How to care for and clean a silk tie

After wearing a necktie

Caring for silk ties starts right after taking off your necktie. It is absolutely necessary to untie your necktie and keep it straight. Try to keep the area of the tie used to tie the knot straight. Rolling the tie up from the narrow end to the broad end is a good way to straighten out any wrinkles. This is the best and most gentle treatment to avoid wrinkles. In case the tie still looks crumpled – which is hardly ever the case with quality ties –do not iron the tie as it will damage the silk and the inlay of the necktie. Instead a more recommended way treat the wrinkles is with hot steam. One way to do this is my running a steam iron closely above your tie without touching it. Another trick is to hang your tie into the bathroom while taking a hot shower – a great way to straighten out the tie or even a shirt when traveling. A quality silk tie will straighten again.

How to store a tie

Next, it is quite important how you store your ties. Either hang your necktie or roll it up. The first method is preferred. Many necktie retailers sell tie racks that are especially designed for this purpose. Hanging your ties over a hanger in your closet is a good alternative to buying a tie rack. Also, keep your neckties protected from sunlight, dust, humidity and - if applicable - moths. When haning your ties over a hanger, avoid any sharp edges that could damage the delicate silk fabric. Knitted ties are an exception: To avoid stretching, always store them flat in the closet or in a drawer.

Ties on Travel

When traveling, you need to pack your ties in a way that they will not get crumples. Especially when packing a bag tightly this could be quite a challenge. The easiest and safest way is to purchase a tie briefcase meant for travel purposes. If this is not an option there are two other common ways: 1. Roll up your tie and out it inside a shoe, or 2. Fold the tie in three ways and place it inside a dress shirt that you pack flat. Then make sure that no hard objects are packed near the tie. After unpacking your suitcase, unwrap your ties and hang them straight. If there are wrinkles, use some steam from the shower to straighten the tie out.

How to Clean a Tie

Caring for a quality silk tie means prevention and protection. Nevertheless, no matter how careful you are, it is often times unavoidable to get a stain on your tie. Many men go straight to the dry-cleaner, which should be your last resort. Most dry-cleaners use chemical solvents whose purpose is to get rid of the stain but not necessary protect fine silk fabrics. If you are still set on taking your tie to the dry-cleaner bring it to one that you trust. What might happen at the drycleaner is that the tie will be pressed too much. This will cause the tie to loose its fluffiness, and the silk fabric might get damaged as well. The best way would be to find a skilled dry-cleaner who un-seams the tie, and after the cleaning and ironing sews it back together manually. Before going to the drycleaner try this: Use a stain remover or rubbing alcohol to treat the stain. Some experts give the advice to soak the whole tie into the liquid to avoid rims after drying- in my opinion not a good idea as it might cause the lining of the tie to fall out of place. Alternatively it is better to use a clean, white cotton cloth, dip it into the liquid and carefully dap the stain, best when it is still fresh.
The best method of course is prevention. For business trips just leave your light-colored ties at home. Even the tiniest splashes will catch someone’s eye. On dark woven Jacquard silk fabric, stains will stay invisible.

What is the lifetime of a tie?

If well treated and stored, a high-quality handmade necktie could last forever. This implies that you have several ties so that each tie has enough time to recover after wearing. Although ties can last forever, it is more a question of fashion. An unfashionable necktie might be put back into the closet and kept there until it might be fashionable again. The retro skinny necktie is a good example.

How to care for a necktie? What is the best way to protect and care for your expensive silk ties.