Cleaning
- The basic rule is that pure silk ties should never be washed in or exposed to water.
- Silk ties should only be dry cleaned.
- A specialist dry cleaner is recommended. This is particularly important when there is a stain on the tie that needs to be removed.
Emergency Cleaning
Well, we have all been there! A beautiful silk tie ruined by an errant splash of Béarnaise sauce whilst out dining at our favourite restaurant. Perhaps caused by imbibing a tad too much Domaine Romanée-Conti?
In such a situation it is important to act quickly:
- At home – if you have a fine collection of silk ties it will pay you well to have a proprietary brand of silk cleaner to hand; of course following the instructions carefully.
- Whilst out dining – grease based stains are the most likely and difficult to remove – quickly cover the stain with table salt and leave it for a few minutes before brushing it away. The salt should absorb most of the stain. At the same time ask the waiter if the restaurant has anything that might help. A number of quality restaurants will carry a small stock of stain removers; after all you won’t be the first person to have this happen to them. Hotel restaurants are the most likely to carry supplies of stain remover.
- However, to remove the stain completely you might still need the services of a professional dry cleaner.
General Care
- When taking off your tie always untie the knot very carefully. Never pull the tie at one end trying to force it through a small or restricted knot (this will cause the material to ruck); loosen the tie knot fully.
- Most people, including myself, hang ties from a tie rail in their wardrobe. Usually this is done because of space restrictions. This method of storing ties causes wrinkling as gravity takes over, particularly when ties are slung over the wardrobe tie rail en masse!
- If you are lucky enough to have the room a tie is best stored between use by rolling it into a loose roll and placing it on a shelf or in a drawer. This avoids the wrinkling caused by gravity on ‘hung’ ties. Create the roll by rolling the tie around your hand starting with the narrow end.
- As a precaution against stains a small outlay on a specialised silk fabric protection spray can pay handsomely.
- Like all natural products silk ties benefit from rests between wearings. It gives the tie time to recover its shape.