How to wash silk: by hand or in a washing machine

Silk clothing looks very elegant and gives its owner a certain sophistication. However, such a delicate fabric requires special treatment. Even the most experienced housewives do not know how to properly care for it so as not to spoil it. Therefore, to make their life easier, we will figure out how to wash silk so that it always looks like new.

Rules for washing silk products

Before you start washing silk items, you need to find out the basic recommendations regarding this hygiene procedure. You can get acquainted with them by studying the label, which is usually sewn to the wrong side of the products. To prevent silk clothes from fading and stretching after washing, you will need to adhere to the following rules:

Silk items can only be washed at a temperature not exceeding forty degrees.
When washing, do not use aggressive agents that contain chlorine, as well as active acids and alkalis.
Silk products should not be actively rubbed or squeezed with your hands, trying to remove dirt as quickly as possible. Such actions in ninety percent of cases lead to damage to delicate tissues.
It is recommended to wash natural silk exclusively in boiled water.
Silk items should be rinsed with the addition of a special antistatic agent.

To ensure that silk washing is successful, the main features of the hygienic procedure in manual and automatic mode are listed below.

Expert opinion

Evgenia Taran

Wash by hand

Most housewives prefer not to use a washing machine to process silk items. Let's look at how to properly wash silk by hand:

Fill a basin with cool water.
Add a special liquid or powder for washing, and you will need to make sure that the selected product is completely dissolved in the liquid.
Immerse silk underwear or a dress in the resulting solution and leave for fifteen to twenty minutes.
After the specified time has passed, pour fifty milliliters of alcohol into the soapy liquid and immerse the items in the basin again.
Use gentle movements to gently wrinkle the clothing.
Rinse washed items three to four times in cool water. At the same time, during the last rinse, it is recommended to add a little nine percent table vinegar. This will help keep batik or any other silk pattern in perfect condition.

Washing in a washing machine

Contrary to popular belief, you can wash not only artificial silk in a washing machine, but also some products made from natural materials. Let's look at some rules that will help you do laundry at home:

Before washing silk products, you need to put them in a special mesh bag that will protect them from any mechanical influences.
Only special gel for washing delicate fabrics can be poured into the powder container.
It will be necessary to set the “silk” or “hand wash” mode.
To prevent bedding or clothes from being torn, it is necessary to wash them without using a spin cycle.

Drying and ironing

Silk fabric is dried in a dry, cool, well-ventilated place, away from radiators and the rays of the sun. This will help avoid fading and destruction of the fibers.

Ironing silk items

The damp product is laid out on a soft cloth; it will absorb excess moisture. You can use hangers or throw the material over a fairly thick rope. There is no need to secure the laundry with clothespins; they will leave marks that are difficult to smooth out.

Expert opinion

Irina. Housewife.

Ask a Question

To avoid difficulties when ironing, do not allow the fabric to dry completely. Silk is ironed half-raw, always from the inside out, with a moderately hot iron. Do not wet the material by spraying - traces of drops will remain. If the fabric is still dry, you can lightly steam it without touching the material.

Crepe can shrink quite significantly after washing, so during ironing the damp fabric can be slightly pulled out.

Folk remedies

To effectively remove stains from a silk blouse or dress, it is not necessary to use specialized store-bought products. Proven folk remedies will help remove stains from silk. Let's get acquainted with the most effective of them.

Baby powder

If you need to remove a greasy stain from silk, it is not necessary to wash it. Regular baby powder will help remove the oil trace. To clean the fabric, you just need to fill the stained area with fine adsorbent powder and lightly press it with a dry paper towel. After fifteen minutes, remove any remaining powder.

Starch

A universal remedy that will help clean a silk scarf or blouse from any dirt is corn starch. The procedure is simple:

dilute the powder with cool water until a paste-like consistency is obtained;
treat the problem area with the resulting thick mass;
wait for the paste to dry completely;
Clean off the product with a soft clothes brush.

Ammonia and glycerin

To eliminate the smell and stains of sweat, you will need to treat a sweater or blouse with a special composition based on ammonia. To prepare it, you need to mix in a small container:

one hundred milliliters of clean water;
forty milliliters of ammonia;
twenty grams of fine table salt.

Expert opinion

Natalya Osadchaya

The resulting mixture must be applied to the armpit area, and after fifteen to twenty minutes, you can wash silk clothes in any of the suitable ways.

This method is also suitable for removing sweat from white silk.

You can also use ammonia to remove old greasy stains from silk items. To do this, you need to treat the stained areas with a mixture of water, glycerin and ammonia in a ratio of 2:2:1. After thirty minutes, wash the scarf or blouse in the washing machine.

Laundry soap

Regular laundry soap will help you tidy up clothes made from both synthetic and natural silk. To make a silk sweater look like new, you need to follow these simple steps:

rub the stained areas with soap;
put silk items in a plastic bag;
after ten to twelve hours, machine wash it.

Chalk

To easily remove any stains from silk, it makes sense to pre-treat them with crushed chalk. To do this, you just need to sprinkle the stain with white powder and leave for three hours.

You can also use the following proven method to clean silk products:

pour a mixture of equal amounts of talc and crushed chalk onto a clean sheet of paper;
put the soiled item on top;
also pour the specified mixture onto the item and cover it with a clean sheet of paper on top;
press down the resulting structure with a heavy book or any other weight;
the next day - remove any remaining cleaning agents from the fabric.

