases out.

Shop our silk collection here