Tips to maintain silk saris / sarees

To preserve the silk saree (silk sari), care is to be taken for storing, washing, dry cleaning, drying and ironing.

• Store the sari in a cool, dry place, wrapped in muslin cloth.
• Unfold your silk sarees and change the folding periodically, preferably every month.
• Don’t use soap for the first three washes. Gently rinse in plain cold water.
• For the subsequent washes, use a mild detergent.
• Wash the pallu, border and body separately.
• Don’t beat or lash the silk saree; it might lead to tearing of the zari.
• Avoid twisting or wringing.
• Don't bundle and keep wet for long durations.
• To remove stain, wash with cold water immediately.
• For hard stains, soak the stained area with petrol and brush with a soft cloth.
• Stained silk must be dry-cleaned as soon as possible.
• Remove lipstick stains & food stains using a dry-cleaning solvent and wash with soap and water.
• Remove greasy stains by dabbing talc, brushing off the talc, applying stain remover, and washing off the stain remover in hot water.
• Stains like blood, deodorant and perspiration can be cleaned with detergent.
• Dry-cleaning is the best way to care, since the solvents used do not affect silk.
• After washing, the saree must be dried under shadow.
• Iron the silk saree in medium heat, while it is still damp with a warm iron, or use a steam iron.

To view tips in Tamil, visit
http://tamiltip.blogspot.com/2009/08/tips-to-maintain-silk-saree.html