What you need to know so as not to spoil the thing

Silk is a capricious material. If you wash it without following the rules, the item will be hopelessly damaged. Therefore, it is important to first determine the type of fabric and study the information on the label.

We distinguish natural material from artificial

It is necessary to determine what kind of fabric the dress is made from.

The easiest way is to ask the seller for a certificate. It is also worth paying attention to the cost of the product: a natural dress is much more expensive than an artificial one.

At home, you can distinguish one option from another in the following ways:

Natural fabric has a weak, muted shine and shimmer. The artificial one does not change color and shines much more.
Real silk becomes warm when touched on the body. It is pleasant to the touch, soft, delicate. The faux one stays cool and the fabric is stiffer.
After compression, natural fabric immediately straightens, while creases and folds remain on artificial fabric.
The ends of real silk threads are a whole bundle of mini-fibers. In the synthetic analogue, it is similar to a fluffy brush.

Reading the information on the labels

When planning to wash your favorite dress at home, you should definitely study the information indicated on the label sewn to the garment. It must be written on it in what mode the fabric should be washed, dried and ironed.

If these data are neglected, the product may be damaged.

It is also worth noting that items marked “dry clean only” cannot be washed . They need to be cleaned dry - take them to dry cleaning.

What not to do with silk

It is worth considering that certain actions when washing silk are unacceptable.

When performing this procedure, it is prohibited:

rub the fabric vigorously;
unscrew;
use aggressive detergents and bleaches;
immerse the item in hot water;
dry on a radiator or in the sun.

Silk detergents

To clean silk items most effectively, it is better to use specialized detergents for washing delicate fabrics. Let's list the best:

Weasel;
Luxus;
Crystal delicate;
Meine Liebe;
BiMax.

Using similar products you can wash, among other things, buret silk, which requires a lot of care.

Important! Before using the listed household chemicals, you must read the instructions for use.

An important step is choosing a detergent

Washing powders cannot be used for washing such delicate fabrics. Their solid particles are not able to fully dissolve in water and remain in large quantities on the fibers. Even repeated rinsing will not help get rid of them.

In addition, the powder is considered an aggressive agent. For example, it is able to remove greasy stains, copes well with stains of unknown origin, but is merciless to delicate silk fibers.

Previously, baby soap and shampoo were used for washing.

Nowadays you can find many liquid products and gels on sale. They dissolve well and are easy to rinse, so you can get streak-free clothes and maintain the integrity of the fabric.

Bleaching silk items

Quite often, the housewife is faced with the difficult task of bleaching a silk shirt so that it shines like new. However, it is strictly forbidden to wash silk products with any bleaches or stain removers. In such a situation, the following life hack will help:

Pour the chopped bran into a large saucepan so that it covers the bottom.
Pour water over the bran and let it steep for five to six hours.
Pour the resulting solution into a basin and immerse silk products in it.
After twenty minutes, wash things by hand.

How to wash silk: instructions

With your hands.

We consider the option with a typewriter as a last resort and only if there is a corresponding icon on the label.

Only in warm water! And wash and rinse!

At what temperature should I wash silk? Minimum risk for silk items at 30 degrees Celsius. You can do without a thermometer: your hand practically cannot feel such water in terms of temperature. Most damaged silk clothes are caused by too hot water.

No soaking.

Do not soak silk items even for five minutes. If there are very noticeable signs of wear, you can soak the silk in gently warm water for literally three minutes.

No powder! Only liquid products!

Suitable products for washing silk: special gentle products for silk/wool (usually they are produced in the form of gels); You can use liquid soap, but without dyes, ideally baby soap.

Without rubbing movements, squeezing or twisting.

Silk should be washed with light sliding movements, as if rinsing the fabric.

How to Choose a Hormone-Free SPF Sunscreen

After rinsing in clean water, lightly wring out the silk item (barely), hold it in your hands (in your palms, without sagging) for half a minute, and let the water drain.

“Introducing” silk to a machine gun

In fact, in most cases, both natural and synthetic silk can be washed in an automatic washing machine. It is only important to follow a few rules. If you strictly follow the recommendations, maintaining the appearance of things will not be so difficult.

Silk items should be washed in special mesh bags, which are sold in any hardware department. You can put the products in an old light pillowcase.
It is better to use gel-based cleaners designed specifically for delicate fabrics. Make sure that the gel does not contain bleaching particles or other aggressive components.
You need to choose the “Silk” program. When such a mode is not recorded in the intellect, it is possible to run the “Delicate” cycle.
Maximum heating of water to a temperature of 30-40°C.
Be sure to disable the spin option. Otherwise, the silk item will lose its shape.
After the cycle has completed, immediately remove the laundry from the drum. The longer it sits in the washing machine, the deeper the creases in the material will be.

You can also wash blankets and pillows with silk filling in an automatic machine. These products cannot be soaked; the material may deteriorate due to prolonged contact with water.

Pillows and blankets must also be first placed in a mesh bag and only then loaded into the drum. The program will be the same: “Silk” or “Delicate”. In this case, it is allowed to connect the spin at a speed of no more than 400 rpm. Afterwards, you can put a blanket with silk filling in a vinegar solution (0.5 teaspoon of essence per 5 liters of water). Using this procedure, it will be possible to restore the product to its former elasticity.