Default care rule with any handwoven Uzbek ikat fabrics is dry clean. However, there are fabrics which are reasonably safe to wash. We decided to run an ikat fabric washing experiment with a new fabric we received- a pretty thick cotton silk blend ikat fabric. The idea is to use the fabric for table runners. Before we started making the runners we wanted to run a test to see how truly washable the fabric is.

A note of caution!
Please be aware that we know that this is an ikat fabric which was hand made very recently. It is not vintage. With any vintage ikat fabrics we recommend only professional dry clean.

Step 1:

We cut about 64 cm of ikat fabric for testing. Why 64 cm? Because with the width of 35 cm and length of 65 cm we can later turn this piece of ikat fabric into a wonderful ikat lumbar pillow cover.

Step 2:

We hand washed the fabric in a cold water with a regular hand soap. Not laundry soap, not shampoo, just a regular hand soap. We talk about a tailor’s tip on washing silks with a shampoo in this post, in case you are wondering why we are even considering washing ikat fabrics with a shampoo.

Step 3:

As we washed the fabric we watched how much color is coming off the fabric. Conclusion: almost none.

Step 4:

Hang dry. In +28C it took about 30 minutes.

Step 5:

We ironed the fabric. The fabric is 50% cotton and 50% silk. That’s why ironing wrinkles off a cotton fabric took a little time and patience.

Step 6:

Let’s compare washed and unwashed ikat fabrics.

The main difference between washed and unwashed ikat fabric is that the unwashed fabric has moire pattern.
Those “watermarks” on the left side of the comparison image are moire.

Results of ikat fabric experiment:

A picture says a thousand words. Left image is the unwashed fabric, the right image is the washed fabric. In terms of colors there is no change. The change is in a loss of moire pattern – those watermarks that give a noble sheen to the handwoven fabric. Hence, I would still dry clean the fabric for as long as I can but even if with time I switch to hand washing the fabric, there will not be any significant damage done to the fabric as you can see in this ikat fabric washing experiment.

This post is a continuation of wash or dry clean ikat fabric theme that can be read here. Should you have any question about a specific ikat fabric, please let us know.