"Do not wash" linen

[Elastoslax]

Id like to order the attached scarf (the colour is what I'm looking for) but "do not wash"...really?

How likely is it that they are just covering themselves and would you chance a cold wash?

I don't buy anything that says this, ever. Most of the time the garment is perfectly washable but the colour may fade, or they just haven't bothered to test it because it is easier to put "do not wash" and trust that lots of people don't look at the label.

I wonder if it would be inclined to unravel if washed . That said , it probably wouldn't need washing frequently, and could be spot cleaned with sponge if marks appeared.

My Aunt worked at a dry cleaners after she retired. On her advice I wash anything that says do not wash/dry clean only on a wool / gentle wash with a low spin & haven't killed anything yet. I'm guessing it's £100-£200ish as it's Max Mara so it's probably an arse covering exercise. It would only need washing occasionally so I'd probably do it by hand, take out as much excess moisture as possible with a towel & flat dry.

Don't do what @Mairzydotes suggests you can not spot clean linen.
If I owned that scarf & it needed cleaning I would use cold water a drop of Dr Bronners soap and use the bath so it could move freely, i would tjrn rinse with cold water & white vinegar. Depending on how wet it was maybe roll in a towel that was a lighter colour than the scarf and let it line dry.

I find that linen can shrink so I'm guessing that's why they're covering their arses. It can also lose its shape if it's a loose weave.
I'd have thought a cold, hand wash and careful, flat drying the first couple of times should be fine but it's always a bit of a risk.

I wouldn't chance it on something expensive. A scarf shouldn't need cleaning too often so I'd probably just pay for the occasional dry clean. If it was a top I wouldn't buy it.

I love linen
As it's incredibly expensive the most I would do is to swishit gently into some Castile soapy water and dry flat

I have a linen sofa where the colour came out when dabbing with water 😩 I wouldn’t risk it

What @Floisme and @minipie said. Also it has embroidery so they're covering themselves if it goes out of shape and the embroidery doesn't sit right.

Realistically, how often are you going to need to clean it? Only garments that sit next to the skin need to be washed/cleaned regularly. As a PP said if it was a top I wouldn't buy it.

I just wouldn’t buy it. It’s idiotic to manufacture something like that in a non-washable fabric.

It'll shrink and pucker around stitching and embroidery.