Hello from week two of Covid-19 lockdown, I hope you are all keeping safe and well out there. It’s a stressful time for everyone and like all small businesses I’ve been having a few wobbles wondering how this is going to impact us all. I find the best way to avoid over thinking is by keeping busy – I think it’s the nervous energy in me! Trying to force creativity has been a little difficult, so instead I’ve been getting stuck in to some repetitive jobs I’ve been putting off – hemming scarves and making up sleep masks, and A LOT of cleaning!
I’ve also been discovering new uses for my scarves – the perfect disguise for an over-due haircut (or a dodgy home cut), and maybe even as a make shift mask to cover your face while you’ve been out shopping? Have you resorted to any of these?
So all that got me thinking – how about creating a guide on how to clean your silk scarves? Possibly not the most thrilling activity to keep you occupied right now but it’s desperate times during lockdown life!
I generally recommend dry cleaning your silk scarves as my wash care labels instruct, but if you are careful you can give them a gentle hand wash and that will give them a good freshen up. I’ve made a step by step video guide on how to do this, with the instructions detailed below.
You will need;
1. Hand wash laundry liquid suitable for silks
2. Basin of lukewarm water
3. A towel approx the size of your scarf
4. Optional – fabric conditioner.
How to;
1. Add a small amount of the laundry liquid to the lukewarm water, then add your scarf. You want to try and keep the scarf as open and loose in the water as possible – don’t scrunch it up tightly as it will form creases. If you have any marks to remove you may need to gently rub those areas. Enjoy swooshing it around in the water and making bubbles!
2. Drain the water and refill the basin with clear water (lukewarm) to remove the soap from your scarf. You could repeat this step with a tiny bit of fabric conditioner to soften the silk.
3. Once your scarf is rinsed, remove it from the basin and lay out flat over your dry towel. Roll the scarf in the towel like a swiss roll and pat down to remove the extra water. Now hang up to dry or lay flat over a second towel – the intention is to keep the scarf flat while it dries.
4. While still slightly damp, press your scarf out with an iron, on a medium setting (or silk setting). If your scarf has a rolled hem you want to press up to but not over the roll of the hem so as not to flatten it. If the scarf has a machine hem (like mine in the video) you can press over it. Take care not to press any folds into the scarf – keep it as flat as possible.
5. Your scarf may still be a little damp so leave out flat or hanging to finish drying, but that’s you finished, well done!
6. Now just open a bottle of wine, and see my tutorial on how to tie a head scarf for a classy quarantine look!
