Caring for satin robes so they survive the wedding

Before the morning

Take the robes out of the bag at least two days early and hang them. Most creases drop out on their own, and the ones that do not will tell you in time to do something about it.

If a crease will not fall, hang the robe in a bathroom while someone showers. Steam at a distance does what an iron would do with far less risk.

Washing

Cold water, gentle cycle, inside out, and on its own or with other satin. Zips and hooks from the rest of the wash are what pull threads.

Skip fabric softener entirely. It coats the fibre and takes the cool slip out of the finish, which is the whole reason to own satin.

Never use the dryer. Heat is what turns a good robe limp, and one hot cycle is enough.

Drying and storing

Hang damp on a padded or wide hanger and let gravity flatten it. An hour later it looks pressed without ever having met an iron.

Store hanging rather than folded. Folded satin keeps the fold, and a robe that has spent a year in a drawer photographs badly.

Printed and embroidered robes

Turn them inside out every time, without exception. Rhinestones, glitter lettering and gold embroidery all survive washing far better when they are facing the drum rather than the agitator.

If a stone lifts, a dot of clear fabric glue from the inside holds it better than any repair from the front.

Sizes, storage and the week after the wedding

A robe that survives the morning usually dies in the suitcase afterwards, folded damp and left for a week. Hang it where air moves, give it a day, then fold it loosely. Satin creases along the fold and keeps the line for months, so change where you fold it each time.

If the robes were bought as a set across several sizes, keep the size labels on until they are handed out. Every one of them looks the same on a hanger, and sorting a bigger order of nine by eye at seven in the morning is nobody's idea of fun. There is no assistant to do it for you, and the activities of that hour do not leave room for a second attempt.

Our standards for satin are the same two we apply to vinyl: wash it the way the label says, and store it the way it wants to be stored. Do that and the same robe covers several occasions across a few years rather than one. People of very different ages wear these in the same room, the fabric does not play favourites, and that is most of the appeal.