Equipment Silk Shirts: Dry clean or launder?

Vicki

I absolutely love my Equipment cat shirt and I've been taking it to a "green" dry cleaner, however, I did just buy some Laundress soap products (one for silks and another one for cashmere and wool) and I wondered what you were doing to bathe your kitties (if you have the same one I do) or other Equipment shirt(s)? I've only mentioned this brand, because I did have some less-than-satisfactory results with two Nexx silk blouses, which now prompted me to return to dry cleaning.

Do you dry clean your silk Equipment shirt(s) or wash them on a delicate cycle in a garment bag? I am concerned about changing the finish of the shirt, although I know from pm'ing Suz that she has had no problem washing her cat shirt, air drying and then ironing to bring back the nice, soft silk texture.

I'm curious as to what others of you doing with yours?

Many thanks!

Vicki ^_^

Nordstrom

Equipment 'Adriana' Silk Shirt

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10 years ago

General

12 replies

Latest reply was from Vicki

Thistle

Veteran

I don't have experience with Equipment silk, but if you love the shirt, dry clean it. No point taking the risk.

10 years ago

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

The problem with dry cleaners is that they can be rough on silk. I always send my silk to the cleaners but I've had blouses come back with broken buttons or separated seams because they are not gentle enough. Yet it is hard for me to find the time to put into hand washing and ironing.

10 years ago

Greyscale

Veteran

I wash my Equipment shirts. The washed-silk one stands up wonderfully to washing on delicate. It is such thick silk that it hardly even wrinkles. I have another Equipment shirt that's a glossier charmeuse and I think washing it has faded the black a bit unevenly (a common problem with silk). But I still wash it because I would never get around to dry-cleaning.

10 years ago

crutcher

Veteran

Have you considered Dryelle?....I don't have an Equipment shirt but I do all of my cleaning with Dryelle...I can govern how long I run it in the dryer...The chemicals from the dry cleaner are just too much...

10 years ago

josie411

Active Member

I wash mine on the silk setting in the washer with the Laundress silk soap. Air dry but never in direct sun. Works very well well.

10 years ago

Nebraskim

Veteran

I don't have that brand but I hand wash my silk shirts. My Late Japanese grandmother said to me 30 years ago, "Ladies in Japan and China wore and washed silk kimono centuries before dry cleaning." You should do a colorfast test before immersing. I use cool water and very mild soap, like just a drop of dreft. Rinse well, gently squeeze out most of the water, roll in towels to blot
and hang to dry. I use my steamer to release wrinkles.

10 years ago

Ana

(website)

Veteran

I have a sleeveless, "nude" color, slim fit Signature Equipment shirt, and I wash it in a lingerie bag on delicate in the washer. I air dry it, which means I have to iron it, but it comes out just fine. I've even used Shout on a few spots in the past, and have had no problems with machine washing it at all (knock on wood).

10 years ago

deb

Veteran

I machine wash my silk equipment shirts on the delicate or hand wash cycle on my machine and dry it on the delicate cycle on my dryer. They come out beautifully. So do the Massimo Dutti silk shirts like the one I wore on Saturday at SSIF. The Equipment shirts are a much heavier fabric than the Massimo Dutti shirts but them both wash and dry really well. No pressing necessary.

10 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I've actually read (somewhere) that washing strengthens the silk fibres while dry cleaning can weaken them. I don't know if that is true.

Anyway, I am in Greyscale's camp, If I had to dry clean, it would never happen. It's just too big a hassle to take the stuff in. The only things I dry clean are my wool coats, wool or wool blend blazers, and a couple of pairs of wool trousers.

10 years ago

Anonymous

I don't have a delicate setting on my washing machine, so I always hand wash my silk shirts. The Equipment one always came out beautifully. I wrap in a dry towel, squeeze and lay flat to dry. I try to iron while still damp; it makes it so quick and easy.

10 years ago

Golden

Veteran

Delicate cycle in garment bag in cold water, I hang to dry on a padded hanger and iron! Works perfectly. I have three equipment silk shirts.

10 years ago

Vicki

(website)

Veteran

Thank you, wise YLF laundress ladies and it seems that enough of you have field-tested it enough to report back glowing reviews on cleaning these silk blouses this way. I could always stick with dry cleaning, as I've done in the past, but I just wanted to find a way to save cost and save the environment as I do it in simpler ways.

10 years ago

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