Preparing silk before sewing
Alice
Susan McClure <smcc...@rice.edu> wrote:
: should I have it dry cleaned first to pre-shrink or should I wash it gently
: in cold water.... and then, do I dry it or not ??
Susan, I have machine washed (on gentle) and line dried silk noil fabric in
bright colors (purple, teal, fuchsia, and royal blue) with no problem at all.
If you're still worried about it, cut a 5" square and wash it to see what
happens.
--
Alice in Arizona - mud...@primenet.com
Online fabric sources---> http://www.primenet.com/~mudkat/fabric.htm
Embellishment sources---> http://www.primenet.com/~mudkat/doodads.htm
Susan McClure
I recently purchased some lightweight silk noile to make a dress from.
It is a very bright blue. I haven't really worked with silk before...
should I have it dry cleaned first to pre-shrink or should I wash it gently
in cold water.... and then, do I dry it or not ??
I want to be sure it is preshrunk, but I also don't want to lose the bright
color. Since it will be a pretty formal dress, I expect to dry clean it after
it's been made up.
thanks for any tips !
--
Susan McClure
smcc...@rice.edu
rosalie
Susan McClure <smcc...@rice.edu> wrote <Snip>
lightweight silk noile to make a dress from.
> It is a very bright blue. I haven't really worked with silk before...
> should I have it dry cleaned first to pre-shrink or should I wash it
gently
> in cold water.... and then, do I dry it or not ??
>
hand-washing and ironing dry. Even if you want to dry clean the finished
garment, you won't get water spots on a rainy day if you prewash the
fabric. Texture may change a bit, due to gums on the silk being washed off.
Try a 6" square, at least, so you can tell the difference in the hand, if
any.
It does come down on us pretty regularly here in Houston, after all.
Rosalie - in NW Houston
Matthew Pius
In article <6dvihn$7e5$1...@joe.rice.edu>,
Susan McClure <smcc...@rice.edu> wrote:
>I recently purchased some lightweight silk noile to make a dress from.
>should I have it dry cleaned first to pre-shrink or should I wash it gently
>in cold water.... and then, do I dry it or not ??
>
>color. Since it will be a pretty formal dress, I expect to dry clean it after
>it's been made up.
You whould pre-treat the fabric in the way that you plan to wash
the garment. If you machine wash the fabric, that may not prevent it
fading when you dry-clean the finished garment, or vice-versa.
However, I should note that depending where you are, you may have
trouble finding a dry-cleaner who will do fabric lengths.
-Matt
Thomas Farrell
In article <6dvihn$7e5$1...@joe.rice.edu>,
Susan McClure <smcc...@rice.edu> wrote:
>I recently purchased some lightweight silk noile to make a dress from.
>It is a very bright blue. I haven't really worked with silk before...
>should I have it dry cleaned first to pre-shrink or should I wash it gently
>in cold water.... and then, do I dry it or not ??
>
>I want to be sure it is preshrunk, but I also don't want to lose the bright
>color. Since it will be a pretty formal dress, I expect to dry clean it after
>it's been made up.
Probably my best advice on the subject is to make a couple test
swatches, do different things with them, and see what works best.
On the other hand, I want to mention that silk doesn't need to be
dry-cleaned - in fact, dry-cleaning can potentially be less good for the
silk than washing it with water can. Silk contains natural sizing (a
substance that helps control the natural drape and feel of the fabric).
Over time during wear, this sizing loses its oomph, and water revives
it, giving the silk back its natural drape and (for lack of a better
word) silkiness. (thought: I think I learned this here - I hope whoever
taught me won't be offended to see me parroting this back) Dry cleaning
doesn't revive the silk's natural sizing.
Washing silk in cool to warm water with a gentle shampoo (without
conditioner) is (in most cases - as I said, try a test swatch) good
for the silk and cheaper than dry cleaning.
Tom
--
Tom Farrell - http://www.skepsis.com/~tfarrell/
Mount Wilson Observatory - http://www.mtwilson.edu/
The Sewing FAQ - http://www.skepsis.com/~tfarrell/textiles/sewing/
If you use Procmail, ask me about my free anti-spam procmail recipe list.
Anne Paulson
>I recently purchased some lightweight silk noile to make a dress from.
>It is a very bright blue. I haven't really worked with silk before...
>should I have it dry cleaned first to pre-shrink or should I wash it gently
>in cold water.... and then, do I dry it or not ??
>I want to be sure it is preshrunk, but I also don't want to lose the bright
>color. Since it will be a pretty formal dress, I expect to dry clean it after
>it's been made up.
I usually machine wash silk noil, and it works out fine, but if you're
planning to dry clean the dress, dry clean the fabric.
-- Anne Paulson
rowena
I agree with Tom and the others who wrote about washing it. Chemically,
it is not the water that hurts the silk - the water can help it. It is
_detergent_ that chemically degrades it (along with your body chemicals).
Detergent AND rough treatment in a washing machine will seriously hurt the
material. Avoid that, and you can wash it. It is cheaper, and
potentially better than drycleaning. Rowena
antispam: remove @northnet.net and use @telenet.net
Thomas Farrell wrote in message :Susan McClure wrote:
>>I recently purchased some lightweight silk noile to make a dress from.
>>It is a very bright blue. I haven't really worked with silk before...
>>should I have it dry cleaned first to pre-shrink or should I wash it
gently
>>in cold water.... and then, do I dry it or not ??
>
>Probably my best advice on the subject is to make a couple test
>swatches, do different things with them, and see what works best.
