Silk Care Guide: how to maintain and wash silk

Why wear silk?

Pure silk is a luxurious natural fibre fabric known for its smooth softness and luminous shine. It is hypoallergenic and regulates body temperature, keeping you comfortably cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Steaming

The most simple and gentle way to take care of your silk garments is to use a steamer. Steam removes wrinkles from silk without the risk of “burn marks” which can be caused by an iron. The steam also allows you to refresh your silk garments, in between dry cleaning or handwashing, by removing most bacteria and odours. Steaming is an ecologically sound way to prolong the life of your silk garments by avoiding excessive laundering.

Professional dry-cleaning

The care label on silk garments often say to dry-clean professionally, and there’s good reason for this. Even though most silks are washable, the garment may change after washing.

There are mainly three concerns when washing silk:

1. Smooth silk fabrics may become textured after washing, this is true for crepe de chine.
2. The garment will shrink about 5% when hand washed at 30 degrees (the shrinkage will be more if washed in hot water), this is due to the woven fabric tightening after washing.
3. Dyed silk may bleed when washed. This can be acceptable for solid colours, although it may cause fading over time.

With all that said, it’s perfectly okay to hand wash your silk garments, but if you want them to look exactly like they did when you first took them out of the box, then dry-cleaning is for you.

How to hand wash your silk essentials at home

Silk garments are often dry cleaned, but what most people don’t know is that you can actually hand wash silk. Here is a simple guide on how to hand wash silk:

We recommend washing your silk garments one at a time to avoid colour transfer. Start with the lightest colour and move your way up to darker colours. If you see the water changing colour, because a garment is transferring dye, simply change the water before washing your next piece.

1. Fill a clean sink or basin with water and a small amount of specialized silk detergent. Make sure the water’s temperature is no higher than 30°C.
2. Mix the water and soap thoroughly using your hands.
3. Submerge the silk garment and wash gently, before letting it soak for 5 minutes.
4. Drain the soapy water and rinse the silk garment in clean water to get rid of any excess soap.
5. Remove the silk garment from the basin and drain the fabric without wringing it.
6. Lay flat to dry on a towel.

Once your silk garment has dried completely, you can use a steamer to smoothen out any wrinkles in the fabric.

Storage solutions

Being a natural fibre fabric, silk is susceptible to moths. Moths are small butterfly-like insects of which the larvae eat natural fibres including but not limited to silk, wool, and cashmere. To prevent the moth larvae from getting to your silk garments, we recommend that you store them in a safe place at times between frequent use. The best place to store silk is in a dark, dry, but breathable space. If you purchased a silk garment from Brooks & Koola, you could simply reuse the gift box for storage. Another option is to keep your garments in a moth-proof storage bag.