Ownership

Caring for it

Hand embroidery on silk is durable if it is treated like cloth and not like a machine-made shirt. Most of this is about storage, not cleaning.

By fabric

Raw silk: Dry clean only, and tell the cleaner it is hand embroidered. Never press directly on the metalwork — press from the reverse, through a cotton cloth.
Velvet: Dry clean, and never fold along the pile. Hang it. A crease pressed into velvet does not come out.
Zardozi and metalwork: Keep it dry and keep it away from perfume, which tarnishes metal wire. If a wire lifts, do not pull it — send us a photograph.
Cotton-silk: Cold hand wash is acceptable on an unembroidered kurta. Anything with work on it goes to a dry cleaner.

The short version

Dry clean rarely and only with someone who has been told what they are handling. Hang it broad, keep it dry, keep perfume off the metal, and fold along seams if you must fold at all.

Questions we get

How do I store it between weddings?: On a broad wooden hanger, inside the cotton cover it arrived in, in a cupboard that is not damp. Not in a plastic bag — plastic traps moisture and moisture is what tarnishes zari. A muslin wrap and a few cloves in the cupboard, not naphthalene against the cloth.
Can I travel with it in a suitcase?: Yes, and this is worth doing properly. Turn it inside out, lay tissue along every fold, and fold along the seams rather than across the embroidery. Hang it the moment you arrive and most of the travel creasing drops out in a day.
There is a stain the day before the wedding.: Do not rub it and do not put water on it. Blot with a dry white cloth from the outside of the mark inwards, and find a dry cleaner who will take it as an emergency. Rubbing a stain on silk sets it and lifts the nap.
A button or a hook has come off.: Write to us with a photograph. We keep the spare buttons from your piece for two years and will post them anywhere in the world at no charge.
The safa has lost its shape.: Steam it lightly, do not press it, and re-tie it damp. A safa is meant to be re-tied — the shape comes from the tying, not from the cloth remembering.

By fabric

Raw silk: Dry clean only, and tell the cleaner it is hand embroidered. Never press directly on the metalwork — press from the reverse, through a cotton cloth.
Velvet: Dry clean, and never fold along the pile. Hang it. A crease pressed into velvet does not come out.
Zardozi and metalwork: Keep it dry and keep it away from perfume, which tarnishes metal wire. If a wire lifts, do not pull it — send us a photograph.
Cotton-silk: Cold hand wash is acceptable on an unembroidered kurta. Anything with work on it goes to a dry cleaner.

Questions we get

How do I store it between weddings?: On a broad wooden hanger, inside the cotton cover it arrived in, in a cupboard that is not damp. Not in a plastic bag — plastic traps moisture and moisture is what tarnishes zari. A muslin wrap and a few cloves in the cupboard, not naphthalene against the cloth.
Can I travel with it in a suitcase?: Yes, and this is worth doing properly. Turn it inside out, lay tissue along every fold, and fold along the seams rather than across the embroidery. Hang it the moment you arrive and most of the travel creasing drops out in a day.
There is a stain the day before the wedding.: Do not rub it and do not put water on it. Blot with a dry white cloth from the outside of the mark inwards, and find a dry cleaner who will take it as an emergency. Rubbing a stain on silk sets it and lifts the nap.
A button or a hook has come off.: Write to us with a photograph. We keep the spare buttons from your piece for two years and will post them anywhere in the world at no charge.
The safa has lost its shape.: Steam it lightly, do not press it, and re-tie it damp. A safa is meant to be re-tied — the shape comes from the tying, not from the cloth remembering.