Silk is generous if you treat it as a living fibre, not laundry. The atelier's protocol for washing, drying, ironing, storing and rescuing a silk garment.
Silk has an undeserved reputation for fragility. In truth it is one of the most generous fibres in the wardrobe — strong, resilient and capable of lasting generations — provided you treat it as a living thing rather than as laundry. Almost every silk that fails was not worn out; it was washed wrong, dried wrong, or stored wrong. Here is the protocol we teach every client who carries a YAYA piece out of the showroom.
Washing
Most ready-to-wear silk can be hand-washed, and gentle hand-washing is often kinder than repeated dry cleaning, whose solvents dull the fibre over time. Use cool water — never hot, which shocks the protein and can shift the dye. Choose a pH-neutral cleanser; the atelier's quiet secret is a single capful of unscented baby shampoo, which is mild enough for hair and therefore mild enough for silk. Submerge, swirl gently for no more than three minutes, and do not rub, twist or soak for long. Heavily structured tailoring — canvased jackets, anything with a built shoulder — goes to a trusted dry cleaner instead.
“Silk asks to be handled the way you would handle your own hair on a tired evening — cool water, a soft soap, no force, and never wrung.”
Yaya, Founder & Creative Director
Drying
Never wring silk; twisting breaks the long filaments that give it strength and shine. Instead, lay the piece flat on a clean cotton towel, roll the two together to press out the water, then unroll and dry the garment flat in the shade. Direct sun is the enemy — ultraviolet light fades natural dyes and weakens the fibre. And never use a tumble dryer; the heat and tumbling are precisely the two things silk cannot forgive.
Ironing and storage
- Iron from the reverse side, on the silk setting, while the fabric is still slightly damp — silk presses beautifully with a little residual moisture and resists creasing once dry.
- Place a pressing cloth between iron and silk if you must work from the front, to avoid the shine marks a hot plate leaves behind.
- Store on padded hangers, or folded loosely in acid-free tissue; wire hangers distort the shoulders over time.
- Keep silk in a breathable cotton garment bag, never sealed plastic, which traps moisture and can yellow the cloth.
- Against moths, use cedar or lavender rather than naphthalene mothballs, whose vapours can taint the fibre.
When something goes wrong
Act on a fresh stain at once, but gently. Blot — never rub — with a clean cloth and cool water; rubbing drives the stain deeper and can abrade the surface into a permanent dull patch. Resist the household instinct to reach for hydrogen peroxide, chlorine bleach or enzyme detergents, all of which attack protein fibres and will eat a hole in silk as readily as they lift a stain. For oil, a light dusting of talc or cornstarch left to absorb overnight works quietly. For anything stubborn or precious, stop and take it to a specialist before you make it worse.
Care for silk this way and it will repay you across decades, growing softer and more luminous with each gentle wash. The most beautiful silk I have ever touched belonged to a grandmother and had been worn for fifty years. It had not survived in spite of being worn. It had become beautiful because of it.
