A Prescription for the Ultimate Care Method: "Cashmere Stole, Year Two"

When you keep using something you truly love from the bottom of your heart, you inevitably run into unexpected mishaps that are unique to that particular item—and find yourself puzzling over just how to take care of it. Yet answers to questions like these are rarely found in any textbook.

We at ZUTTO, who have introduced all sorts of items as a select shop, are also "devoted users" facing exactly these kinds of concerns. In this installment, our ZUTTO staff share care reports written from the perspective of everyday users—reports on what might truly be called the last resort for care, addressing the question of what to do in situations just like this.

The first item we'll take up is a "cashmere stole in its second year." What is the ultimate care method for a cashmere stole that has been cherished for two seasons?

Today's Beloved Item Chart

~A companion with two years' worth of fuzz, and a fondness whose grime is starting to show~

[About the Item]

・Item: BEGG Scottish Cashmere Stole

・Size: 36 × 183 (cm)

・Material: 100% cashmere

・Duration of use: Two seasons, since the winter before last

・Frequency of use: Nearly every day in winter, at least 4-5 days a week

・Care label: DRY CLEANING ONLY

[Daily Care]

Only brushing and fabric spray. In the first year, it was used less often and had no noticeable stains, so it was never sent to be dry-cleaned.

[Concerns and Worries]

・I bought this stole because I loved its pale ivory color, but I've started to notice grime building up all over it. There are no obvious stains, but after two seasons of wear, I'm concerned about sweat and sebum residue around the neck area.

・Scottish cashmere has very fine, delicate fibers. I've heard that petroleum-based dry cleaning can strip away the natural oils unique to cashmere, so I worry that sending it to be dry-cleaned might actually change its texture for the worse. Since I've taken care of it by hand all this time, I've been wondering if there's a way to get it clean using my own hands instead.

Does Brushing Wear Away the "Jewel of Fibers"?

For this cashmere stole, I've been brushing it regularly with a cashmere-care brush, but the fibers are so incredibly delicate that lately it feels as though the brushing is scraping away the soft fuzz on the surface. Sure enough, when I looked at the clothes brush after use, I found fluffy fibers—likely cashmere—caught between the bristles. Cashmere is famed for its high quality and delicacy, so much so that it's sometimes called the "jewel of fibers." If brushing were shaving away those very fibers, that would be a truly sad thing.

That said, brushing is still essential. If you keep using the stole without smoothing the direction of the fibers, it leads to fuzzing, and eventually, pilling.

Switching the Clothes Brush from Boar Bristle to Goat Hair

So I reconsidered the bristle type of the clothes brush. The boar bristle brush I'd been using felt a bit too stiff for cashmere that had already seen more than two seasons of wear, so I wondered whether switching to a softer-bristled brush might help. As a trial, I decided to use a baby hairbrush. This is a baby hairbrush we carry at ZUTTO, popular for its gentle brushing feel thanks to its generous use of soft goat hair. The bristles are also cut straight, with no unevenness on the cut surface. After all, cashmere originally comes from animal hair, too—it serves the same kind of role as our own hair does. That made me think: perhaps it could work as a clothes brush as well?

The result was excellent. It was perfect for gently smoothing the fuzzed-up surface of the cashmere stole. Since the goat hair bristles bend softly as you brush, the strain on the stole is kept to a minimum. (That said, compared to a proper clothes brush it's quite compact, so the area you can brush at once is smaller. Eventually, it would probably be good to buy a proper horsehair or goat-hair clothes brush.)

Uncovering the True Meaning Behind the "DRY CLEANING ONLY" Rule

With the brushing issue now resolved, removing the grime that has built up day after day still calls for proper cleaning. The BEGG cashmere stole carries a care label reading "DRY CLEANING ONLY." According to the care instructions we received from the Japanese import distributor,

◇If fuzzing becomes noticeable, gently brush to smooth the nap, then lightly iron on a low setting.  
◇Once the season ends, please have it dry-cleaned.

