FAQ's on my silk cords and ribbons

Can the they be washed or do they need to be dry cleaned?  You can wash your cord or ribbon in a mild liquid laundry detergent.  Hang to dry and iron with a cool iron only if necessary. 

Are they color fast? The colors are steam set.  I take great care to make sure the dyes are set well.  After steaming, I rinse thoroughly to rinse away any dye that is not bonded to the silk.  When I am finished rinsing, I lay the cords and ribbons on a white towel.  If any color remains it will come out on the towel.  That means it didn't pass my test and goes back for more rinsing.   If any bleeding were to occur, it would be the excess dye molecules.  The cord or ribbon would need to be wet for bleeding to occur and given that this dye has not been set it, it should not be harmful.         

Do they fray?  Not usually.  Sometimes a stray silk fiber comes lose for me, but not often.  You have to be pretty rough on the silk for this to happen.  Just snip the stray fiber with with scissors.  The silk cords are nothing at all like the rattail.  They are are very much less likely to fray.  I dislike rattail because it snags so easily.   

Do they stretch? No.

Do you take special orders for colors? No. 

Will the cords fit thru the holes of my beads?  The cord will fit through a bead made on a 3/32 inch mandrel.  I have doubled the cord and can still get it through the bead.  Cord will not fit thru beads made on a 1/16 inch mandrel but many of my ribbons will.

Can I iron them?  Yes.  Just use the coolest possible setting.  I've even given them a spay of starch to help ironing.  The starch has not hurt them. 

Do you have a question?  Please E-mail me!