Scarves Cleaning and Caring for Hermès Scarves

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#421
i also hand-wash my scarves. i first tried to do it with my LV scarf since i don't want to ruin my beautiful H scarves. lol.
i mixed a few drops of woolite into cold water and just swirl my scarf around. then i rinse right away to remove soap suds. i rolled the scarf in between two soft white cloth to dry and then lightly iron avoiding the rolled hems. my scarf looks pristine and smells fresh.
 
#422
^ UPDATE: i'm sad to report my scarves have shrunk a little from hand-washing. i washed it carefully with cold water and very little woolite soap and lay flat to dry like other ladies here did. it came out beautiful. no color-bleeding, the stains are gone, still looks and feels new.
but out of curiosity, i measured my H scarf...it shrunk an inch off. the size difference is not really obvious and noticeable but still i know in back of my mind an inch is gone.:cry:
and the shrinking is much worse on my LV scarf, it shrunk 2.5 inches (good thing my H scarf only shrunk an inch).
has this happened to anyone who happened to hand-wash with cold water and woolite? do you ladies measure you H scarves after you wash them?
 
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#423
kristinlorraine said:
^ UPDATE: i'm sad to report my scarves have shrunk a little from hand-washing. i washed it carefully with cold water and very little woolite soap and lay flat to dry like other ladies here did. it came out beautiful. no color-bleeding, the stains are gone, still looks and feels new.
but out of curiosity, i measured my H scarf...it shrunk an inch off. the difference in size is not really obvious and noticeable but still i know in back of my mind an inch is gone.:cry:
and the shrinking is much worse for my LV scarf, it shrunk 2.5 inches (good thing my H scarf only shrunk an inch).
has this happened to anyone who happened to hand-wash with cold water and woolite? do you ladies measure you H scarves after you wash them?
Click to expand...

I've never measured my scarves (before or after washing them) but I definitely will the next time I get a new scarf. I'm sorry your scarf shrunk :sad:
 
#424
kristinlorraine said:
^ UPDATE: i'm sad to report my scarves have shrunk a little from hand-washing. i washed it carefully with cold water and very little woolite soap and lay flat to dry like other ladies here did. it came out beautiful. no color-bleeding, the stains are gone, still looks and feels new.
but out of curiosity, i measured my H scarf...it shrunk an inch off. the size difference is not really obvious and noticeable but still i know in back of my mind an inch is gone.:cry:
and the shrinking is much worse on my LV scarf, it shrunk 2.5 inches (good thing my H scarf only shrunk an inch).
has this happened to anyone who happened to hand-wash with cold water and woolite? do you ladies measure you H scarves after you wash them?
Click to expand...

Just curious, did you measure it before you washed it? I've sold a number of my scarves and always measure them before listing and none of them are exactly the same. They've all been a tad under 90 cm.
 
#425
that's a good point. i only measure it AFTER i washed. i just compared it with standard Hermes 90cm sizing and it is under 90cm.
also only one side is a bit off, instead of 90x90cm it became 90x86cm.

audreylita said:
Just curious, did you measure it before you washed it? I've sold a number of my scarves and always measure them before listing and none of them are exactly the same. They've all been a tad under 90 cm.
Click to expand...
 
#426
kristinlorraine said:
^ UPDATE: i'm sad to report my scarves have shrunk a little from hand-washing. i washed it carefully with cold water and very little woolite soap and lay flat to dry like other ladies here did. it came out beautiful. no color-bleeding, the stains are gone, still looks and feels new.
has this happened to anyone who happened to hand-wash with cold water and woolite? do you ladies measure you H scarves after you wash them?
Click to expand...
Did you let it air-dry or did you iron it? From my experience, I find the shrinkage often happens after letting the scarf air-dry in entirety before ironing. Ironing right after towel-dry often gives the best results. Also, I don't squeeze the scarves to drain water - that worsens the situation.
There's no need to measure scarves after washing to determine shrinkage, the rolled hems and corners show first signs of shrinking.
Rolled hems will not look straight:


The corners look a bit puffy as the hems shrink more than the scarf body.


If they don't look like these, you're fine, don't blame yourself. Also, Hermes scarves are rarely 90x90cm.
Photo courtesy of seller acum9175 on eBay.
 
#427
thanks for the wonderful advice chestnutty. i'm glad to say my scarf didn't look as bad as the picture. next time i won't air-dry my scarves too long.

Chestnutty said:
Did you let it air-dry or did you iron it? From my experience, I find the shrinkage often happens after letting the scarf air-dry in entirety before ironing. Ironing right after towel-dry often gives the best results. Also, I don't squeeze the scarves to drain water - that worsens the situation.
There's no need to measure scarves after washing to determine shrinkage, the rolled hems and corners show first signs of shrinking.
Rolled hems will not look straight:


The corners look a bit puffy as the hems shrink more than the scarf body.


If they don't look like these, you're fine, don't blame yourself. Also, Hermes scarves are rarely 90x90cm.
Photo courtesy of seller acum9175 on eBay.
Click to expand...
 
#428
Chestnutty said:
Did you let it air-dry or did you iron it? From my experience, I find the shrinkage often happens after letting the scarf air-dry in entirety before ironing. Ironing right after towel-dry often gives the best results. Also, I don't squeeze the scarves to drain water - that worsens the situation.
There's no need to measure scarves after washing to determine shrinkage, the rolled hems and corners show first signs of shrinking.
Click to expand...

