Laundry question: 55% silk, 45% linen, would you machine wash it?

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Would you? I've got a skirt with this mix which says dry clean only. It's new and I've worn it a lot so far so I don't want to ruin it. What do you think? TIA for words of wisdom!

I thought silk was ok to handwash...? Linen is ok to handwash for sure. Thought it was satin that doesn't take water right....? Feel sure I have hand-washed silk in the past.

How much did it cost you originally?

90 quid

I wouldn't machine wash it although I may be tempted to hand wash it if it just needs freshening up.

I have to say that I adore the silk & linen mix and have a few skirts/dresses in this and I always get them dry cleaned. Or should I say "always used to get them dry cleaned" since I don't wear them in my day to day motherly duties! They always came back beautifully cleaned and pressed, better than if I'd tried to iron them myself I think.

£90? Definitely dry clean in that case!! At least until you've had it a loooooong time and have got good wear out of it. I'd probably consider handwashing my old skirts now but they're (OMG!) 7 years old or so.

Ahhh, just realised that it will come back ready to wear if I dry clean it whereas if I (when I say I, I mean dp really since he does the washing!) washed it (machine, hand, whatever) it would need ironing. That alone is enough to persuade me to go for dry cleaning, there's one on the way to work so I'll take it in. Thanks you two!

No. Especially if it's new, and if you've worn it a lot you must like it.

I machine wash EVERYTHING, including new expensive linen top that said dry clean only and looks fine emerging from washing machine.

Have you tried the tumble dryer, Persil Revive things. Unless it's filthy, which I would doubt (unless children have wiped grubby hands or snotty noses down) My two year old thinks that after washing hands after toilet trips that place to dry them is whatever I am wearing on my bottom half. You could do that several times and then dry clean.

Silk is a b*tch to iron.

Stick it in the washing machine with delicates liquid (those clear ones) and on the 'handwash' or delicates cycle.
We machine wash everything, (inc. dh's suits!) and they are fine so long as its a gentle wash.

No, i'd give it to my mom to handwash

the option in my house is not wash or dry clean, it's wash or sit at the bottom of the laundry basket until it goes out of fashion and I throw it away.

Unless it's lined, I just put it in the washing machine. Even if it is lined, I have on occasion put it in the washing machine.

I don't find silk a problem to iron - I do it preferably while it is still damp, and don't use the "silk" setting (totally useless) - I actually iron just about everything on Linen! (At least, all natural fabrics). I've never had a problem, but I always keep the iron moving.

A good dryleaner that I used to use told me it was fine to wash silk - just to take it in to be drycelaned every so often to "soften" it again, as it can get a wee bit "crisp" (best description I can do!).

What he also told me was never to touch a grease stain with water. Dry cleaning is great for getting out grease stains - but only as long as no water has been put on it.

Always iron inside out as well so if you do mke a mark it won't ruin it.

perhaps better to handwash with lukewarm water and a gentle shampoo (rather than detergent). so you don't risk the colours runnning. if it's a handmade item, it might have special dyes on it which don't survive a normal wash. and really, it only takes 5 minutes to do a small handwash. i would iron it whilst still damp but i would put a muslin cloth on top of the skirt and iron through it (does it make sense?) so you won't leave any marks with the iron. this way you can use quite a high setting on the iron. i wouldn't use a water spray with the iron if the skirt is already dry because it might leave stains. good luck!

definetely not, I would wash in a very tepid wash with a very mild detergent (soap flakes, or silk wash stuff and dry it flat.