I would firstly advise that you check the Arachne archives for the
valuable advice that Jeri has written on the subject of washing textiles
over the years.
However, I will add that whereas cottons and linens (cellulose fibres)
are stronger when wet and have some resistance to alkalis (ie
detergents), protein fibres (eg wool and silk) are weaker when wet but
have some resistance to acids.
For my silk camisoles and chemises that I won't be keeping to posterity,
I have no qualms about machine washing them in ordinary non-bio washing
powder, at 40 deg.C, but I *never* use fabric conditioner (a friend once
ruined an otherwise washable silk blouse by using it). They manage to
last a good few years of this sort of treatment and day to day wear.
Some silks, like dupion and moiré, shouldn't be washed as they will
water-mark.
Silk that you want to pass on to the next generation, though, is an
entirely different matter. Wash carefully with Orvus or pure soap and
make sure that you rinse the item until every last trace of soap is out
- soap is alkaline. This can take 10-20 rinses, so plan to do it on a
day when you haven't got anything else to do! Use de-ionised water for
the final rinse, I wouldn't use the acids necessarily. You can soak the
item to remove the stains gently, as long as you keep it supported -
remember that wetting the fibres will temporarily weaken them. Stains
are easier to remove when fresh, so if they are long set in you may have
to learn to live with them.
Silk is boiled in its processing, so I'm not so sure that temperature is
an issue where the fibre is concerned, it is more likely to remove any
colour. Using lemon juice and vinegar are old fashioned rinsing
treatments for your hair (blonde/brunette accordingly) to make it shine
- I'm not sure it had any other conditioning effect, though! Lemon juice
is a bleach, so don't use it on coloured fabrics.
With wool, Mom always told me that it isn't temperature that shrinks
wool, it is change of temperature, so the rinsing water needs to be the
same temperature as that used for washing.
In message <[email protected]>, J D Hammett
<[email protected]> writes
But surely, vinegar is also acidic as well as lemon juice. I think I
would rather avoid both as they would both work on the fibres. Nor
would I take that much notice of what is being done in the dying
industry. They are not particularly worried about the survival rates of
their products, only to sell as much as possible.
Joepie, East Sussex, UK
--
Jane Partridge
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