Caring for Your Delicates ~ Frou Frou Fashionista - Luxury Lingerie Blog for Faire Frou Frou

Wednesday, May 14

Caring for Your Delicates

Rachel Bilson in Chantal Thomass by Ellen von Unwerth

You've invested quite a bit into your beautiful lingerie collection, and you want to make sure it stays fresh and lovely for years to come. With the proper care, your lingerie collection can remain in gorgeous condition.
We prepared a list of what you should (and should not) do in order to properly clean your delicates. In this post we focus on caring for Silk lingerie...
  • Unless an item says “Dry Clean ONLY”, you are able to wash the item yourself (typically a lukewarm hand wash).
  • There are a lot of delicate laundry washes available. Probably the best out there is Woolite, and there are other fragrance options available from brands such as Soak, Eberjey, Hanky Panky, etc. You can even use colorless or baby shampoo as a wash - that was first recommended to us by an associate at Carine Gilson's boutique!
  • NEVER put your lingerie in the dryer as it damages the item’s elasticity.
  • Hand-washing silk will rejuvenate and refreshen the fabric each time you do so. This is one of the many rewarding qualities of silk lingerie. Although it may not be a good idea to wash your silk lingerie too much, it is a good idea to wash it at the first sign of a stain or spill.
  • While silk is a very strong fabric, it is delicate when wet so care must be taken with hand washable garments. Using a mild soap, silk wash or colorless shampoo (never detergents or bleach as they will "strip" the finish), soak the garment in lukewarm water for five minutes. Move it about gently, do not wring or twist. Rinse well in cool water to which a teaspoon of vinegar may be added to remove all traces of soap. Roll in a towel to absorb excess moisture and lay flat, straightening out seams. Iron while slightly damp on warm setting. Tailored silk garments such as robes and pajamas require careful pressing in order to maintain their look and dry cleaning is highly recommended. (via Patricia Fieldwalker)
  • Styles that can be ironed "flat", such as collarless pajamas and gowns can be hand washed and pressed on the wrong side with a warm iron. If you must wash dark colored or printed silks, wash very quickly in cold water and mild soap. Move continuously and do not soak or colors may run into one another. Rinse with cold water and a little vinegar and lay flat to dry with a towel between layers to avoid colors bleeding into each other. (via Patricia Fieldwalker)
  • Like most natural fabrics, silk wrinkles! Run a tub of hot water in your bathroom and hang the garment for an hour or so to eliminate the worst creases. Smooth finish silks like charmeuse, look fresher if pressed with a warm iron rather than steamed. (via Patricia Fieldwalker)
  • What NOT To Do:
    • Never expose silk lingerie articles to strong direct sunlight. Silk lingerie will fade.
    • Never spray perfume or deodorant on silk lingerie
    • Never soak silk lingerie in water for a long time.
    • Never try to clean a "spot" or soiled area with water.
    • Water leaves a ring around the wetted area that even Dry-cleaning may not remove.

3 fabulous comments:

Anonymous said...

I am a loyal customer of "Forever New" all natural handwashing detergent. It works well on extremely delicate silks (even some that are supposed to be dry cleaned!) and it has a wonderful fresh scent.

Anonymous said...

I use baby shampoo. It works and smells great!

Love, Betsy.

Anonymous said...

shampoo has got to be my favorite, mostly beacuase i can just take it in the shower with me... easy peasy!