How To Care For Silk Yarn

Silk yarn is one of the hardiest of fibers, natural or manmade! I always laugh when I see a 100% silk garment that is marked ‘dry clean only’. First, dry cleaning isn’t dry! Water is used. Second, silk saris in India and garments of silk, wool, and cotton all over the world are routinely laundered by being beaten on a rock at the edge of a lake or river. Beaten! This is fine so long as there are no buttons involved!

(Indian Laundress – dhobi)

After being washed, the saris are spread out over the grass to dry in the sun. My mother in law has silk saris she has worn do do housework for 30-40 years! They are still in respectable condition. We even tested putting those old ones in the washer and dryer. Other than drawing up a bit on the end – which is easily corrected by smoothing and stretching the ends after drying – there was no damage done by the washer or dryer.

So, how do you take care of silk garments that you’ve crocheted? The easiest way is to put them in a mesh bag and launder in the washer on gentle cycle with COLD water. Then, shake the garment out and hang or lay to dry. The sheerer the silk, the more care you must take with it. There is silk gauze which is quite sheer. American Eagle and Abercrombie have made blouses from this fabric in recent years. I know from personal experience with my daughter’s clothing that these can be easily washed in cold water, reshaped, and laid to dry, causing no shrinkage or other damage.

For heavier silks and satin silks (the heaviest kind, I think), washing in cold water is not a problem. But, ironing the stuff IS a problem. It’s probably best to have a costly silk blouse taken to a trustworthy professional cleaner who has the proper equipment to iron it perfectly for you. You CAN iron a silk blouse yourself, but it really does require some patience and a tailor’s ham or similar shaping surface to avoid ironing creases into the blouse.

(making silk yarn)

How to launder silk yarn? If you buy skeins of the recycled sari silk that are so popular right now, you might be tempted to wash it before crocheting with it. Not a problem. Just pop the skeins, minus their wrappers, into the leg of a pantyhose, tie a knot, and launder in cold water. Lay out to dry. Recycled sari silk is typically littered with small clumps of dirt, leaves, twigs, etc. That is how you know you’re getting the real stuff! Most sari looms are worked outside or only under a roof in a ‘room’ with no walls, so it’s open to the elements. Don’t be bothered by the debris you find. It’s easy to shake out. However, it will not wash out as it will be trapped inside the ‘nylon’. The advantage of using a nylon is that your yarn will not be a hopelessly tangled mess when you remove it from the washer. All the recycled sari silk I’ve seen marketed in the U.S. is of the heavier gauges, perfectly suited for crocheting purses, totes, and belts. Because it is so heavy, I do not think it is well suited for use in scarves or garments – but that’s a matter of personal opinion.

You may also find that you are unable to find two skeins of recycled sari silk that are perfectly matched to one another. That is part of the charm of this sort of yarn. It is similar to the very costly hand dyed yarns in this regard – but usually easier to care for. Don’t be afraid to launder your silk in your washing machine. Unless a garment contains a lot of stiff interfacing in the collar or cuffs or button placket, it will launder nicely in cold water.