Fabric Care 101

We know how much you admire that vintage pure silk shawl and the dress that you bought from an online shop. And we know that you would go to any extent to preserve those hand woven raw silk pieces. So on the Culture Central, we are starting a new series on fabric care. In this series we’ll not only cover the tips and trick on how to take care of fabrics but we’ll give you some insightful knowledge about taking care of specialty fabrics, cleaning, preserving and reclaiming the old fabrics and everything else about fabric care.

We are starting this series with stain removal tips. Stains could be very stubborn sometime and they just won't leave the fabric no matter how hard you try... Here are few tips to remove stains from your silk fabrics:

 

Raw Silk Fabric Collection

 

1. How to remove fruit juice stains from a silk fabric: Spilled fruit juice on your new silk dress? No problem! just add enough lukewarm water in a bucket to to cover your stained dress. Add enough liquid detergent to the water and mix it well. Please note that the liquid detergent that you are using should be suitable for silks and woolen fabrics. Soak the dress in to the water overnight and wash on a wool cycle in the machine.  

2. How to remove tea stain from a silk fabric: Tea stains are very hard to clear. Tea is a great vegetable dye and hence it is frequently used in Vegetable Dying of fabrics. But Tea stains on a fabric are something that you don't appreciate (and we neither). So here is the tip - prepare a mixture by mixing equal parts of natural vinegar and water (5 tea spoons vinegar and 5 tea spoons of water)and pour this mixture on the stained part and leave it for ten minutes. After this wash the garment in silk or wool cycle in the machine. This works for colored and white silk both.

3. How to remove beer stain from a silk fabric: Mix 1 tea spoon of natural (fruit)vinegar with 4 tea spoons of water. Pour the solution on the stained part and leave it as it is for ten minutes. Wash in silk or woolen setting in the washer. Flat dry under the shade.

4. How to remove blood stains from a silk fabric: Dissolve 1 aspirin pill in a glass of water and soak the stained area of the fabric in this solution for five minutes. Rinse and check if the stain is gone. If the stain is still there, you can repeat the same process and it should disappear. Now wash in the machine in a cycle suitable for silks and woolens.

Caution - You should also check for the special fabric care instructions provided with the dress before you follow these instructions. Do not dry under the sun, flat dry under shade, do not tumble dry. DO not dry under hard sun. Always use mild liquid detergent suitable for silks. Suitable fabric conditioner after wash could be a treat your silk fabrics.

Please let us know if you are looking for tips on removing specific kind of stains which are not mentioned here. We'll update the information soon.

February 24, 2014 — DesiCrafts India

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