♥ Diraac Fabulous ♥

These are the best ways to wash and care for the diraac fabrics.

1) Cotton diraac. Wash seperately at 30 or 40 degrees, regular spin;with a small amount of non-bio powder or liquid. Use a small amount of fabric conditioner. Reshape while damp and drip dry. Iron on the hottestsetting; with steam but don't leave the iron on one spot for too long.For cotton diraac with sequins; use a 30 degree cycle.

2)Silk chiffon diraac and silk and viscose blend diraac (burnout fabrics). Many machines have a silk cycle; I find this actually leaves the fabric too wet; and thus it can cause damage. Instead turn it inside out and use the 30 degree or warm quick wash cycle; with a pinch of pure soap flakes and a drop of fabric conditioner (preferably one designed for silk fabrics; but I have used normal ecological brand ones with no ill-effects).Remove from the machine immediately when finished; reshape and dryflat; or over something like a stair-rail so it isn't stretched out of shape.

Iron on a medium setting (test first; as some of these fabrics burn more easily than others); on the reverse side. For burnout velvet; never iron; any creases should drop out by themselves and ironing ruins the pile.

3)Silk and/or rayon garbasar. Wash as silk diraac; reshape while dampand iron on the hottest setting (again test but they can usually takehigher temperatures than other fabrics)

4)Polyester or acetate gogorad or diraac fabrics. Wash on reverse on a 30 or 40 degree cycle with a tiny amount of regular, but preferably non-bio powder,spin well; reshape while damp and iron on a low to medium setting.

5)Shaash (viscose bandana), avoid washing or ironing if possible as this ruins the waxed finish. If you must wash them use the shortest cycle possible with soap flakes and no fabric conditioner, but make sure you spin well; excess water ruins the fabric and stretches it out of shape.

6)Thai silk, this requires special care. With Thai silk wash as normal silk but spray with starch (the spray one; like dylon) while wet and iron while still a bit damp, on a hot temperature, on the reverse. This will keep it looking new for longer; try to wash as little as possible as being a hand-woven product Thai silk is more liable to have small holes and other faults and these can become more severe and noticeable if it is washed too often.

A final tip is you can wash the georgette (crinkly type fabric) silk diraacs and garbasars on a quick machine cycle with a tablespoon of soda crystals/washing soda in the dispenser drawer and a drop of an eco fabric conditioner (like ecover); not only will soda crystals get rid of any greasy marks which commonly mysteriously appear on such fabrics;but it will do so without damaging the fabrics or sequins etc (it will usually make the sequins appear more shiny because it removes any soap build up from previous washings). The final bonus with this method is that the diraac/garbasar will dry extremely quickly, usually in less than an hour if hung on an airer or a stair rail (even in winter) and because it dries so quickly it may not even need ironing! Since excessive ironing can damage the fabrics eventually; this is a bonus as well as saving you time!

I have this washing machine; my laundry is not this organised though!