How to Clean Silk
Cleaning silk takes more care and effort then cleaning a more durable fabric like linen. Before you clean silk it is best to try a small part of the silk in an unobvious spot to see that your method of cleaning the silk has no ill effect on the fabric. Silk can last a long time with proper care.
This is one method you can use to wash silk by hand. Take two quarts of very cold water and add a half cup of a mild detergent such as a baby detergent. Add two tablespoons of white vinegar to the two quarts cold water and detergent.
After you have mixed the detergent and vinegar to the cold water take the silk item and gently dunk it into the water and detergent mixture. Dunk the silk item up and down into the mixture. As you dunk the silk item up and down be careful that you don’t soak the silk item. When the silk item looks like it has cleaned up it is time to rinse it.
Rinse the silk item in cold water. Dunk the silk item up and down until it is rinsed clear of the detergent water. You can let the silk item drip till it is just wet. Then you can take the silk item and roll it up into a towel and iron the silk item while it is still wet.
Make sure if you are not sure about the wash ability of the silk item that you test the silk item in an inconspicuous spot by dipping the spot in the solution and see what happens to the silk item.
If you are worried about the silk item turning yellow you can help prevent the yellowing by putting a half cup of white vinegar into the rinse water. Again if you have any concerns about what may happen to the silk you may want to test the silk on an inconspicuous spot before dunking the whole silk item. Washing silk does not take a lot of time. Washing silk is easy since silk will shed dirt fairly well by itself.
