Cleaning 40s East Asian silk

[gossamer]

Hello!

A friend just sent me two gorgeous items made of silk that she says her father and his friend brought home from Asia after WW2. I've asked her for clarification on if she knows where they bought the silk, as it looks Chinese to me but I am no expert.

Dress

Closeup of fabric

Skirt suit

Closeup of fabric

I could steam these items and probably get away with wearing them as is, but they both have some water damage (not bleed, just a ring around where the water was), and the pink dress has some black residue around the hem. Would you risk gentle hand washing? Warn me against it at all costs? Suggestions between the two?

Thanks in advance!

 

[retro ruth]

Hello!

I've embedded your images into the post, as you are likely to get more responses that way.

For instructions on how to do this yourself, see: https://forums.vintagefashionguild.org/threads/faq-how-to-post-a-photo.52756/

 

[Jonathan]

It is Chinese silk. Dry cleaning will be safe, but if the marks are because of water, it will likely only lighten those marks and not remove them. I wouldn't try washing them - although I think the fabric would wash well, because they are made up garments, I suspect the seaming will pucker and the dress will show iron marks - they will never look the same. Maybe someone will come along who has tried it and had luck with washing tailored silk garments here... but I don't think it will end well.

 

[bycinbyhand]

From experience, I recommend dry cleaning only. It's best.

I had some remnants of this era and type of fabric that I hand washed and it just lost its spunk, no matter how carefully I washed it. It was a great experiment because it was just a remnant or two.

 

[gossamer]

Hello!

I've embedded your images into the post, as you are likely to get more responses that way.

For instructions on how to do this yourself, see: https://forums.vintagefashionguild.org/threads/faq-how-to-post-a-photo.52756/

Thank you so much, I'd forgotten how. Apologies for the large size of the images!

 

[gossamer]

It is Chinese silk. Dry cleaning will be safe, but if the marks are because of water, it will likely only lighten those marks and not remove them. I wouldn't try washing them - although I think the fabric would wash well, because they are made up garments, I suspect the seaming will pucker and the dress will show iron marks - they will never look the same. Maybe someone will come along who has tried it and had luck with washing tailored silk garments here... but I don't think it will end well.

Thank you! I appreciate your help thinking through what impact washing would have on details like the seams. I do use a steamer instead of an iron on most of my vintage at least.

 

[gossamer]

From experience, I recommend dry cleaning only. It's best.

I had some remnants of this era and type of fabric that I hand washed and it just lost its spunk, no matter how carefully I washed it. It was a great experiment because it was just a remnant or two.

Oooh, experimental data too! Thank you, this is super helpful!!