Shimmering brocades, luxurious hand-woven Kanchipurams, shiny taffetas, and exclusive Balucharis- a collection of hand-woven pure silk sarees are indeed priceless. It is a treasure that you would love to have for decades, irrespective of changes in the Indian fashion scene because silk saris are forever! But, with its unbeatable charm and everlasting opulence, pure silk has a downside. It is a natural protein fiber that is prone to deterioration.
Causes of silk saree tarnishing
Over the years, even the most finely woven silk saree can lose a bit of its charm, but many other factors can contribute to its premature dullness, color fading, and in worst cases, fabric tear.
Too much exposure to the sun and prolonged humid surroundings can make the silk yarns weaker. Also, chemicals like perfumes, strong detergents, and make-up can fade-off color from even the best silk sarees. Silk is a natural fiber and can be damaged by insect intrusion as well.
Taking care of your silk sarees
We know you value your beautiful silks and would love to wear them and possess them for a longer time. Especially if it is your wedding saree, you wouldn’t want to lose it ever! These easy-to-follow guidelines will surely extend the life of your favorite Kanchipuram silk saree, Banarasi brocade drape, bridal silk sari, and all other mulberry silks, Muga, as well as other forms of silk woven drapes.
Always store silk sarees wrapped in a piece of cotton or muslin cloth. Every silk saree should be stored separately to avoid color transfer. You may even place silica gel bags around the cloth.
Keep the cloth stored in a dry place, like a dark corner of your closet, away from moisture and direct sunlight. But well, be careful of insect attack! Keep checking on your collection every few weeks to ensure that there is no damaging agent around.
To wash your heavy silk sari, you can use an extremely mild detergent and lukewarm water. Avoid fast or powerful machine washing, and be careful while you hand-wash, wriggling the saree fabric hard can destroy the evenness of the weave!
Stains should be treated sooner and better before they seep into the weave and dry up. You can take off stains using lemon juice or white vinegar.
Dry your silks in the shade and never under sunlight.
Wrap the sarees delicately and change the folds every month, or at least 4-5 times in a year. The saree can get stiff on the folding lines, leading to breakage of yarns.
Maintaining art silk sarees
Artificial silk made with polyester, nylon, or other synthetic yarns costs substantially less than pure silk. But even if you have not invested high in your gorgeous collection of art silk sarees, you’d surely want to sport them for a few more occasions. You can follow all the above guidelines for art silk sarees and can also go a little easy on them. Also, while ironing pure silk and art silk sarees that have embellishments reverse ironing would be better.
A little care can substantially extend the life of your favorite silk sarees!
