Fashion Salad

This is the second article in Texere Silk’s Caring for Silk series. The previous post covered cleaning and washing silk. This article is on Green Organic Dry Cleaning, which, being an environment friendly process, is in line with our ethics of ecological responsibility and thus, is an important part of information that we would like to share with our customers, and with public at large. Silk Care: Green Organic Dry Cleaning Most silk items should be hand washable, and should not need dry cleaning.

Nevertheless, some “Dry Clean Only” fabrics (rayon, lace etc. etc.) are delicate and should not be washed because they either cannot withstand the agitation of a washing machine or would shrink drastically if washed in water (Wool, for example).

The “Dry Clean Only” label on silk items might mean that the fabric was not preshrunk or chose dyed fabrics that were not colorfast. Most of our garments are washable and the fabric used is guaranteed to be pre-shrunk.  After hand painting, every garment goes through a comprehensive process of steam curing to ensure color fastness.

If you prefer dry cleaning for your silks, Texere Silk recommends green or organic dry cleaning for the following reasons:
* Ordinary dry cleaning most commonly entails the use of Perchloroethylene (also called “perc”) a highly toxic and carcinogenic solvent.
* Chemicals used in the solvent damage the fabric and discolor it.
*  Non-toxic materials such as liquid CO2 or silicone based solvents used in Green Dry cleaning are safer and more effective cleaning agents as compared to controversial and toxic cleaning agents.  (established in a test conducted by the Consumers Union).

Links on alternate cleaning sources and the test report on harmful aspects of Perchloroethylene ; Organic / green dry cleaners in your area that use silicone based solvents by going to the website of Green Earth Cleaning (organic / green dry cleaners); Liquid CO2 cleaning (a green / organic dry cleaning system) available on the website of Cool Clean Technologies:

For More detailed information and instructions on silk care, Washing and Cleaning Silk.