Be saree wise (Washing-SUnning-Ironing-Easy Storing)
I am sharing a few saree care tips I have learned from my mother. They will add years to your sarees and make it easier for you to look after them. My suggestions here can be applied to most garments.
Washing your sarees- W
Washing Tips Explained: A saree does not need to be washed at home or make a trip to the dry cleaners after every single wear. Of course they need to be cleaned if there are stains or dirt. If a saree looks clean then please air it once in mild sunlight, fold and keep it back in the wardrobe. Washing a saree frequently shortens its life and the reason is the yarns gradually lose their luster and weaken with every wash.Dry cleaners use petroleum based cleaning agents that besides removing the stain (and that too often these days they don’t even manage to deal with the stains effectively), they sometime change the base colour of the saree altogether. Besides, the petroleum based solvents are damaging to the environment.
I will share a few tried and tested ways to remove stains. A word of caution: if you are not going to deal with the stain at your earliest, then you are inviting ‘stain’ to spend a lifetime on the garment. The methods below are just the ones I have tried and use myself. It is not an exhaustive list. If you have tried other ways to deal with rude stains, please leave your advice and experience in comments below. It will benefit many of us.
Easy Drying- E
IRONING- I
Just be a little careful when ironing delicate fabrics like silk, satins, chiffons, georgettes and tissues at home. At the store we place a light cotton fabric over these sarees and then iron on the relevant setting like silk setting for silk fabric. Do not iron directly on zari – you will completely char the zari. Place a light cotton fabric on top and then iron on the relevant fabric setting. Similar for hand embroidered and hand painted sarees. Hand paint might and most likely will crack with exposure to direct heat. The fabric used for my sarees are superior quality and they do not crease a lot after single wear. You can wear them once, fold them neatly and tuck them under your mattress or at the bottom of the saree pile.I advise sprinkling RO water while ironing, to mimic steam which always makes ironing easier and mellows the effect of harsh heat. RO water- because it is much softer than tap water and has much less impurities which over time settle on our sarees and fabrics and culminate in very light stains.
By the way: ironing clothes and blow drying hair follow very similar principles. Less blow drying, low heat and last rinse with RO water (if you have the time).
storing- S
Pests like white ants, roaches and other unidentifiable creepy creatures sometimes make your wardrobe their loved homes. People usually use naphthalene or something similar to ward off pests. Besides the offensive strong and stale smell that they impart to your sarees, often the naphthalene balls leave a yellow deposit of stain on your wonderful sarees. Instead start using dried herbs like mint, basil, lavender or rosemary to sprinkle in corners of your wardrobe. Off all the herbs, I use neem leaves. I dry fresh neem leaves and then sprinkle them on the shelves. They leave no stains and marks. Your sarees keep fresh, smell good and pest free.
Show your sarees some love: patience and care. They will last longer and love you back. ¯\_( ͡❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛)_/¯¯\_( ͡❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛)_/
Amazing design i really like it thanks for sharing with us.