Care

Everything we make is a natural fibre, which means it responds to how you treat it. Follow these and a Silai piece will outlast the decade.

By fabric

Silk — crepe, charmeuse, georgette

Dry clean only. Silk loses its hand permanently in a washing machine, and no amount of careful drying brings it back.

Chanderi

Dry clean. Press on the reverse through a cloth, never directly on the surface — the sheen flattens where the iron touches it.

Wool-silk

Dry clean. Hang it to air between wears rather than cleaning it each time; the fibre recovers on its own.

Linen and cotton

Machine wash cold on a gentle cycle, inside out. Linen is meant to crease — ironing it flat every time is fighting the fabric.

Hand embroidery, zardozi, zari, gota

Dry clean, and tell the cleaner what the work is. Turn the piece inside out before storing so the work is not catching on everything around it.

Storing

• Hang immediately after wear so body moisture leaves the fibre.
• Use a padded hanger. Wire hangers set a shoulder mark that will not press out.
• Never fold a bias-cut garment — a crease across the diagonal is close to permanent.
• Cotton or muslin bags, not plastic. Plastic holds moisture and yellows silk over a season or two.
• Keep zari and metallic work out of the light. It tarnishes, and tarnish does not come back.

Small repairs

A loose thread, a hook that has come off, a hem that has dropped — send it to us. Repairs on a piece we made are free, for as long as you own it.