Ok, I am feeling positively virtuous now because all this talk of cashmere reminded me I have a few stains (either coffee or tea) on the white areas of my Graff and Echec au Roi scarf I need to take care of. A tailor once told me that moths are attracted to areas on your cashmere where you have dropped food. And if this has happened (i.e. you have splashed a sugary sauce on yourself - noodle slurping can be a dangerous activity around CSGMs!), it's best to take them to the dry cleaners right away and have them cleaned. This is the first step in preventing moths from putting holes in your clothing. So I remembered I saw a few suspicious light spots as I was working on my previous post and needed to wash them right away. Now here's my theory on cleaning CSGMs.
First I will say, if you have a trustworthy cleaners, take your CSGMs there. It's really worth it. If you don't , hand washing is the next best alternative. I used to have a trustworthy cleaners in PA but since I moved to LA, I haven't found one yet. I was given a tip for a good one and will try them out soon. But until then, I handwash all my own scarves/shawls.
For my CSGMs, I use a Laundress wool and cashmere shampoo. I also have another Laundress detergent for my 90 silks. And I have a wool and cashmere spray I use on my sweaters and CSGMs to "freshen" them up in between several wears. For the spray, the actual label on the back says the spray removes odors and freshens yarns while naturally repelling critters such as bugs and moths. The scent is a light cedar with some pine needle and lemon zest. And I think it's really nice. I don't know if it really works or not but I have not had any problem with moths and my cashmeres. For photos of the bottles I use, see below.
Some of you asked if I have problems with staining on the white background of my shawls. I actually don't. They have not turned dingy or yellow and stains such as coffee or tea come right out with my simple hand wash technique. So if you like white backgrounds, don't be afraid! It's really not that hard to maintain.
Ok, so here's my setup for washing:
I have two large bowls (like super big) I use just for scarf washing and don't use them for anything else. I fill up one with just cold water and designate that as my rinsing bowl. In the other bowl, I fill it up with cold water and put in about 2 capfuls of the detergent. With CSGMs, I wash them one by one. So first, look for weird stains on your CSGM. Wet the area with the stain just a bit and then put a bit of detergent directly on the cashmere. Rub VERY LIGHTLY between your fingers to get the detergent to really set in there. Don't rub too hard or you will make your shawl furry! After about a minute, I dunk the whole shawl into my soapy water bowl and start swishing. I don't really do any rubbing while the whole shawl is in water. I don't want the shawl to get furry but I do aggressively swish. After about 5 minutes of swishing, I squeeze out the excess soapy water lightly and dunk the shawl into my rinsing bowl that's ready. I swish swish swish my shawl around and once the rinsing bowl water is soapy, I dump out the water and fill it again with cold water. Then I lightly squeeze the soapy water out of the shawl and rinse and repeat this process about 5 times. By the 5th time, I can see the water is no longer soapy and so I'm done. Now I squeeze out the water I can from the shawl (you will never get all of it) and lay it on a flat towel. I roll up the shawl in the towel like a sushi roll and I squeeze the towel so it absorbs the water from the shawl. After this step, your shawl really should not be that wet. At this point, you will see lots of wrinkles on your shawl but don't worry. It's not a big deal. Lay your semi-damp shawl out flat on a large bed and try to arrange it so it has a nice square shape. After about one hour, it should be ready to iron. Yes iron! I fill my iron with water and set it on the wool setting. I LIGHTLY press down on the shawl simultaneously steaming and ironing in the direction of the grain. You will be amazed at how nice it looks again after you run your iron over it.
Then it's done and you will feel positively virtuous for washing your own shawls. Then you can bring it up to your nose and inhale deeply and luxuriate in the knowledge that your shawl is clean and is ready to go for another few months.
I hope these instructions give you the courage to try this yourself if you don't have a dry cleaners you can trust.
First I will say, if you have a trustworthy cleaners, take your CSGMs there. It's really worth it. If you don't , hand washing is the next best alternative. I used to have a trustworthy cleaners in PA but since I moved to LA, I haven't found one yet. I was given a tip for a good one and will try them out soon. But until then, I handwash all my own scarves/shawls.
For my CSGMs, I use a Laundress wool and cashmere shampoo. I also have another Laundress detergent for my 90 silks. And I have a wool and cashmere spray I use on my sweaters and CSGMs to "freshen" them up in between several wears. For the spray, the actual label on the back says the spray removes odors and freshens yarns while naturally repelling critters such as bugs and moths. The scent is a light cedar with some pine needle and lemon zest. And I think it's really nice. I don't know if it really works or not but I have not had any problem with moths and my cashmeres. For photos of the bottles I use, see below.
Some of you asked if I have problems with staining on the white background of my shawls. I actually don't. They have not turned dingy or yellow and stains such as coffee or tea come right out with my simple hand wash technique. So if you like white backgrounds, don't be afraid! It's really not that hard to maintain.
Ok, so here's my setup for washing:
I have two large bowls (like super big) I use just for scarf washing and don't use them for anything else. I fill up one with just cold water and designate that as my rinsing bowl. In the other bowl, I fill it up with cold water and put in about 2 capfuls of the detergent. With CSGMs, I wash them one by one. So first, look for weird stains on your CSGM. Wet the area with the stain just a bit and then put a bit of detergent directly on the cashmere. Rub VERY LIGHTLY between your fingers to get the detergent to really set in there. Don't rub too hard or you will make your shawl furry! After about a minute, I dunk the whole shawl into my soapy water bowl and start swishing. I don't really do any rubbing while the whole shawl is in water. I don't want the shawl to get furry but I do aggressively swish. After about 5 minutes of swishing, I squeeze out the excess soapy water lightly and dunk the shawl into my rinsing bowl that's ready. I swish swish swish my shawl around and once the rinsing bowl water is soapy, I dump out the water and fill it again with cold water. Then I lightly squeeze the soapy water out of the shawl and rinse and repeat this process about 5 times. By the 5th time, I can see the water is no longer soapy and so I'm done. Now I squeeze out the water I can from the shawl (you will never get all of it) and lay it on a flat towel. I roll up the shawl in the towel like a sushi roll and I squeeze the towel so it absorbs the water from the shawl. After this step, your shawl really should not be that wet. At this point, you will see lots of wrinkles on your shawl but don't worry. It's not a big deal. Lay your semi-damp shawl out flat on a large bed and try to arrange it so it has a nice square shape. After about one hour, it should be ready to iron. Yes iron! I fill my iron with water and set it on the wool setting. I LIGHTLY press down on the shawl simultaneously steaming and ironing in the direction of the grain. You will be amazed at how nice it looks again after you run your iron over it.
Then it's done and you will feel positively virtuous for washing your own shawls. Then you can bring it up to your nose and inhale deeply and luxuriate in the knowledge that your shawl is clean and is ready to go for another few months.
I hope these instructions give you the courage to try this yourself if you don't have a dry cleaners you can trust.
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I'm glad you all liked my brushing tips. Scarf1 - strangely, for me, the brush does not work on my cashmere sweaters. The brush seems to work best for a cashmere that's a really fine weave with almost no pile. My sweaters all more "hairy" than my CSGMs and I find the brush gives me no results. 
