The first piece of advice is not to wash it. Wool and cashmere are self-cleaning in a way cotton is not: the fibre holds odour less well and releases dirt more easily. A scarf hung in open air overnight is clean again by morning in nine cases out of ten.
The second piece of advice is to wash it when it needs it, rather than dry-clean it out of fear. Dry cleaning wears cashmere harder than a careful hand wash does.
Hand washing, step by step
- Fill a basin with lukewarm water, no more than thirty degrees. Put your hand in it. If it feels warm, it is too warm.
- Dissolve a teaspoon of wool detergent in the water before the garment goes in. Detergent straight onto the fibre leaves marks.
- Put the scarf in and press it gently under the surface. Do not rub, do not wring, do not pull.
- Leave it for ten minutes at most.
- Rinse in water of the same temperature. A temperature shock felts the wool.
- Press the water out between your hands. Never wring.
- Roll the scarf in a terry towel and press. The towel takes most of it.
- Dry flat on a fresh dry towel, never on a hanger and never in sunlight.
Pilling
Cashmere pills. That is not a fault in the garment but a property of a short, fine fibre, and it is the same property that makes the material soft. The first pills appear after three to five wearings and then taper off.
Use a cashmere comb or a pumice stone made for wool. Pull in one direction, with a light hand. Do not use a razor: it cuts fibres rather than lifting them away, and the damage only shows the third time.
Stains
| Stain | Do | Do not |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee or tea | Cold water at once, dab with a white cloth | Rub, hot water |
| Red wine | Cold water, then hand wash the same day | Salt, white wine, hot water |
| Grease and make-up | Let it dry, brush off the dry part, then wool detergent | Dish soap, solvents |
| Sweat | Hand wash within a day | Wait until the season is over |
Storage
Folded, never hanging. A cashmere scarf on a hanger grows longer over three months and does not come back. Lay it flat in a drawer or on a shelf.
Moths eat dirty wool sooner than clean. Wash before the season is put away, not after. Cedar and lavender work as deterrents, but only in a closed box and only for as long as the scent lasts. Sand the cedar lightly every six months.
When it breaks anyway
A scarf with a hole or a broken fringe we repair free of charge for the first three years. Send it to us and we will mend it, or replace it if it cannot be mended. That is a commitment we can keep because the range is small and because we know where every scarf was made.
Sources
- Material, textilteknik och certifiering, avsnittet om kashmir. FRANS ANDRÉ, intern dokumentation, 2026-08-05.
- Skötselsymboler och tvättanvisningar. GINETEX, 2026.