The "dry cleaning" instructions have as much to do with the dyes as anything (at least according to an old friend who runs one of his family's cleaning businesses). So you may have a normally washable fiber, but one colored with a dye that will turn fugitive with repeated washings. I treat my silks/linens/wools similar to the way that Robin does (in her email), although I think I'm a little more apt to be meaner to my wools, and have very little experience with finer silks. Most knowledgeable people that I've spoken to or learned from directly will say that pre-cutting fabric treatments (washing, drying, etc.) should mimic the treatments you'll give the finished garments. And I'd think that your initial treatment of your wool fabrics might vary a little depending on the weave structure and what type of garment you're planning on making. You may want to make a wool gown, for instance, that is fulled, obscuring the weave and producing a thicker, warmer fabric (easier with plain weaves, and "woolen" fabrics as distinct from "worsted" fabrics). You can then subject your wool to more abuse to full it. Or you may wish to keep your wool un-fulled, as with worsteds, which resist fulling anyways. For these, cool water or drycleaning would be best (and yes, that part's personal knowledge! I ruined a very nice $35/yd wool SCA cloak by washing it *after* I'd made it...what's left might make a very nice, very warm apron dress for a Norse outfit!) One additional point....Watch the decorations you put on your garments. Some stuff won't survive drycleaning (fake pearls being one example), so you might end up hand-washing stuff, or spot-cleaning it (which works really well if you're neat and tidy, and is pretty useless if you're a slob the way I am--I get anything dirty! ;o) If you choose to handwash items (either because of the fragility or other characteristics of the fabric, or because you've added trims, beads, whatnot that would not withstand regular cleaning or drycleaning), be careful that you don't agitate or squeeze or otherwise rub your garment layers together. Especially with garments made of wool. This can cause small-scale fulling and felting, which you might not want! (Of course, the opposite is also true--it's quite possible to deliberately felt a woolen item by hand. I've done it in my kitchen sink to a knitted-and-felted 16th century flat cap.) --Sue
----- Original Message ----- From: "Lloyd Mitchell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Historical Costume" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2006 6:52 AM Subject: Re: [h-cost] abuse of fabrics (aka care and washing) question > It has been my experience that much of the clothing bought today is labeled > 'dry clean only' because of the combination of fibers and materials that are > unknown and may not be washable to the same extent. We have become such a > wash/dry society and expect everything to be instantly wearable. _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