Dear Chestnutty, do you think just airdry alone will avoid shrinkage? I washed my scarf once and let it airdry only - it didn't seem to have any problem. Is it by any chance the ironing that shrink it? in that case I will avoid ironing the scarves. TIA
 
#429
nguyenp said:
Dear Chestnutty, do you think just airdry alone will avoid shrinkage? I washed my scarf once and let it airdry only - it didn't seem to have any problem. Is it by any chance the ironing that shrink it? in that case I will avoid ironing the scarves. TIA
Click to expand...
NguyenP - as I mentioned above, I no longer let my scarves air dry alone so I can't really comment on air-dry. I press right after towel drying, and air-dry overnight (because the hems are not ironed and still wet after the scarf body is pressed dry). Most shrinkage I've seen happens when hems shrink, not scarf body.
With new scarves, you won't see any problems in the first 2-4 washes. I guess the starch won't wash away until then?
In short, I try to make the washing process as quick as possible in room temp. water, use color-catcher, rinse at least 6 times, towel dry, press, let it air over night. Done. (Knock on wood) This works with my scarves all of which I hand-wash.
Also, my trick: at the end of the ironing process, I use steam setting to steam the folds back on (without allowing the iron to come in contact with the folds). I love the original folds :love:. You will also find the steam from ironing helpful to keep the hems plump.

Last but not least, watch out with the 70cm scarves.
 
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#430
Chestnutty said:
NguyenP - as I mentioned above, I no longer let my scarves air dry alone. I press right after towel drying, and air-dry overnight (because the hems are not ironed and still wet after the scarf body is pressed dry).
With new scarves, you won't see any problems in the first 2-4 washes. I guess the starch won't wash away until then?
In short, I try to make the washing process as quick as possible in room temp. water, use color-catcher, rinse at least 6 times, towel dry, press, let it air over night. Done. (Knock on wood) This works with my scarves all of which I hand-wash.
Also, my trick: at the end of the ironing process, I use steam setting to steam the folds back on (without allowing the iron to come in contact with the silk). I love the original folds :love:. You will also find the steam from ironing helpful to keep the hems plump.
Click to expand...

What's color catcher?
 
#431
kristinlorraine said:
that's a good point. i only measure it AFTER i washed. i just compared it with standard Hermes 90cm sizing and it is under 90cm.
also only one side is a bit off, instead of 90x90cm it became 90x86cm.
Click to expand...

Chestnutty said:
Did you let it air-dry or did you iron it? From my experience, I find the shrinkage often happens after letting the scarf air-dry in entirety before ironing. Ironing right after towel-dry often gives the best results. Also, I don't squeeze the scarves to drain water - that worsens the situation.
There's no need to measure scarves after washing to determine shrinkage, the rolled hems and corners show first signs of shrinking.
Rolled hems will not look straight:


The corners look a bit puffy as the hems shrink more than the scarf body.


If they don't look like these, you're fine, don't blame yourself. Also, Hermes scarves are rarely 90x90cm.
Photo courtesy of seller acum9175 on eBay.
Click to expand...

None of my scarves have ever been cleaned and they are definitely not symmetrical. Not one has ever measured identically both vertically and horizontally.

Again I don't measure all of them, just the ones I'm selling. Believe me I was surprised the first time I measured one!
 
#433
Chestnutty said:
NguyenP - as I mentioned above, I no longer let my scarves air dry alone so I can't really comment on air-dry. I press right after towel drying, and air-dry overnight (because the hems are not ironed and still wet after the scarf body is pressed dry). Most shrinkage I've seen happens when hems shrink, not scarf body.
With new scarves, you won't see any problems in the first 2-4 washes. I guess the starch won't wash away until then?
In short, I try to make the washing process as quick as possible in room temp. water, use color-catcher, rinse at least 6 times, towel dry, press, let it air over night. Done. (Knock on wood) This works with my scarves all of which I hand-wash.
Also, my trick: at the end of the ironing process, I use steam setting to steam the folds back on (without allowing the iron to come in contact with the folds). I love the original folds :love:. You will also find the steam from ironing helpful to keep the hems plump.

Last but not least, watch out with the 70cm scarves.
Click to expand...

Thank you dear chestnutty, I will keep that in mind! :smile1:
So far I've only washed the Magic Kelly (per method you mentioned above, except for after towel pressing, I just leave it to dry). There was no stain - I was just refreshing it so I kept the washing at minimal. it all went well with no shrinkage so I guess I was lucky!
 
#435
lanit said:
I have just received a beautiful scarf (Equitation Japonaise) and there are some very light lipstick marks on it as well as some light foundation makeup stains. It's hard to know how long they might have been there. Would someone please share tips on how to remove specifically lipstick from a cream colored field? I can return it to the original seller, but I love the scarf so much, I'd like to keep it.Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
I am big lover of silk. Have lots of blouses, skirts and scarfs. For makeup issues I use rubbing alcohol (70%).
I lay item - including my Hermes scarfs- on the folded towel and use cotton ball soaked litle bit with alcohol. Jentle rubbing and makeup is gone - partly absorbed by towel, partly on the cotton ball. Does not do any damage to fabric or colors.
 
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