Fashion Care Tips

For some reason, you couldn’t keep your eyes the coffee pot on the table. Your friend’s gorgeous lab was running around a little too excited.  Call it intuition, you felt something was going to happen but you ignored it.  Fast forward a few minutes later – “it” happened.  The coffee is now spilt all over your gorgeous silk dress.  What do you do? From spilt drinks to the proper way to launder your favourite resort wear garments; in this week’s Laloomblog we share some useful fashion care tips!

An Eye for Quality
First things first, any good quality fabric should be washable.  Nowadays, you might see labels that say “dry clean only” or “spot clean only”, or even at times on the rare occasion “do not clean” when you see tags like this, know that this indicates whether or not the garment has been made colour fast after it was dyed or printed.  If the dyeing process has been completed with care than the manufacturer specifies that the fabrics are colour fast and washable and then that is how it must be done.  You may get some ‘bleeding’ – a slight colour tinge in the water, this is excess dye and usually comes out in the first wash. The other factor contributing to limited care for a garment could be because of embellishments.  Often rhinestones and beads can turn ‘milky’ where in the glue holding them in place gets ‘un-stuck’, this is when you’ll find tags that say “spot clean only”.  At Laloom, we personally wash test all fabrics prior to purchase, then production samples and finally random garments in the production run.

 In this photo: Rouge Short Cotton Silk Kaftan with tie neck

Here are some of our top daily care tips for dealing with fabrics like Silk and Poly chiffon:

You don’t need to wash garments after every time you wear them. Unless it has been a really hot and sticky occasion creating a lot of perspiration, it is better to hang the garment in an airy place and let fresh air do the refreshing.
Never use a washing machine – the best option is to hand wash these clothing items using a mild soap and warm water (Shampoo is also a great alternative!)
Don’t hang these types of garments in direct sunlight.  Doing so can damage the silk fibre and fade the colour.
Do not use chlorine bleach to clean silk;  Silk is a natural protein fibre and chlorine will damage the silk fabric.
Several drops of lemon juice or vinegar in the rinse water can make your silk item shinier.
Substances containing alcohol can damage silk fabric. So let your perfume and hairspray dry before getting dressed.
Avoid soaking silk as this may fade the dye.

In this photo: Liberty Long Kaftan

Distaining that Stain!
Red Wine Stains?  Try using white wine.  Blot the affected area and then apply Baking soda and rinse with cold water.  Repeat the process until the stain is gone.
Spilt Tea or Coffee?  Time is of the essences and it’s best to attack this kind of stain while they are still fresh.  Firstly, run cold water immediately through the stained area, then blot gently, do NOT rub – you don’t want to end up rubbing the stain even deeper into the fabric.  Second, if there is still some stain, mix one part water and white vinegar, and then gently dab onto the stain softly.  If the stain doesn’t budge, or if the garment is not washable or colour fast, your best choice is to get it professionally cleaned.
Your food’s no longer on your plate… Cooking and serving dinner for friends and family can be a messy affair.  If you’re hosting a party and want to wear a kaftan you might end up with a bit of a mess on your kaftan too – if this happens, remove the food and sprinkle talcum powder or corn starch directly to the stain to prevent oil imprint on clothing material, to later hand wash with warm water.  Chewing Gum stuck on your clothes?  Immediately rub the piece of chewing gum with ice cubes.  Once stiff, pull slowly so as not to damage the fabric.

In this photo: Bluebell Short Kaftan

Do you have any tips you swear by for taking care of your favourite garments? Share with our community at our Facebook page and Pinterest boards.