Luxury News from Luxist - Fine Living, Dining, Apparel, Travel, Estates, Shopping

How to Clean and Care for Your Luxury Silk Garments

by J. Conboy (RSS feed) — Dec 30th 2010 9:31AM

How to care for your luxury silk garments.

Lightweight and lustrous, it's easy to see why silk is the fabric of choice for shirts, sheets, dresses, and many other luxury garments and home items. As is the case with many high end fabrics, such as suede, silk requires a fair amount of care whether you are wearing, sleeping in, or storing it. That said, keep these tips in mind when using, cleaning, or storing your garments, bedding, or other luxury silk items:

Silk can be easily damaged by . . .

Chemical and alcohol based products: Hair sprays, nail polish remover, perfume, aerosol deodorants, etc. can all stain your silk items beyond repair. Silk is a very absorbent fiber and as such, will absorb even the finest mist from personal care products with ease. If you must use alcohol or chemical based products, do your best to not let them come into contact with your silk items (i.e. put your products on before dressing, or place a cover over your silk garment when using such products while dressed.)

Sunlight: Like a fine painting on canvas, silk is prone to damage from constant sunlight. Too much sunlight will easily fade and/or yellow even the best silk. As such, you may want to hold off wearing your best silk shirt until the evening, if possible.

Perspiration and deodorants, especially when combined, are also dangerous to silk fibers. The combination of moisture in perspiration and chemicals in deodorants (particularly Aluminum

How To Care For Your Luxury Suede Garments

by J. Conboy (RSS feed) — Dec 3rd 2010 1:31PM

Suede. A rich material which not only looks fantastic, but is fantastically "high maintenance" when it comes to keeping it looking fresh and clean. Keeping your suede garments in like new condition does require a good amount of care; however, follow these tips and you'll be able to minimize your maintenance headaches by a good amount.

Preservation starts with prevention
Keeping your suede in top condition begins with proper everyday storage and care. Start by treating your garment with a suede protection spray prior to wearing for the first time. A light coating of protectant goes a long way to protecting your garment from small amounts of moisture and stains. Be sure to test your suede protectant on the underside of your garment before apply however, as some sprays will darken/discolor your garment on contact.

The second stage of protection is proper storage. When not wearing them, be sure to keep your suede garments in a dark, dry, cool place with adequate airflow and low humidity. Light and moisture are major enemies of suede; the former fades your material, while buildup of the latter will quickly degrade it. In addition, be sure not to store your suede garment in plastic, as the lack of airflow plastic creates will trap moisture inside with you garment, and promote growth of mildew on it's surface.