Silk...

[Labyrinthian]

How difficult is it to take care of? To clean?

Can I use washing machine or only hand wash?

And would you recommend PJs made from silk?

I've never owned anything silk and I never iron, but as I say in another thread I'm off to Vietnam and have the chance to have tops (but in my new polished life I will make more effort to iron and look nice)

I love silk, I just bung mine on a hand wash setting in the machine and it's fine. I have silk dresses and tops that I've had for the best part of a decade, it doesn't stretch or age like cotton does. Having said that they're all in the wardrobe now because two pairs of mucky fingers can't be trusted! What a. I've treat to be able to stock up!

A nice treat. I does take more ironing though, that's the downside.

Don't go for the cheapest silk in SE Asia, it won't last.

I just pop mine in the freezer for 20 minutes. This means you can keep the heat low to iron.

Silk is lovely and warm too so great of pjs. It's still breathable too

I have several vintage silk shirts. They're lovely and they've lasted really well but I don't wear them that often, partly because underarm sweat shows up really badly and partly because they're an absolute bugger to iron. Washing isn't so bad - like Fenella I use the machine on a hand wash setting.

Good tip ICJump - thank you!

I do mine in the bath with silk wash. Then I hang it up to drip dry.
It always goes a bit like cardboard but goes back to beautiful once ironed.

Thanks everyone, sounds like cleaning and ironing when frozen will be manageable ...

BUT... How bad are they for sweat? I had not even thought about it, but I'm sadly a sweaty person so maybe I need to be very careful about buying any

Good silk is a very strong fibre. Have a look at the Patra catalogue - lots of silk underwear which lasts for years. As long as you wash it carefully it's fine.

A quick bump.... Can anyone tell me how bad silk is for sweat stains?! Thanks

Black silk is fine

It's a very thin fabric so it gets soaked quickly, and it's a bugger to get stains out, so be careful on fit.

Silk pyjamas look amazing for the first five minutes you're wearing them, but they crease like billyoh and I spend all my time worrying about stains.

Have a silk jersey dress on today. Washes in the machine on a silk run no problem. Hang and doesn't need ironing (I say that as someone who irons everything, it really doesn't need ironing.

But it is a warm dress. Silk is warm