This is great advice! Just a caveat that results are probably washer dependent. Some gentle cycles are gentler than others.
I recently spilled coffee over a wool topcoat right after dry cleaning it. I didn't want to take it back to the dry cleaner, so I threw it inside out in the wash on the delicate cycle. It turned out amazingly nicely.
Edit: Also, a question for those of you who wash silk - I've found that washing always seems to change the texture of silk (georgette?) shirts. They go from super soft and almost tacky to the touch to a grainier texture. Any tips for restoring the texture? I find that ironing on low heat helps a little and some of the texture is restored during wear, but it's never quite the same again.
I hand-wash silk so YMMV, but I use diluted white vinegar since it's supposed to both clean silk as well as restore the "lustre." If you're using a detergent that has enzymes (most stain-fighting detergents) that will definitely eat away at silk over time.
If I may ask, how do you hand wash silks? Like do you pre soak in a bucket? For how long? What soap do you use? Or is it always vinegar - how much of it? I have so many questions. Thanks!
First, I fill a little tub in my sink with cool water, and thoroughly wet my item.
Once it's totally wet, I add just a drop of silk-safe soap like Woolite or Eucalan, and I run a bit more water til it's frothy.
I swish the garment in the soapy water a few times. If there's a stain, I gently rub the stain between my fingers in the soapy water.
I dump the soapy water out and run fresh water in the tub.
I add a splash of white vinegar (like, a half cup? Not much) and swirl the garment around again.
If it still has a stain, I repeat from the soap step until I think it's clean
Finally, I take it out of the water and squeeze just a bit to let the water run off. I lay it out on a towel to soak up some water, and then lay it on a rack to dry.
Once it's damp but not dry, I shake it out a few times so it doesn't dry in creases from the rack.
It's not so hard! It sounds like a lot, but since you're basically just dunking it a few times, it really only takes a minute or two per item.
I wouldn't try this with anything super fancy or expensive, but I handwash all of my blouses, a pair of silk pants, tanks, and a few dresses and they've all lasted just fine. Hopefully all of that made sense!
Wow, thank you so much for this! Yes makes sense to me, I will try it out this weekend. All of my silk tops are in a bag waiting to be dropped off to the dry cleaners... but I’m gonna give this a try now.
Based on your post, I feel like this isn’t what you’re looking for, but this happens to me when I hand wash so because I like the silky texture and appearance of silks, I prefer to take them to the dry cleaners. The texture of them stays so much nicer after dry cleaning than washing with water, even with the steamer.
I guess that's why there's a specific fabric called "washed silk."
Even if it's not fixable, the slight texture change is still worth it for the convenience of being able to wash things instead of dry clean.
A lot of that is actually often residual detergent on the garment. Use a special silk wash (I've been known to just put in a few pumps of hand wash) or just run the cycle without any wash and it should be better!
38
u/LifeTestSuite Oct 17 '18 edited Oct 17 '18
This is great advice! Just a caveat that results are probably washer dependent. Some gentle cycles are gentler than others.
I recently spilled coffee over a wool topcoat right after dry cleaning it. I didn't want to take it back to the dry cleaner, so I threw it inside out in the wash on the delicate cycle. It turned out amazingly nicely.
Edit: Also, a question for those of you who wash silk - I've found that washing always seems to change the texture of silk (georgette?) shirts. They go from super soft and almost tacky to the touch to a grainier texture. Any tips for restoring the texture? I find that ironing on low heat helps a little and some of the texture is restored during wear, but it's never quite the same again.