Silk Care
Caring for your luxury silk is not as difficult as you think. All of Nyteez silk sleep and loungewear can be machine washed, hand washed or dry cleaned.
Hand Washing
Silk is a protein fiber, like hair, and releases dirt quickly, so a quick swish in clean lukewarm water and a cap full of delicate care laundry soap or a small amount of shampoo should be sufficient for most cleaning.
I have a plastic 12-quart dishpan that I just use for hand-washing clothing. This ensures I always have a clean pan to hand wash delicates in.
Silk is a very strong natural fiber when dry, but water makes the fibers more fragile, so be gentle with it when it is wet. Do not scrub or wring. Swish around and agitate the garment by hand for a couple of minutes. Do not soak longer than 5 minutes.
The dye on dark silks will bleed; this is normal, so only wash like colors together. To help retain the silks vibrant color and sheen, add 1/4 cup of white vinegar per 2 gallons of your washing water.
If you have hard water, the minerals can leave a residue that makes the silk seem dry, kind of like your hair. Adding a cap full of hair conditioner or fabric softener to the wash water will avoid this and actually provide a deeper cleaning.
Rinse in cold water.
Hand-washing and Machine washing silk will make it softer and may give it a sand-washed appearance over time. I actually like this effect, but to retain the vibrant color and sheen, take it to a dry cleaner.
Machine Washing
Place in a mesh laundry bag and wash with like colors on the Hand Wash or Delicate cycle using delicate care laundry soap.
Drying
Squeeze, do not wring out the water, or lay flat on a clean towel and roll up the garment in the towel to get excess water out.
Hang in the shower or shady place to dry. Direct sun can fade yellow and degrade silk.
Ironing
Nyteez Silk Burnout garments and knits shouldn’t need to be ironed, wrinkles usually hang out in a few hours. If not, then see below.
For Nyteez silk satin charmeuse garments, steaming is best.
To iron, turn inside out. If you just washed the garment, wait until it is almost dry and iron on low or the silk setting. For a dry garment, just iron on low. Do not spray with water, this may create spotting.
Daily Care
Long-term exposure to perfume spray or deodorant can damage and yellow silk fabric. Be sure to wash the garment before storing it.