Satin pajamas are gorgeous, but they can easily lose their attractive nature when you don’t properly care for them.
It’s easy to wash satin pajamas when you know the fibers they’re made of. Polyester and cotton pajamas can be washed by machine and by hand, using gentle to moderate settings, a quality detergent, and water temperature that is cold or warm. Delicate satin like silk however, is best dry cleaned or washed by hand without scrubbing.
In the next few blocks, we’ll be showing you how to wash different types of satin fibers in details.
What exactly is satin?
Satin might sound like a new addition to the fabric world, but the truth is, satin is no more than a type of weave: the basic technique of textile production that combines yarns of fibers to form a long, wide and continuous strand of material called fabric or cloth. Satin is in fact, one of the three basic types of weave alongside tabby weave and twill weave.
Satin weave, by nature, produces a gloss-like finish on the surface of fabric with a dull finish on the inside. The luster in the right side is somewhat reminiscent of silk, which is why sometimes the word satin is used interchangeably with the word silk.
What type of fiber makes up your satin?
Now because satin is a type of weave, you’d expect that many different fibers can be used to actually realize it. And this is the true reality. We have satin that are based in polyester threads or yarns, cotton, silk, and even nylon.
And depending on the fiber used, the washing instructions for your type of satin will vary.
Some fibers are more sensitive than others. Polyester for instance is a durable material that can be hand or machine washed, but not as ruggedely as cotton can be washed.
Same thing with silk in comparison to polyester, nylon and cotton. So with the right knowledge of the type of fiber you have on your satin, you can then proceed with the appropriate instructions (below) to find out how to clean your satin pajamas at home.
To check for the fiber makeup of your satin pajamas, check the care label tucked at the seam around the next region of by the side of the cloth.
How to wash satin pajamas
Polyester
If you have a polyester based satin, then you’re lucky as the cleaning instructions aren’t that complex.
Cleaning polyester is pretty straightforward. Polyester is a very durable material, but the only thing it doesn’t like is too much heat.
Too much heat causes polyester fibers to distort. So whenever you clean your polyester pajamas, avoid hot water temperatures as well as dryer conditions.
Below are the steps to follow in order to properly clean your polyester pajamas.
Set your machine to cotton cycle, permanent press cycle or normal cycle, or you can even use a gentler cycle if your polyester isn’t heavily soiled, and use cold water and a quality detergent.
After washing, dry polyester in the dryer on low to moderate heat using a full cycle.
Cotton
Cotton is one of the most durable materials currently used for satin today. Cotton can be subjected to high temperatures and even heavy duty settings and it’ll still come out pretty clean at the end of the day.
Like with any other fiber however, too much agitation will eventually cause the fibers to shift to their breaking point, so you want to limit the amount of times you subject cotton to hot water wash and a heavy duty setting to only times when you really need to sanitize or remove stains.
The process for washing cotton is similar to that for polyester, with the laundry products all the same. Just that this time, there’s the flexibility to go a bit higher in terms of temperature requirement compared to polyester.
Silk
Silk is where things start to get pretty interesting. Silk is a durable material by mere analysis of its chemical composition. Upon immersion in water however, silk loses about 20 to 30% of its original strength, and because of that, very little agitation (like that of the washer or hand washing) can shift the polymers past each other and cause distortion.
When the water is hot, the side effect above isn’t only accelerated, but the silk filaments will discolor or fade.
So with all these problems, the best option with silk is to always wash it using cold water and the most gentle cycle possible. You also should make sure to use a detergent specially formulated for silk or that for wool.
If you can, always opt for hand washing because machine washing, no matter how delicate it is will distort and keep distorting silk until the distortion appears on a broad scale. When you wash silk by hand, soak rather than scrub to minimize the effects of agitation on silk as mentioned above and preserve its integrity.
After you’re done washing silk, make sure to air dry it as opposed to putting it in the dryer because the dryer also has heat and motion which are two things you never want in your silk.
Nylon
Nylon is sturdy, and can be washed just like cotton. But like cotton, always limit hot water washing and washing using heavy duty settings to times when you really have to use them.
How to remove wrinkles from satin pajamas
Depending on how you dry your satin, you may or may not end up with wrinkles in it.
Typically, air drying flat on a clothes rack minimizes the formation of wrinkles and creases. But tumbling satin in the dryer can cause wrinkles and folds or creases to form which can be very stubborn in silk.
If you have wrinkles you want to tackle, iron them out using a pressing iron or use a steamer to release the wrinkles. For polyester or cotton based satin, you can get away with placing the surface of the iron directly on the fabric. For silk however, avoid direct contact between the surface of the silk and the surface of the iron. It will cause scorching, fading and weakening of fibers. Not to mention the permanent impression it would leave there.
Final Thoughts
Satin is basically a type of weave that leaves a glossy finish on fabrics it makes.
Satin is made using a variety of fabrics from polyester to cotton, nylon and even silk itself.
If you have a satin that is made from durable material like polyester and cotton, you can get away with using moderate to heavy duty washing techniques on it.
For delicate satin like silk however, use delicate modes and techniques as going “heavy-duty” can cause permanent damage to the fabric.
