I’d always wondered why you weren’t supposed to wash silk. I bought three metres of ivory dupion a little while ago, but it had a dirty mark on it, so I knew I was going to have to clean it somehow. In a fit of “what the heck”, I chucked it in the washing machine, on cold, with a bit of Ecover wool & silk detergent.
The dirty mark came out just fine, but unfortunately a couple of strands of bright pink silk had made it into the washing machine, stuck to the ivory.
The reason you don’t wash silk dupion?
It isn’t colour fast.
Oops.
As it turns out, this isn’t a disaster. I’m planning to make a summer shirt for myself, so I don’t mind if it has a couple of pink squiggles on it. Although I’m kind of hoping that the next time I wash it, the pink marks will come out again.
ohh – that’s actually a really pretty effect!