These are the two points provided, and this is also how we describe the care instructions on the ZUTTO product page. However, there's no explicit mention that hand-washing with water is prohibited. "DRY CLEANING ONLY" doesn't necessarily mean "cannot be washed with water." So, what should we do?

Can It Be Washed With Water? Let's Ask an Expert

As the saying goes, leave it to the professionals—so first, we decided to call an expert. We reached out to the Japanese import distributor for THE LAUNDRESS. THE LAUNDRESS is a brand that offers a range of cleaning products built around the concept of "caring for your treasured clothes with your own hands," and we're told that the staff there regularly wash their own personal clothing at home, too.

When we explained the situation over the phone, it somehow turned into a laundry counseling session.

"Thank you for your question. Then let me ask you about your item, as much as we can tell over the phone.

The checkpoints are

・The fiber composition (is it 100% cashmere, or blended with other fibers?)

・Whether it has decorative parts (beads, embroidery, lace, etc.)

・What the color and pattern are like (whether there's a possibility of color bleeding or fading) — those are the points."

"In that case, there's a good chance you can wash it at home.

Two points to be careful about: ① If it has decorative parts with a complicated shape, or fringe with an unusual form, finishing it can be difficult.

② There is a possibility that deep or vivid colors may fade.

Since cashmere is a delicate material, the care label often says "dry clean only,"

but if it's a standard woven fabric stole (made by weaving warp and weft threads together), it can often be washed."

"There are a few points, but the most important ones are

・Choose a detergent suited to animal fibers like cashmere and wool

・Use cold water

・Avoid rubbing as much as possible while it's wet

These are the three points. If you're worried about trying it for the first time with a cashmere stole, it might go more smoothly if you first practice the process with another muffler or sweater. Listening to your story, it sounds like you really treasure that stole. We have a physical shop, so if you'd like, why don't we show you specific washing methods there?"

The whole story of cashmere care you can do in the bath

And so, on short notice, we arranged to actually look at the condition of the cashmere stole together and think through the best care method.

(Afterward, based on this interview, ZUTTO staff washed the cashmere stole by hand at home.

　Along with a look at how that went, we'll introduce the key points of cashmere care.)

The person who helped us was Shimooka-san, the shop master.

She's a home-care pro who basically washes all her own clothes herself.

I see, a simple 100% cashmere stole. If it were mine, I wouldn't hesitate to wash it myself! Along with cashmere and wool, I recently hand-washed rabbit fur myself. When a care label says "DRY CLEANING ONLY," it does make you wonder whether it can really be washed, doesn't it?

But once you wash something and get the knack of it, your range of self-care expands — "oh, this can be washed too, and that can be washed too."

A dry-clean label doesn't necessarily mean everything besides dry cleaning is off-limits — it simply indicates that "dry cleaning using solvents is possible." On top of that, you need to judge separately whether hand-washing is not allowed. Items labeled "do not wash in water" should be left to the professionals rather than washed at home. Specifically, that includes things like "items with delicate decorations such as beads or embroidery," "leather," and "kimono."

Since it's hard to judge case by case for each product, if you're unsure, I'd suggest asking the manufacturer or consulting a trustworthy cleaning shop. For a cashmere stole like the one you brought today, I'd definitely encourage you to try self-care at home.

What you'll need is four things: ① a laundry detergent that's safe for cashmere, ② a clothes brush, ③ a bath towel, and ④ a laundry net.

There are many household detergents advertised with claims like "can even wash dry-clean-only fashion items," but some leave the fabric feeling stiff and scratchy, so I recommend choosing one that also has a fabric-softening effect. It's a bit like using a rinse-in-one shampoo when washing your hair.

If you're concerned about fuzziness, smooth out the direction of the fibers before washing. If the fibers are left standing up when soaked in water, friction in that state can easily damage them. Be sure to brush it gently with a clothes brush before washing.