>
AJH
In article <6e1t5n$ude$1...@Usenet.Logical.NET>, rowena
<row...@northnet.net> writes
> I agree with Tom and the others who wrote about washing it. Chemically,
>it is not the water that hurts the silk - the water can help it. It is
>_detergent_ that chemically degrades it (along with your body chemicals).
>Detergent AND rough treatment in a washing machine will seriously hurt the
>material. Avoid that, and you can wash it. It is cheaper, and
>potentially better than drycleaning. Rowena
Couldn't agree more. My silk yardage goes in the washing machine in one
of thos net bags or an old pillowcase. Then it goes in the drier. That
way I can get the ketchup out of spoilt baby's party frocks etc.
--
AJH
For email address, remove the 'evil' number
Lauri Diehl
Hi. I've recently become a big fan of prewashing silk (and
drying too). I made my baby's christening gown out of silk
I'd prewashed - naturally she spit up all over it (fortunately
after the christening and photos), but it washed up nicely
with no spots. Even with formal clothing it is nice to be
able to do a quick wash off of emergency spots before
they set and I'd be afraid to try it if the fabric hadn't
been prewashed.
Lauri
Kris Dow
In article <6dvihn$7e5$1...@joe.rice.edu>, Susan McClure wrote:
>I recently purchased some lightweight silk noile to make a dress from.
>It is a very bright blue. I haven't really worked with silk before...
>should I have it dry cleaned first to pre-shrink or should I wash it gently
>in cold water.... and then, do I dry it or not ??
>
>color. Since it will be a pretty formal dress, I expect to dry clean it after
>it's been made up.
>
I always followed the idea of doing to it what you plan to do
to the finished garment. You can wash silk successfully (I've done it
plenty with silk yardage and also a purchased silk shirt) if you don't
treat it *too* badly (silk is a protein fiber, as I understand it, like
your hair. The same way hair will stretch when wet, becoming thinner
and weaker (one of the main reasons for split ends for a lot of people
is combing/brushing when wet. If you comb your hair prior to washing it,
and don't twist it up too much, it should be pretty well detangled after,
so that it only needs fingercombing while wet, and another going over
with a comb or brush once it's dried; sometimes you don't even need to
fingercomb, but anyway :) silk fibers are weaker when wet and can be
stretched or twisted, etc.) the silk will be fine. (Er. Sorry about
that long tangent there. :)
However, if you're making something with structure to it, or
plan to use trims which won't be washable, or probably wouldn't stand up
to the battering of washing, or something that you just plain don't
want to wash yourself, so you'll be dry cleaning the final product,
then you need to get the yardage pre-dry cleaned. (the heats of home
washing vs. dry cleaning tend to be different, along with the potential
of the chemicals effecting shrinkage, etc.) I had the best luck getting
some pony-print patterned silk pre-dry cleaned by taking it to a local
self-owned dry cleaner's shop (this was when I lived in the US), rather
than a larger "chain" type establishment, who seem to be less willing
to take things on that aren't standard. (The shop I found was actually
quite nice to use. I explained why I wanted it done, so they made sure
to give it the full treatment rather than a 1 hour quickie job. The
fabric came back nicely pressed, as well. :)
Another thing to consider is that washing silk *can* effect
the luster of the fabric. (I believe this is due to the surface appearance
of some types of silk fabric being the result of a surface treatment,
which is dry cleaner safe, but doesn't deal well with water... I could
be wrong, however.) So if you are thinking of washing it, always do
a test sample to be sure. (When I ordered silk from Thai Silks, I
determiened which of the silks I was looking at I actually wanted to buy
by doing a sort of mini swatch test on the samples they'd sent, to see
how the different fabrics took to being washed. Out of the two, the
texture of one changed noticeably, for the worse. Since I was planning
on hand washing the final product, I got the other fabric. :)
One thing I do (which may be against all the rules, I dunno :)
is with the purchased silk shirt I have (which says to dry clean, but
hasn't suffered a bit from being washed by hand) I send it to the
dry cleaners sort of every few months (depending on how much it's been
worn) just for a spruce up. (I think part of the attraction for this
for me is that it comes back all nice and wrinkle free. I hate ironing.
<grin> :)
The only thing I *wouldn't* do when washing silk, particularly
not silk yardage with unfinished edges, is throw it in the dryer. I
prefer to be a bit cautious, and machine drying just seems like it would
be a bit hard on the fabric, to me. (Then again, I treat silk like I'd
treat my hair, and I don't blow dry my hair, either. :)[1]
-Kris
(Who apologises again for going off on a tangent about hair. It's
just that I have waist-length hair and people keep telling *me8 all of
these things about hair care, so I feel I have to share with others. :)
[1]- If I was making "travel" clothing, like the sort that you can just
wad up and pack and have look wonderful at the other end, which is
sometimes silk and sometimes silk-like synthetics, I would probably
consider machine drying it purely for convenience. With that sort of
item, you *want* to be able to beat it up because the chances are
higher that you will end up doing so. So I'd want to know I could toss
it in the bathroom sink, or in the hotel's coin-operated washing
machine, or whatever. :)
BDB
Sandra Betzina says to follow a shampoo washing
(silk only--not wool) with a light conditioner --
not the deep penetrating kind. I've used that
advice with silk and it works great. Also used
shampoo with light conditioner built in. That has
also worked great. Depends on the shampoo. I go
for the ones with fewer ingredients. Seems to be a
good rule of thumb for selecting shampoo for silk
and wool wash. Anyway, works for me.
joa...@best.com
I always wash my silk, warm water and cool rinse with regular detergent
and even dry it on medium. I figure if it take's special care, then I'm
not likely to wear it much. This treatment goes for both yardage and
shirt and stuff I buy already made.
Boy, the people at the dry cleaning association must hate me!
joann