Silk has a reputation for being delicate. It is not, particularly — it is the strongest natural fibre on earth by tensile measure, woven into bulletproof vests before kevlar existed. What it asks for is not fragility but fluency: a few habits, kept consistently, that will repay you in years of wear.
What follows is the definitive guide we hand to anyone who has just brought home their first serious piece of silk. Read it once, keep it nearby, and your pillowcase will outlast your sheets by a decade.
Washing
Silk should be washed by hand whenever possible, and on the gentlest machine cycle when it is not. Hot water dissolves the natural proteins that give silk its lustre — the fibre becomes dull, brittle, and short. Cold water, ideally below 30 degrees Celsius, preserves them.
The hand wash, step by step
Fill a clean basin with cold water. Add a small amount of pH-neutral liquid detergent — a teaspoon is plenty for a single garment. Avoid anything labelled biological, enzymatic, or whitening; the enzymes designed to digest stains will, given enough exposure, digest silk. Submerge the piece, swirl it gently with an open hand, and let it rest for no more than three to five minutes. Rinse twice in clean cold water until no soap remains. Do not wring. Press the water out between your palms, or roll the garment briefly in a clean white towel.
If you must use a machine
Place the piece inside a fine mesh laundry bag. Use the delicates or hand-wash cycle, cold water, lowest spin. Add only silk-safe detergent. Wash silk with silk, never with denim, towels, or anything carrying a zip or a hook.
Drying
Never the tumble dryer. The combination of heat and mechanical agitation will fracture the fibre and curl the weave in a single cycle. Lay the garment flat on a clean towel, away from direct sunlight, and let it dry in a well-ventilated room. Sunlight bleaches silk and weakens it; radiators and hairdryers do the same, faster.
If you must hang the piece, choose a padded hanger and hang it from the shoulders, not the hem. Silk holds water heavily when wet and can stretch under its own weight if hung from the wrong point.
Ironing
Silk does not require ironing if it has been dried flat and folded promptly. If pressing is necessary, iron the piece inside out, on the silk setting (generally below 150 degrees Celsius), while it is still very slightly damp. Never spray water directly onto dry silk — the droplets leave halos. Use a fine cotton cloth between the iron and the fabric for added protection.
Storage
Fold silk; do not hang it for long-term storage. Hanging stretches the shoulders and creates a permanent line at the bar. Fold along the natural seams, place between layers of acid-free tissue, and keep in a cool, dry drawer away from direct light.
Avoid plastic. Silk is a protein, and proteins need to breathe. A cotton garment bag, a linen drawer liner, or a lidded wooden box are all preferable. A small cedar block discourages moths, which find silk — and your cashmere — equally inviting. Do not use mothballs; the residue is harsh and the smell lingers in the weave for months.
Stains and small emergencies
Treat stains immediately and gently. Blot, never rub. For most marks, cold water and a single drop of mild detergent applied with a soft cloth will lift the stain without leaving a ring. For oil-based stains, a light dusting of cornstarch or talc, left to sit for an hour and then brushed away, will absorb the worst before laundering. Wine, coffee, makeup, and perfume should all be addressed before the silk dries; once set, they require a specialist.
Do not bleach, ever. Do not use stain pens designed for cotton.
Repair and longevity
A snagged thread on silk should never be cut. Use the eye of a fine needle to coax the loop back through to the underside of the fabric, where it will lie flat and disappear. A small tear, caught early, can be invisibly rewoven by a specialist tailor — a service that costs less than most people imagine and extends the life of a piece by decades.
Rotate your silk. A pillowcase used every night will tire faster than two pillowcases used in alternation, both because the fibre needs time to recover between launderings and because frequent washing accelerates fade. Two cases, used in rotation, will outlast three used singly.
The short version
Cold water. pH-neutral soap. Dry flat in the shade. Iron inside out, low. Fold, do not hang. Treat stains immediately. Rotate your pieces. That is the entire literature of silk care, distilled.
For the longer reference — including a table of recommended detergents and a list of trusted menders by city — see the Silk Care Guide in the maison's reference library. The fabric will reward attention. It tends to give back what it is given.