Purvi - Hand Woven Fabrics

What type of wash care instruction do I follow ?
Machine wash is not recommended.Hand wash with mild detergent in warm water, and shady drying is more preferable. It preserves the long life of the handloom character.

If you've bought a cotton sari it is most likely starched - you will need to wash out the starch (and probably a little of the inevitable Indian grime that got on it during it's creation and life in India.) You will be so amazed how soft the sari becomes after it's washed - you just will want to wear it to bed, it's so soft!

For most handlooms and printed sarees handwashing is recommended. First soak the sari in a big bucket of cool water with very mild soap for a minute or two. Gently swish around and knead the cloth in the sudsy water. I like to use shampoo. Gently rub any stains out with a little extra shampoo. Do not vigorously rub or wring the cloth - that could cause fading, wearing or thread pulling. Threadwork is more delicate than flat weaves, so apply vigor accordingly!

For crepe and handloom silks you can handwash or dry clean. I'm personally not a big fan of it so I avoid it and have learned to "gently" wash silks with my very mild shampoo. Believe it or not, adding a little hair conditioner in to the rinse water helps soften the fibers back to the buttery fluff that crepe is known for. Just a drop is all you need. Very heavy ornate sarees will not be worn so often, and hence will not need to be laundered so often - a very graceful thing.

Hale and hearty synthetic crepes can be machine washed on gentle and line dried. So easy.

Stain Removal
Indian ladies I've talked to swear that a little lime juice squeezed in the water is great at removing greasy spots from their heavy Kanchi silks. Make sure that the lime water is not too concentrated, it might fade the cloth.

Indian men, at least the dudes in the sari shops like to use cooking gas to remove stains. Place a clean absorbent cloth on top of the stain and apply the gas in small dabs from the back. The stain flees into the cloth above it. You can buy this type of nasty smelling gas stuff in most supermarkets. Just please make sure you've got good ventilation!

Pressing
Pure cotton sarees can be ironed with a relatively hot iron setting. Simple cotton prints like a little steam to get really flat. Delicate handloom muslins iron like a dream with just a plain hot iron. You can spray water in a mister onto the cloth to really get it crisp.

Silks need to be ironed with caution. Crepe silks can lose their butteryness and get glossy if your iron is too hot. Try a test area on medium first. China silks don't mind heat. I always report the fiber content and if I think there are synthetic fibers in the sari. If it's not pure, make sure you use a cooler iron or you will have some "meltdown". Another grace of the synthetics is that they don't NEED to be ironed so much!