Never wash with chlorine bleach. It can damage your clothing's natural fibers. Do not dry in direct sunlight. Exposing your garment to long bursts of sunlight can cause the colors to fade or even damage your silk fabrics.
“To increase the longevity of your silk garments, we recommend handwashing them in cold water with a quarter teaspoon of gentle organic detergent and fabric softener for no more than five minutes,” offers Kes. There is also a number of cleaning products specially made for washing silk at home (see below).
Even if you are hand washing your silks are per the instructions, if you are using a detergent, they can become stiff. Using a castile soap like Dr Bronner's instead can help a lot. Even after air drying, though, your silk may still be a bit stiff. However, using castile soap will make the silk soften up a lot quicker.
Silk is a delicate fabric, and you'll want to make sure it stays beautiful even after you've cleaned it. Washing it at too high a heat can cause it to shrink and damage it. It may be worth getting your silk garment professionally dry cleaned to avoid damage if it's particularly precious to you.
If you find that the sheen of your silk clothing has lost its luster or shimmer and appears to have a white film or looks dull, the silk fibers may have become damaged due to improper cleaning or exposure to too much light or heat.
Silk is a delicate fabric easily damaged by heat and agitation. If you're going to iron your silk clothing, start by testing the fabric for heat tolerance.
To restore some of the shine and softness that's been lost, you can give your silk pieces a mild white vinegar bath. White vinegar helps to remove any residual soap in the fibres, and also restores lustre and softness to silk.
All Woolite® products are liquid detergents and are specially formulated for the machine to not cause shrinking, stretching, or fading on washable suede, linen, cotton, washable wool, silk, rayon, polyester, cotton/polyester, nylon, nylon/spandex and rayon/spandex.
Silk also weakens when wet and can degrade in heat but this doesn't mean it is not washable. It just means that you need to wash it a certain (easy!) way to keep your silk garment as fresh as new for much longer. Better to be safe than sorry!
Woolite Delicates Hypoallergenic Liquid Laundry Detergent is the best detergent for silk! Not only does this formula protect fabric fibers from damage due to over-washing, but it also contains no harsh ingredients that could cause skin irritation or an allergic reaction.
Wash silk after every few wearings unless it needs freshening and stain removal. Remember that washing your silk clothes at home may put the garments at risk of color fading if cleaned too often. Dry cleaning usually doesn't fade the color of silk clothing as fast as home washing.
Do not wring or twist your silk garment while it is in the water, as silk gets weaker when wet, and the garment may lose shape. And do not soak silk in water for long periods of time, since this may cause eventual fading of the color.
Tips for How to Wash Silk Bedding
DON'T use bleach or fabric softener when washing silk. DO wash your silk pillowcase at least once a week and if you're machine-washing, add it to an all-silk delicate load.
Don't put silk items in the dryer. Heat can damage delicate silk fibers. If the dryer is absolutely necessary to use only 'air' setting for 15 minutes or less with NO fabric sheets or dryer balls. Remove sheets before completely dry.
Do wash silk in cool water. Hot water will damage and shrink the natural fibres.
However, like rayon, silk is especially vulnerable to damage when cleaned by a washing machine and dryer because the fabric cannot hold dyes, leading to bleeding when submerged in water.
Similarly, silk can be handwashed, but doing so may change the lustre and drape of the fabric. If you have a silk garment made from particularly delicate silk, like chiffon or georgette, it's best to take it to a dry-cleaner as these fabrics are more likely to be affected by water.
White vinegar removes soap, restores shine and softens silk. Add 1/4 cup (50 ml) white vinegar to the basin of cold water. Gently move the garment around in the water to thoroughly rinse it. Empty the basin, then fill it one more time with cold water, and give the silk one last rinse.
Hand wash silk clothes in cold water
Fill a clean sink or small tub with lukewarm water and a small amount of delicate-friendly liquid detergent. Lightly agitate for three to five minutes and rinse well. If the care label advises machine washing, choose a gentle, cold-water cycle.
*For best results, use a little less than two teaspoons (9.5 mL) of Dawn® Platinum in a top-loading washing machine—be sure not to use too much, and don't use on delicate fabrics like silk. Spot test with a small drop in a less visible area to make sure the material will not be damaged.
Rule Number One: use shampoo to wash your silks, not dish liquid, woolite, or laundry detergent. Silks (and wool) are protein fibers, just like your hair, so use shampoo.
The detergent you use must not have protease, enzymes, alcohol, bleach, or any alkalines in it: these will dissolve silk and any other protein-based natural fabric, such as wool. So when clothing directions say to use a gentle detergent, they mean a detergent without those ingredients.
How to Wash Silk. Wash white and colorfast silks in tepid water—no warmer than your skin—with a mild detergent. Add 1/4 cup of white vinegar in the first rinse to remove soap residue and restore luster to the fabric. Then rinse thoroughly with water one final time.
Shrinking Silk
Silk can shrink if it is pre-washed for more than approximately five minutes. Letting a silk garment sit in water for a long time before washing causes its fibers to tighten and twist, thus producing a shrinking effect. Silk that is washed in hot water will also shrink.