How to Care for Jacquard, Duchesse Satin, Tweed and Cashmere

These fabrics are not difficult, but they are unforgiving of the wrong instinct. Almost every piece of damage we see comes from someone doing the reasonable thing: ironing a crease, washing a stain, cleaning a jacket after every wear. Here is the fabric-by-fabric version.

Jacquard

Dry clean only. Never wash. A jacquard’s pattern exists because its threads are held at particular tensions. Water relaxes those tensions unevenly and the design distorts permanently. Tell the cleaner it is a jacquard so it is pressed from the reverse over a pressing cloth, never directly on the face.

A pulled thread is repairable and should never be cut. The thread has been drawn out of the weave, not broken, and a specialist can work it back. Cutting it makes a hole.

Duchesse satin

Steam, never iron. Duchesse has a high-lustre face that takes a permanent shine wherever direct heat touches it, and no cleaning process removes that mark. Hang the garment in a steamy bathroom for twenty minutes first; most creases fall out on their own. If you must steam actively, work from at least fifteen centimetres away and from the reverse.

Duchesse also marks permanently under a pin, so alterations should be tacked rather than pinned, and it should be stored hanging so it is not folded against itself.

Tweed and wool

Brush and air. Clean rarely. Wool is naturally resistant to dirt and odour, and a clothes brush plus a night on a hanger in open air handles most of what a day puts on a jacket. Let mud dry completely and then brush it off; wet mud rubbed into wool becomes a stain. Spot clean marks rather than cleaning the whole garment. Repeated dry cleaning is the main thing that ages tweed.

Store on a wide hanger with air around it. Cedar rather than mothballs, and check stored wool in spring, which is when moths become active.

Baby cashmere and fine knits

Hand wash cool. Dry flat. Fold, never hang. Use a wool detergent in cool water, press the water out without wringing, roll the garment in a towel to take the rest, then dry it flat and away from radiators and sunlight. A hanger will pull the shoulders out of a fine knit inside a season.

Pilling is normal on any cashmere and is not a fault. Remove it with a cashmere comb rather than a razor, which cuts fibres and makes the next pill worse.

Tulle, organza and embellished pieces

Specialist cleaning only, and say what the embellishment is. Beads and sequins can be dissolved, dulled, detached by standard solvents, so the cleaner needs to know. Many will hand-clean the embellished areas and treat the ground fabric separately.

Hang on a padded hanger in a breathable cotton bag. If the beading is heavy, store the gown flat in acid-free tissue instead, because its own weight will distort the shoulders over months on a hanger.

Crepe

The easiest fabric here. It recovers from folding, which is why it travels, and it releases most creases if you hang it in a bathroom while you shower. Dry clean, and keep direct iron heat off the face.

Silk in general: the spill protocol

1. Blot immediately with a clean white cloth. Do not rub.
2. Do not add water. Water sets several common stains on silk and leaves a ring of its own.
3. Do not use a stain pen, and do not use any household remover.
4. Get it to a specialist cleaner within days, and tell them exactly what was spilled.

Storage, in one table

What to tell a dry cleaner

Name the fabric and the decoration. “It is a silk jacquard with hand-applied beading at the bodice” gets a different process from handing over a dress and saying nothing. Ask them to press from the reverse. Ask whether the beading will be hand-treated. A cleaner who cannot answer those questions is not the right cleaner for a garment at this price.

Frequently asked questions

Can you wash jacquard?

No. Jacquard is a woven structure held in balance by the tension of its threads, and washing relaxes that tension unevenly, so the pattern distorts and does not come back. Dry clean it, and tell the cleaner it is a jacquard so they press it from the reverse over a cloth.

How do you get creases out of duchesse satin?

Steam it, from a distance, never with an iron on the face. Duchesse takes a permanent shine wherever heat touches the surface directly, and that mark cannot be removed. Hang the garment in a steamy bathroom for twenty minutes and let gravity do most of the work before you go near it with anything.

How often should tweed be dry cleaned?

As rarely as you can manage. Wool resists dirt and odour naturally, so brushing and airing after each wear does most of the work. Let mud dry completely, then brush it off. What wears a tweed jacket out is repeated solvent cleaning, not wearing it.

How do you wash cashmere?

By hand, in cool water, with a wool detergent. Do not wring it. Press the water out, roll it in a towel, then dry it flat away from heat. Fold it rather than hanging it, because a hanger pulls the shoulder out of a fine knit within a season.

How do you store an embellished gown?

Hanging, on a padded hanger, inside a breathable cotton garment bag. Never plastic: plastic traps moisture and yellows silk over time. If the gown is very heavy with beading, store it flat in acid-free tissue instead, because its own weight will stretch the shoulders on a hanger.

What do you do if you spill something on silk?

Blot, do not rub, with a clean white cloth. Do not add water, which sets many stains on silk and leaves a ring of its own. Get it to a specialist cleaner quickly and tell them exactly what was spilled. A same-week stain is usually recoverable; a six-month-old one often is not.

Can you repair a pulled thread on a jacquard?

Often, yes. A pulled thread has not broken, it has simply been drawn out of the weave, and a specialist can work it back with a needle. Do not cut it. Cutting turns a repairable pull into a permanent hole.

Keep reading

• The Huishan Zhang fabric guide, all fourteen fabrics
• Huishan Zhang tweed, all 25 pieces
• Huishan Zhang tops, shirts and baby cashmere
• A straight review of Huishan Zhang
• Shop the full Huishan Zhang collection at Coveti