Cloth Management Tips
Silk is one of the most common materials that fabric manufacturers use to make different types of clothing. If offers a luxurious finish to the garment, while being soft and smooth on the skin. Silk is produced from the larvae cocoons of silkworms, which is an extensive and time-consuming process. That is why silk is often more expensive than other types of fabric materials, such as cotton and polyester.
Although silk clothes always offer a royal feel, it needs special care and attention to maintain their softness and lustrous appeal. One of the main concerns about using silk clothing is that they can develop wrinkles very easily. This is especially the case when the garment is not stored properly. Removing the wrinkles from the delicate fabric can also be very difficult. That is why you should always store silk clothes as recommended by the fabric manufacturers. If your silk garment has already developed wrinkles, you can follow the below techniques to smoothen-out your expensive clothes without any risk of damaging the fabric.
Iron Them Carefully
Ironing is the simplest way to deal with wrinkles in any kind of fabric. It helps to remove wrinkles from silk as well, but you would have to be extra careful while ironing silk clothes because the fabric can be easily damaged due to the application of high heat. Therefore, you should set the iron heat at the lowest point when ironing silk clothes.
There are some irons, which have specific heat settings for silk and other such heat-sensitive fabric materials. They would keep the temperature at the optimal level to make sure that ironing does not damage the fabric. You can even use an aluminum foil or a piece of old cotton cloth and place it over the wrinkled area when ironing silk clothes. This would add an extra layer of protection for your luxurious garment from direct heat contact.
Use Steamer
This is one of the safest techniques to remove wrinkles from silk clothes. You can simply use a handheld steamer to apply steam directly over the wrinkled area or use a steam iron for the purpose. When using the steamer, make sure that there is enough space to move around the silk garment and apply steam from all the directions as required. You can place your silk garment on a hanger and then hang it in an open area to make the process simpler.
You should also make sure to keep the handheld steamer or steam iron at least 6 inches away from your silk clothes when spraying steam on them. This would help to avoid any risks of excessive heat transfer to the garment, which could damage the fabric. When on it, begin at the top of your silk dress and then proceed downwards, spraying steam all over the fabric. This would loosen the silk fibers and make the garment wrinkle-free again.
Try Hot Water Shower
This method is usually opted for when there is no other option to remove wrinkles from silk clothes. It can be a complicated process, yet the technique would often bring forth good results. To start, place your silk clothes on a hanger and then hang it in the bathroom. Make sure to hang it securely at a place where the garment would not get wet. Then switch the hot water shower on and allow it to run for around 5 to 10 minutes.
When you keep the hot water running for that long, it would generate enough steam to react with the silk clothes inside the bathroom. This would help to loosen up the silk fibers and remove the wrinkles from the garment. However, you should make sure to close the door and windows of the bathroom, so that the steam produced by the hot water does not escape out and you can benefit the maximum from the technique. You can even use this method when you are taking a hot shower, so that you do not end up wasting water just to remove the wrinkles from your silk clothes.
If your silk clothes had only a few wrinkles, then you can try using a hair dryer for a quick fix instead of going for such laborious options. For that, you would need to spray some water on the wrinkled area using a fine mist spray bottle and then use your hair dryer to dry the garment. Just make sure that you do not wet your silk clothes too much because that could take more time to dry them out properly. When you blow hot air on to the slightly wet surface on silk clothes, it works just like using steam on the fabric or ironing it to remove the wrinkles from its surface. If you were unsure of how hot the air from the hair dryer is, it would be wiser to turn off the heating filament in it and blow normal air instead. This would make sure that your quick fix does not harm your expensive silk garment by any means.
