How To Care For Cashmere The Correct Way
Do you want to know how to care for cashmere? A wonderfully luxurious and soft material used in homeware and designer clothing, it deserves to be treated with gentleness. According to the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA), cashmere is a natural protein fiber that is lightweight, durable, resilient, and rarely wrinkles. It also absorbs chemicals and dyes easily.
Sustainability is at the forefront of the CFDA’s thinking. They suggest consumers choose articles made from recycled cashmere, as is done by the designer Stella McCartney and the brands Reformation and Patagonia. Let’s discuss how one can care for cashmere items.
Can You Wash Cashmere At Home?
Martha Stewart confirms you can wash your cashmere items at home, but they sometimes get distorted during cleaning. She suggests the following: “Measure your sweater because that’s what you want your final sweater after washing to conform to”. Do you really want to measure all your cashmere garments and homeware items before and after washing them at home?
Before cleaning any item, read the care instructions on the label, as washing instructions vary. Cashmere products should not be machine washed, but you can hand wash small pieces. Avoid exposing wet cashmere to direct heat from a radiator and dryer, it damages the cashmere fibers causing them to shrink. If the care label states the item can be dry cleaned, bring it to Hometown Cleaners. We use hypoallergenic, biodegradable, organic solvents in our state-of-the-art dry cleaning machines.
How Often Should You Take Cashmere For A Dry Clean?
Do you prefer to wear your cashmere sweater over a t-shirt or a button-down shirt? For GQ magazine, no matter how you wear it, a cashmere sweater makes you look sophisticated and polished. Should you take your cashmere cardigan and sweater for dry cleaning after every wear? The choice is yours, and it depends on how many times you wear it during the season. If you have several sweaters that you rotate, you need only bring the items to Hometown Cleaners once or twice a season for dry cleaning. Cashmere fabric gets damaged when washed too often.
However, you must have the cashmere sweaters cleaned at the end of the season before storing them away, as moths are attracted by the body odor and other products that permeate the fabric. Store the sweaters folded to prevent stretching, and place them in a breathable cotton bag with a zip closure to keep the moths out.
Treating Odors
Cashmere is naturally odor resistant and breathable, but if you smell something on your cashmere garment, whether a dress, sweater or scarf, bring it to Hometown Cleaners for dry cleaning. Did you wear your cashmere dress to a charity event today? Before folding the dress to put it away, drape it over a clothes stand for a few hours to draw air.
Tip: Never iron cashmere, it damages the fibers. If your clothing is creased after a long-distance trip, ask someone to steam them for you, or hover your steam iron over the item without pressing down.
What To Do About Stains
Is there a stain on your cashmere garment after a lunch date? Don’t rub the mark or try to remove it yourself, the stain will only set. Bring the item to Hometown Cleaners. With more than sixty years of experience in the laundry industry, we know how to remove almost any stain and have all the correct products. We always handle cashmere with care and check for stains on areas such as underarms, necklines and cuffs as well.
Hometown Cleaners has a free pick-up and delivery service for our clients. Book the service online, and we will collect your cashmere clothing and homeware items for dry cleaning.
Do you live in Jupiter, Juno Beach or anywhere on the Treasure Coast? You will find Hometown Cleaners in your hometown as we offer our professional dry cleaning and laundry services at nine convenient locations in the area. With expertise gained since 1960, we know how to care for cashmere, silk and wool. Contact Hometown Cleaners today.
