How to care for ikat fabrics?

How to care for ikat fabrics? This is what this blog post is about.

Let me start off with a bit of a history. Ikat, as you may already know since you are on this website, is an Indonesian term for a fabric making technique which requires a specific way of tying and dying the fabric. The Uzbekistan term for ikat is “abr: (Persian for a “cloud”). Ikat fabric making is an entirely manual, labour intensive process. As such, iclothing made of ikat fabrics has always been known as a luxurious fabric. Robes made of ikat fabric known as “adras” were valued gifts presented to heads of states to establish and maintain diplomatic relations. One can fully appreciate the beauty of ikat fabrics after seeing and touching them. It is an entirely sensual experience through which it becomes clear – not all fabrics are created equal.

If you want to keep a shape of ikat fabric, dry clean it!

Now that you have some historic intro, I will break the news – it is best to professionally dry clean ikat fabrics

There are two main reasons for this:

• colors may bleed
• the finishing calender process of ikat fabrics – this, in my opinion, is a primary reason for keeping ikat fabrics in “dry clean only” category.

The purpose of a calendar process is to make ikat fabrics smooth and glossy applying a mixture of an egg-white and a special glue to the surface of the fabric. This finishing gives the fabrics a smoothness and shape. A beautiful moire pattern applied during calendar process makes the fabrics stiffer and serves as a protection from the dust and dirt.

There are a lot of organically dyed ikat fabrics on the market, which are safe from colorfastness perspective. However, once you wash the ikat fabric , it loses its shape and it is moire pattern. The color of fabrics also becomes lighter with every wash. For some purposes it may be exactly what designers are looking for – that very organic soft feel. However, for upholstery and especially for situations where moire pattern is important, dry clean is the way to go.

Washing ikat silk fabrics: a tip from a tailor

When it comes to washing, I will share with you a tip from a professional tailor. Silk is like hair and the mildest detergent you can use for your garments is a hair shampoo. Hand washing in cold water with a shampoo is a way to care for your ikat fabric. After washing gently wring the fabric to squeeze out water and let it air dry. Please do not wash in a machine and do not tumble dry – remember, you are caring for the a fabric similar to those gifted by Emir of Bukhara to a Russian tsar to solidify ties between two nations.