The secret of clean silk scarves
I assume the lucky owners are already familar with terms such as „dry clean only” and „protect from rain”, meaning the silk scarves should be kept from water, as it is recommended to clean them only at the dry cleaners. But are the regulations so strict and stiff indeed?
First of all, take my advice – do not be afraid of your scarves!
Although the threads of the scarf can be pulled out, if they are not treated with care, yet silk is a very durable fabric, so it is rather unlikely that you could accidentally tear it with one easy move.
However, you should be more careful, when it comes to colors. Although dyes are pretty long-lasting nowadays, so there is only a low chance that silk scarves would discolor after getting in contact with water, but this possibility can not be excluded entirely.
This concerns the orange and red vintage scarves in particular. It is advisable to keep them away from water - old dyes are more sensitive and less resistant than the new ones.
Dry cleaning
The safest cleaning method is probably dry clean, if you fully trust the laundry staff, that they will neither lose nor damage your scarf. Kindly ask them to pin the cleaning label on the cleaning instructions, not on the scarf. Important advice: Never cut off the cleaning instructions label from the scarf! It could contain useful informations for the laundry staff.
The advantages of dry cleaining are that it removes well makeup smudge and also there is no danger of discoloring. Moreover, you can spare a lot of your time.
On the other hand, a disadvantage of dry cleaning is that scarves are placed under iron press, so the hem could flatten.
Washing
As the silk fibers do not swell in water, the products made of silk rarely need soaking.
Dissolve detergent sold for delicate fabric and marked with „silk” in water not warmer than 30°C. The detergent should definitely be liquid, otherwise the detegent could leave spots on the scarf.
It is extremely important not to leave your silk scarf soaked in water for a long time, because it could lose its color. It is advisable to use color collector sheets in case of fabric which tends to fade. Don’t forget, wet fibers become fragile, therefore do not rub or push firmly the scarf while handwash. Contamination can be removed from plain fibers fast and effortless.
In case of spots it might be better if we test the stability of the dye first. Put on a bit of detergent with the help of a cotton applicator on the spot and if there are no color traces left, then everything is just fine, you can relax.
After washing your scarf first rinse in water not warmer than 30°C, then in cold water. The more water you rinse the scarf in, the better it is.
The scarf must be dried in horizontal position on a clean white towel.
Only the back side of the scarf is allowed to iron on the lowest heat and it is better to keep the scarf a little bit moist when ironing it. It is strictly forbidden to steam it, in order to avoid losing the form and colors of your scarf.
One of the advantages of handwash, that the hem of the scarf returns to its original „fluffy” state, as well as it removes the food spots very efficiently.
However, a disadvantage could be that the colors might change or fade.
It is important to know that:
Natural fibers have a self-cleaning ability, so it does not make sense to wash them too often. It is enough to leave your scarf on the fresh air for a couple of hours, that way you can also get rid of unpleasant smells.
Liquids containing alcohol could harm the delicate fibers of this fabric, therefore please use hair spray or perfume only before you put on your favourite accessory.
Never use plastic packaging to store your scarves, because plastic keeps the moisture inside and leads to formation of mould or yellowing. For storing your scarves rather choose other, natural materials.
Empire of O'Z