From here, we finally move into the actual hand-washing process, but think of animal hair the same way as human hair. It's said that our own hair is most vulnerable to damage while it's wet, right? In other words, from the moment it's soaked in detergent-dissolved water until it's spun dry, it's important to avoid friction as much as possible. When people hear "hand-washing," surprisingly many imagine pressing or rubbing the fabric, but to avoid damaging the fibers, the correct approach is to gently soak it without touching it. Just soaking it in detergent-dissolved water is enough to draw out the dirt, so try to avoid touching it as much as possible.

Making full use of a laundry net and shower

The key point here is the laundry net. It's often used to prevent tangling with other clothes, but even when washing a single item like this, it turns out to be surprisingly useful for preventing the fibers from rubbing against themselves. Clothes soaked in water become heavy and are harder to handle than you'd expect. Even in such cases, putting the item in a laundry net makes each step much easier. The soaking time we recommend as a guideline is "30 minutes." As long as you don't touch the item while it's wet, the texture won't change suddenly even if you leave it a bit longer. That said, for delicate items like this one, where you're concerned about changes in texture, it's a good idea to adjust the time to be a little shorter.

The ZUTTO staff actually hand-washing the item in their own bathroom at home

[Steps for self-care you can do in the bathroom]

① Prepare the soapy water: Add an appropriate amount of cashmere detergent to water and mix well. If using the bathtub, it's easy to just run the shower into it—this creates a nice fluffy lather.

↓

② Soaking: Submerge the item, placed in the laundry net, into the soapy water from step ①. Lower it in gently and quietly. Leave it to soak for about 30 minutes.

↓

③ Rinsing: Drain the soapy water and rinse, changing the water 3-4 times. Be careful not to rub the fabric during this step as well. It's easy if you run a gentle shower stream over it from above.

↓

④ Removing from the laundry net: Take the item out of the net and lightly drain the water. Since it holds a lot of water when folded, we drained the water by gently pressing and carefully lifting the item.

The actual process of wringing out the water. According to the ZUTTO staff, this step was the most difficult part of the whole washing process.

Next comes the wringing. Rather than using a washing machine, we wring the water out by hand. Spread the stole out flat on a large bath towel, then roll it up from one end, much like rolling nori-maki with a bamboo sushi mat.

Once the wringing is done, it's time to dry the item. If you don't have space indoors to lay it flat, draping it over the bathtub lid works well too. The "finish" of the item—including how the fibers stand up—is determined during the drying process, so the texture will change depending on how you incorporate air: whether you let a breeze hit it while it's still half-dry, flip it over, and so on. If you want a fluffy finish, we recommend letting air blow over it.

Gentle and fluffy: the benefits and lessons of self-care

Based on what we learned from the shop's guidance, we carried out the whole process—washing in our own bathroom at home and drying in the living room. Right up until the wringing was finished, we were half in doubt, wondering if this would really turn out okay or if we'd end up ruining it. Although we approached this as a last resort, we noticed something while it was drying: the cashmere's "ripple" texture had come back. BEGG cashmere is known for its distinctive wave pattern, created by hand-brushing the surface with teasel burrs. This undulating texture is what gives it a lustrous quality unique to cashmere, unlike any other fiber.

Compared to when it was brand new, the surface has gradually developed a fuzzier, fluffier feel over time, but going through the process of soaking in water and drying seems to have let the fibers stretch out and breathe, resulting in an even softer, fluffier finish. What would have happened if we hadn't washed it at home and instead sent it to be dry-cleaned? Even if we were going to wash it with water, would it have been better to leave it to a professional cleaning shop? We don't know the answer, but perhaps caring for it with our own hands like this is exactly what deepens our attachment to a beloved item as something truly one of a kind. This is the "last resort of care." It seems our curious journey of deepening the bond with our cherished belongings will continue.

[The brands and items featured this time]

▼Soft, fluffy goat hair. Baby hairbrush

▼The secret behind how KENT brushes beautifully care for clothing