Many people believe that all silk items of clothing need dry cleaning and can’t be washed at home. However, you can wash silk clothing and save money if you know the right method to launder those delicate items safely at home.
The first thing that I suggest for the best results is to use a basin and wash one silk item at a time in cold water to avoid any shrinking or possibility of color that may bleed. It also is important to use a gentle shampoo or laundry detergent that you normally use when washing delicate lingerie.
Before you immerse that silk item into that prepared basin, turn the piece inside out. This step for how to wash silk will help protect the material more and safeguard that silk clothing.
Just a word of caution, laundering a new silk item that has a few different colors to it for the first time may cause some bleeding. Therefore, you want to test the silk first since qualities of silks can vary and make a difference on the outcome of your laundering efforts. Before sticking the silk item in water, get the piece and grasp the material tightly in your hand. A better silk garment won’t wrinkle and hold up better than the less expensive items that can clue you into how well it will take to washing.
Instead of panicking, test a small area of that silk piece in a hidden spot like a hem to see if the colors run together or leak out too much. You also should notice during that initial test of what the treated section of that silk material feels like once immersed. You don’t want the piece to lose that softness and gain a scratchy texture. If so, you may want to save this particular silk piece for dry cleaning.
Immerse that tested silk item in the basin that you already prepared. What I like to do is gently swish the piece for few minutes before letting the silk piece to soak in the sudsy cold water for about a half hour.
After that soaking time, I rinse the silk piece with cold water thoroughly. Remove the piece and gently press the excess water out and avoid wringing the material. Taking such care this way helps preserve the structure of the silk garment more to prevent it from losing shape.
The wash water that your silk piece might leave may worry you when discovering color has leaked into the water. Rest assured, this leaking of some color is normal.
Taking the silk item out, I wrap it in a white cotton towel and carefully press to blot the water. Then I lay the piece on a flat surface or a drying rack and arrange it back in shape the best that I can to dry. Sometimes, I also use a padded hanger for some silk items.
If you try testing your silk items first, then you’ll easily see how much money that you can save on how to wash silk at home safely.
