So you just bought a colorful new playsilk for your little one and are wondering how to wash it for the first time, or you have an old favorite that has been well-loved and needs a wash. Playsilks are surprisingly durable for play but can be easily damaged by heat. Hand wash or machine wash on delicate cycle with cold water. If you are concerned about your silks being damaged by the agitator you can wash them in a lingerie bag for additional protection. This would be highly recommended if you are washing a 5 mm Habotai silk playstand canopy or semi-circle veil. Either hang dry or air dry in the dryer. If you are in a hurry (because your two year old is waiting impatiently for her favorite silkie to come out of the wash after being dragged through the mud) then you can put in on the dryer with a clean, dry towel on low heat for just a few minutes. Remember to check it and take it out after five to ten minutes so it doesn’t get heat damage.

Recommended care: Hand or delicate cycle cold wash, hang or air dry.

So, what kind of life do playsilks live at our house? I’m a bit embarrassed to say that they are rarely hand washed and air dried. I have a bit of a Darwinian laundry process, survival of the fittest. If it can’t survive being washed on warm or cold, regular cycle and thrown in the dryer on medium then it doesn’t make the cut and quickly heads for the rag pile. Our older playsilks are about three years old now, and during that time have been thrown in with the rest of the kids’ dirty clothes and washed with them. Despite this abuse they have held up great, not fading and not showing wear. I’ve been washing them in a Whirpool Duet front loader washer, which I now believe has helped them hold up to this treatment. Recently I added a second washer, a Maytag top loader, primarily for work use. I noticed that after just a few regular cycles in the top loader, the stitching on the side of the silks would begin to come undone and the hems would unroll. I experimented with the delicate cycle and got the same results, it just took a few more washes. Now I mainly wash my silks in my front loader, and on the occasions that I do wash them in the top loader I make sure to put them in a lingerie bag and wash them on delicate.