How do you recognise natural silk?

With a simple burning test, you can immediately recognise whether it is real silk or a synthetic product. While real silk crumbles on contact with fire and smells of burnt hair, synthetic fibres melt and form a molten lump at the site of the fire. It smells like burnt plastic.

How do you care for silk?

Women washing by the river

Silk can be washed without any problems if the following instructions are followed. Washing machines normally have a special programme that is suitable for the care of silk and other delicate fabrics. It is important to use a detergent that is suitable for silk. Amytis silk detergent or BEALIN fine wool detergent as well as the fine detergents from Woolite or Perwoll can be recommended without hesitation. Under no circumstances should the detergent contain optical brighteners, bleaching agents or enzymes. These additives make the silk brittle and can cause irreparable damage during washing. Please do not use fabric softeners either. If you want to take even better care of your silk products, you can add a little vinegar to the fabric softener compartment. This prevents limescale residues, gives the silk its original lustre and makes it beautifully soft. To further protect the silk, please use a washing net or, if you do not have a large enough one, you can also use a used pillowcase with a zip.

The right detergent?

Silk can be washed by hand. It is best to use a mild hand wash detergent, a very mild soap or a pH-neutral baby shampoo. The water should be as cold as possible and never warmer than 30° C. Please move the laundry carefully in the water and squeeze and knead between your hands. Do not rub or wring. Fabrics with dark colours should not be left in the water for too long, otherwise they will bleed.

After washing, rinse well until the rinse water is clear. To do something good for the silk, a little vinegar can be added to the final rinse water. This prevents limescale residue on the fabric and makes the silk supple and shiny. Do not wring out, just squeeze a little. Silk garments should be dried lying on a towelling cloth. Bed linen can be dried on the line. Care should be taken when hanging them up as wet silk is very sensitive to moisture. Excessive sunlight should be avoided.

Silk should only be ironed from the wrong side and with low heat. Please do not spray water on the fabric when ironing. If necessary, a damp cloth can be placed on the silk when ironing to moisten it slightly.

Silk duvets and cushions

Duvets filled with silk should not be washed. The filling could clump and render the duvet unusable. Hang your duvet out in the sun as often as possible for about one to two hours to air it. This refreshes the fibres.

If your duvet has stains, you can treat them selectively. Proceed as described above (hand wash) and only wet as much of the duvet as is absolutely necessary. By the way: Blood is best removed with cold water.

How do you process silk?

Silk frays very strongly. It is therefore important that you cut enough seam allowances and neaten them thoroughly.

As silk is a very fine fabric, a fine and new needle is used for sewing. This prevents the fibres from being damaged. The supple surface of silk causes the fabric to slip when sewing. This can be prevented with a basting seam (on the seam allowance so that the stitches are no longer visible in the finished garment! A top feed foot is also very helpful. If your machine has one, you should definitely use it when sewing silk fabrics. It ensures that both fabrics are fed evenly under the needle.