Can I Wash My Silk Duvet
One of the top questions I get asked is, Can I wash my silk duvet? Most silk duvet sellers say that they should be dry cleaned only. However, if your duvet made using long fibre silk and manufactured by a reputable manufacturer, you can actually wash your silk duvet as long as you do it the right way.
It is a myth that silk is difficult to look after. In fact, it is the opposite. The main reason is that it is dust mite resistant. Dust mites….which are the little creatures that like to live in your bedding, do not like to live in silk, so will choose somewhere else to habitat. So this means there won’t be any of them in your duvet if it’s filled with silk, and there won’t be any of their waste in your duvet either. Lucky for us, this is why they do not need to be cleaned as often as the other types of duvet fillers. This is also the reason why silk is NATURALLY HYPOALLERGENIC. There are a lot of the products on the market which have claimed to hypoallergenic properties, however, some have chemicals embedded in them to keep these little guys out, making them not a healthy option.
Dry Cleaning V. Washing Your Silk Duvet
You buy your beautiful silk duvet, manufactured with the Oeko-Tex certificate (International certification testing for harmful substances in textiles), then you dry clean it??? Oh no! Personally I don’t like the thought of dry cleaning. I don’t like chemical cleaning or the smell of the residual chemicals left after the process. After all, I have my silk duvet, not only for the fabulous feel and thermal properties but the fact that silk does not need chemicals during its processing. So why pump it full of chemicals? It doesn’t make sense to me.
You Can Wash Your Silk Duvet
So what do we look for? It starts right at the beginning when you buy your silk duvet. The silk must be ‘long fibre’ mulberry silk.
The reason for this is that long fibre silk does not ‘matt’ like short fibres. Similar to the reason why wool will matt when washed in a machine, the short ends get tangled and knot together making a bit of a mess, that can rarely be recovered. The long fibres of silk have fewer ends and lie flat.
Next, is the stitching. The silk needs to be attached around the entire outer edge. This is hand stitched to the cover while it’s still inside out during the making of the duvet. So with the long fibres attached at the edges, the silk stays in place during use and when you wash it. Also, the pattern of topstitching helps. If it’s secured in at least 9 places across and down a queen or king size duvet, the silk is less likely to move. This also is great for the use, as if you shake it the silk doesn’t move. There’s nothing worse than trying to get feathers to not site in one corner of a duvet. You just can’t seem to get them back where they should be and end up having cold spots. Not ideal. This does not make for a comfortable nights sleep.