How can I make sure my silk dyes stay bright forever

How can I make sure my silk dyes stay bright forever? by Teena Hughes

Excellent question Belinda!

My steps to ensure my hand-painted silk dyes stay bright

Over the past 30+ years I’ve met and chatted with hundred of silk artists around the world (could it be in the thousands by now? Quite possibly!)

I still have silk scarves, clothing, cushion covers etc as well as framed silk paintings who still look as bright and beautiful as the day they were born – this is the great news!

I’ve used this same technique on silk chiffon, Habotai, sand-washed silk (shiny one side, matte on the other) and a whole host of other silks.

Where I went wrong in the first few early years

In my collection I have to admit there are a couple of pieces who look worse for wear, and I’ll tell you why this happened to me:

two of my silk paintings were left permanently somewhere in sunlight in one of the many places I’ve lived (I am currently living in my 45th address as we speak in 2019!); yes I now know better, and yes it was a terrible mistake. Silk does NOT last well in direct sunlight
I had a couple of silk scarves and a coat which looked gorgeous draped dramatically over an old wooden coat rack many years ago … which was also reached by dappled sunlight filtering through the trees.
My lesson – never, ever, ever leave silk where sunlight can reach it on a daily basis. It will fade and eventually rot.

My foolproof solution over the past 30 years

Here is my process I’ve been using for decades:

hand-painting with French dyes which need steam-setting
steam-set for 3 hours
everyone should follow the instructions of the manufacturer of the dye they are using, as the manufacturer knows best – not a person in a shop or someone online who means well but doesn’t know the correct answer (yes, there are some wonderful people online with tons of knowledge, so listen to them too if they experience in whatever you’re asking)
wash the silk carefully and treat it as a precious gift
when not in use, always keep the silk out of sunlight
I keep my scarves on a delightful scarf rack in the wardrobe within easy reach
silk tops and coats I use often are hanging up in pride of place in the wardrobe 🙂
silk clothing I do not wear often is folded up with sheets of tissue and stored in a lovely cardboard box in my wardrobe.

I know all of this might sound too simple, but it’s what I’ve been doing for over thirty years and it works well for me – I hope it works well for you too.