One of the enquires we often receive from our customers is "Can your silk pillowcases be washed normally or can we put them in the washing machine?"... Here is our answer;
Generally we recommend treating your Silky Kisses silk pillowcase with the care you’d treat your hair,
I used to wash my cases with my shampoo and hang it in the bathroom to dry to put back on that night.
Any minor creases of the fabric will drop out with the warmth of your head, or even smoothing it with warm hands, or rolling it up for a while before shoving your favourite pillow into place.
But ...truly ... as main Tester since day one I’ve experimented for years now.
Lately I admit I’ve become become less pedantic, and I tend to throw my silk cases into a delicate wash with like colours in cool or just warm water in my machine with gentle washing liquid and then hanging to dry - I’m happy with their feel and dies the job with my hair.
The life of a natural product’s colours will always be slowly diminished by a machine, over washing, and by heat and sunshine on high coloured silk, but the actual fabric will keep getting softer while having strength.
I personally like the pillowcases’ texture as they age.
Silk in this thickness is surprisingly durable, if treated gently (without heat and chemicals) it can take a lot of face planting to get old and shabby.
As you can imagine I’ve got quite a few different coloured pillows in my life, but my favourite has been Wild Ruby.
So for 8 years I’ve been treating my cases with the severity I give my t-shirts and big towels !
Someone has to do it!
The outcome is varied depending on the strength of the colour and it’s age. And the abuse it gets in life.
My oldest Wild Ruby, a strong deep pink colour, has been washed and dried in a tumble drier with my same coloured towels several times ..full on abuse..a mistake at first but in hindsight a good discovery.
So the result is lighter, old rose coloured, no bright sheen but it looks and feels as soft as polished skin.
I find that cool water keeps the sheen longer, but with a warm or cold wash by hand with soft gentle cleaning emulsion to release makeup and dribble, and then hang in shade to dry.....is the best practice for silk (and most fabrics really).
My skin loves the old rose case, and my hair particularly loves the first two years of rotating a couple of new colours when they’re changed, and washing them in my shower with my hair...or basin ...till I forget one day and it ends up in the big wash...
I’m the best person to ask this question, your message caught me in a ‘passionate about Silky Kisses’ moment :D
I’m sure you were looking for a short answer - I trust this story will help you enjoy and relax with your new pillowcase.
Washing tips can be found on the website in our Guarantee area.
www.silkpillowcases.com.au
As you can see ..I’m a bit interested in this 8 year (so far) experiment with Silky Kisses ..so I love this question ....Thank you.
I hope that helps - I know you’ll have sweet dreams on your Silky Kisses silk pillowcase XX
Kind regards from the Silky Kisses team
Wendy Michell
CEO of Silky Kisses - Charity silk pillowcases for women and children at risk
XX