Dry cleaning is a process that maintains all/most of the finishes put on the fabric during the mfg process; this is the answer I got form our regional manger after I asked why linen/wool/silk (which all existed for centuries before drycleaning was invented) were always so marked on the bolts. The fabric -will- change when you wash it- shrink/get fuzzy/twist etc; which is why all the books tell you to pre wash fabric before cutting- I usually advise washing a piece to see if you can live with the change, but it is too late for you to do that. So, if you like them the way they are, I am afraid the Dry Cleaner is in your future; if you want to gamble on the result you can wash them, but they will not come out the same. Sorry! best advice- get a pair of silk or thermal underliners and you can wear them several times between cleanings, if they never touch your skin. Hope this helps, Betsy
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Claire Clarke Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 4:25 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [h-cost] Washing linen trousers Hi all, This is not a historical question, for which I apologise, but I thought if anyone had sensible opinions on this it would be the people on this list. I recently bought some fairly upmarket linen trousers for work (on sale of course J). It wasn't until after I wore them that I noticed the care label said 'dry clean only'. I don't have anything else that is dry clean only, so I'm not exactly in the habit of going to to the dry cleaners. I was wondering if it would be a bad idea to wash these trousers in the washing machine. They are actually a linen-cotton blend, a very fine, crisp material with a slight slub. They are styled to take advantage of the crispness of the material (fine pleats around the waistband, turn ups, etc). I see no immediate cause why I should not wash them. I accept that they'll become very crumply, but I'm more willing to iron than I am to dryclean. Can anyone else think of a reason I shouldn't wash them? Thanks muchly, Claire _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
