Washing Cashmere Scarves

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#61
pamella said:
Hi lola! As to the pilling, it's funny that you mentioned it today. I was asking my SA about
it, and he told me that I could use one of those battery operated shavers that is expressly
for piling on sweaters. So I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought one. It seemed to
do a nice job. I was very careful to not press hard. I have not washed my cashmere GM's
yet, but I have washed my silks in Le Blanc with Color Catcher as recommended on the
forum. The silks come out beautiful.
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Thanks Pamella! I'll look for one of those shavers, but appearently colour catchers are not available in Canada. There are a couple of marks that need cleaning. I don't know what they are (got this one 2nd hand) but they don't look serious. I have other GMs that I've worn for months that don't need a wash - so I wonder how bad a ONCE drycleaning would be? I'm really nervous about washing (& Ironing!) myself.... eep!
 
#62
lolakitten said:
Thanks Pamella! I'll look for one of those shavers, but appearently colour catchers are not available in Canada. There are a couple of marks that need cleaning. I don't know what they are (got this one 2nd hand) but they don't look serious. I have other GMs that I've worn for months that don't need a wash - so I wonder how bad a ONCE drycleaning would be? I'm really nervous about washing (& Ironing!) myself.... eep!
Click to expand...

Can't imagine that a once drycleaning would be bad, I have not drycleaned a
gm, so can't really tell you for sure.
 
#63
I use a sweater shaver as well for the pilling on my GMs, works great. I no longer dry clean them though, as I do not like the chemical smell afterward. I wash mine in ice cold water with some shampoo, rinse in cold water as well, then roll in a white towel and dry with a hair dryer. The whole process takes 10-15 minutes.
 
#64
I washed a GM shawl for the first time a few days ago, and it came out fine!

I washed it in luke warm water with a silk/cashmere detergent, without leaving it to soak, then I rinsed it a lot also in luke warm water, and finally I layed it flat on a towel outside to dry ( IN THE SHADE) perfect!!!
 
#65
Duna, good point on not leaving them to soak. :tup: I left that out of my description above. Once they are in the water, I swish them about for a minute or so, but that's it. I've not had any color run. The water does have color in it when I'm finished, but this has not impacted the color of the GM, whether a light or dark c/w.
 
#66
Thanks for all the tips everyone!
So, I think I'm going to give washing it a try. I have Arm & Hammer HE unscented detergent on hand (love the stuff cause it rinces well & doesn't mess with my allergies) Should I use that, or go out & get something else? The only shampoos I have are super moisturising, lol.
Also, how much to use for one GM?

I just have a regular iron - good enough? I know to put a sheet in between the GM & the iron. Wool setting?

Guess I'll see how it looks after that, then deal with the pills.
 
#67
lolakitten said:
Thanks for all the tips everyone!
So, I think I'm going to give washing it a try. I have Arm & Hammer HE unscented detergent on hand (love the stuff cause it rinces well & doesn't mess with my allergies) Should I use that, or go out & get something else? The only shampoos I have are super moisturising, lol.
Also, how much to use for one GM?

I just have a regular iron - good enough? I know to put a sheet in between the GM & the iron. Wool setting?

Guess I'll see how it looks after that, then deal with the pills.
Click to expand...

i wouldn't use an iron, i've washed cashmere GMs several times and found they dry quickly in the shade, within a day.
 
#70
^ I second Duna, I only iron the silk twills. I roll mine loosely in a big fluffy towel, than after 10 minutes or so, change the towel which would have absorbed a lot of the water and then dry flat on one of those sweater racks with a mesh top. This way I don't have lines from an airer. They finally get another day's airing over the back of a chair before packing away.

Re the detergent, I often use a baby shampoo which works just fine for all my woollens and my cashmere/silks shawls.
 
#71
Woohoo success! Thank you all so much!
I did the initial wash with my non detergent Arm & Hammer detergent because it's unscented & I read that it was coconut based & I've had great luck with it with my delicates (& my skin) I rinced in alternating with two big cooking pots in the sink with cold runing water till there were no bubbles or colour. I layed it up on towels & rolled them up to get the excess water out & then hung it up using a bunch of pant hangers. My house must be really dry cause in about 1/2 an hour it was bone dry. I did iron it on the silk setting of my iron & surprise surprise even most of the pills are gone! it's smooth, fluffy & no colour runs. (& this one has RED in it)

I'm pleased :greengrin:

Thanks!! I'm no longer afraid of washing my own scarves! LOL.
 
#73
BELLACINA said:
If anyone is still looking for the EUROSTEAM IRONS let me know.....I have the information. They are AMAZING irons. You can hold it on a balloon and it does not break.....yet it presses like a dream....almost plumping the material instead of flattening it. Just let me know.
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Hello!

I am interested in a Eurosteam iron. I have (5) GMs which I just started to collect last year. Collection Equestrian is my first and pilled quickly compared to the others. I have Parures de Sable, Chasse Inde, Coaching, and L'Arbre de Vie. I am very nervous about cleaning and do not want to send to dry cleaner. My SA and the staff at Hermes discourage dry cleaning unless you need to. That is: they say wait wait until you have to because drycleaning takes away from the shawl or scarf.
 
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