June 25, 2012

Handloom Silk Fabric Care by Folksmarket.com

Silk, not only, a smooth fabric but it also has inherent luster in it. Washing a silk fabric therefore requires bit more care than for any other fabric. But its not difficult as silk has in built tendency to repel the dirt and not always require the dry cleaning.




The below checks and process, if followed, can help sustaining the delicacy of the silk fabric and increase its life.

First of all make sure to read the instructions given in each fabric by the manufacturing group. If it says Dry Clean Only, then do not compromise or idle and get it dry clean only. If it says handwash, it must be washed by hand only, no machine wash. If the instructions permits the machine wash, even then, always prefer hand-wash.

Sometimes the instructions may not be there. At that time, you must check it on your own to confirm if you need to dry wash it or will the hand-wash do. So our step by step clothing will start from here only.

Step 1: Check color fastness of the silk fabric.

Rub the hidden part of the silk with each other and ascertain whether the color is transferring or not. If the color is transferring, make sure to dry clean it. If no transfer, you should go ahead and hand clean it.

Step 2: Shaking off

Shake off the silk fabric lightly to remove any dirt and crumbs of pollutants. The bigger and lighter dirt will be removed upto an extent and now you can go ahead and wash away more stubborn dirt.

Step 3: Choose the detergent

Go for a mild detergent. In India, you may wish to go for Baby Soap from Johnson and Johnson or Ariel Oxyblu . Abroad you may choose to Woolite or Dr Bronner’s baby soap. If none of them is available, you may choose any mild shampoo or baby soap.

Step 4: Soaking:

Soak the silk fabric in lukewarm water for 5-7 minutes. Avoid using hot water as it will brittle the fabric and may fade the luster, silk fabric is known for. Sometime the extreme temperature water may also stretch or shrink the fabric if the fabric, while manufacturing, was not shrunk.

Step 5: Rubbing stains

Gently rub the stains after soaking the fabric for 5-7 minutes. Do not rub it too hard to avoid damage. Also rub the stains in circular motions going inside from the circumference. This will likely to bring all the dirt together at one place which then can be washed off easily.

Step 6: Rinse and rinse again

Rinse the fabric till the time all the soap is not removed from the fabric. Rinse well so that no soap scum remains in the fabric to damage it. One smart idea is to take ¼ cup of vinegar mixed water and rinse the fabric. Vinegar will remove any soap-scum. Finally rinse with cold water.

Step 7: Do not wring or twist the fabric

Remember not to shake off the fabric to remove water. Do not twist the fabric to rid water off. Instead take a cotton towel, spread the fabric over it, and roll the towel up. The cotton towel will absorb the excess water from the fabric. There will be delicate wringing but that’s alright. Leave the fabric for sometime wrapped in towel. This will absorb good amount of water.

Step 8: Dry and iron it

The final step is to dry the fabric in a clothing line under shade. Do not expose it in sunlight as the sunlight makes the fabric fragile. Sometimes it is a nice idea to keep the towel wrapped fabric inside the refrigerator for 40-45 minutes. This will prevent the drying of the natural oil of the fabric.

Iron it using the silk indicator or very lightly warm iron. Its better not to connect the silk fabric directly with the iron. Use press cloth instead.

Follow the above instructions to care your silk fabric. Don’t forget that the silk is a natural fibre that requires your tender attention. Never use chlorine bleach as the protein fibre (silk fibre) will be damaged by this.

No comments:

Post a Comment