Question about washing clothes made of Rayon

[moggy]

I recently bought some clothes at a thrift store that are made of rayon and the tags say, “dry clean only”. I have some other dresses made of rayon, and the tags say “machine wash cold, gentle cycle, line dry”.
Here’s my question- will it be safe to wash the ones that say “dry clean only”? Why do the different clothes have different washing instructions? I have noticed, though, that the ones that recommend actual washing are a thinner more lightweight fabric, whereas the ones that recommend dry cleaning are a heavier fabric, almost like cotton.
And another thing- what exactly IS rayon? Is it a synthetic fabric, and if not, what is it made of? Thanks.

[AuntiePam]

I love rayon, but I’ve never been able to wash it successfully using any method. It just doesn’t keep its original shape.

Lately, I’ve been wondering if it would be totally uncouth to just Febreze it. If the item isn’t actually dirty but just “unfresh”, why not? Either that, or use the new dry cleaning stuff that works in your washing machine.

What’s it made of? I don’t know, but I suspect it’s not natural.

[dqa]

Here is an excerpt from a good page on this subject.

Basic Principles of Rayon Fiber Production — In the production of rayon, purified cellulose is chemically converted into a soluble compound. A solution of this compound is passed through the spinneret to form soft filaments that are then converted or “regenerated” into almost pure cellulose. Because of the reconversion of the soluble compound to cellulose, rayon is referred to as a regenerated cellulose fiber.

There are several types of rayon fibers in commercial use today, named according to the process by which the cellulose is converted to the soluble form and then regenerated. Rayon fibers are wet spun, which means that the filaments emerging from the spinneret pass directly into chemical baths for solidifying or regeneration.

Viscose rayon is made by converting purified cellulose to xanthate, dissolving the xanthate in dilute caustic soda and then regenerating the cellulose from the product as it emerges from the spinneret. Most rayon is made by the viscose process.

[sailor]

From Britannica http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=64437

any man-made textile fibre produced from the plant substance cellulose. Developed in an attempt to produce silk chemically, the fibre was originally known by such terms as artificial silk and wood silk, but in 1924 it was given the coined name rayon. An anitrocellulose type of rayon, first produced commercially in France in 1891 in the form of a nitrocellulose fibre, was later discontinued because of its high flammability.

Rayon is described as a regenerated fibre because the cellulose is converted to a liquid compound and then back to cellulose in the form of fibre. The cellulose, obtained from soft woods or from the short fibres adhering to cotton seeds (linters), is chemically treated to form a solution that is forced through tiny holes in a nozzle (spinnerets). This process of forcing a solution through spinneret holes is called spinning; the same name is applied to the production of yarn by twisting together fibres that may be of natural or man-made origin. Rayon emerges in the form of filament, a fibre of great length, and is hardened by drying in air or by chemical means. The filament is sometimes cut into shorter pieces having uniform length, called staple, and twisted together to make yarn.

see the article for more

[moggy]

AuntiePam, I have Dryel, the ‘dry cleaning’ stuff you put in the dryer. I suspect it’s nothing more than a scented, wet dryer sheet. I had a blouse with b.o. in the pits and all the dryel did was make the blouse scented, but didn’t remove the b.o. I had to hand-wash it in the sink.
And what’s the deal with dry cleaning anyway? Do they really ‘clean’ the clothes? And how is it done?

[yosemite]

No, really. I AM The Rayon Queen.

I have been quite a little seamstress in my day, and my favorite fabric is rayon. I have probably hundreds of yards stored away, waiting to be cut and sewn. Trust me, I KNOW rayon. All kinds, rayon challis, gabardine, twill, all of it. I have enough rayon tops in my closet, that I could go a month without wearing the same one twice. I’m scary, I am. But then again, I am Rayon Royalty.

In my vast experience with rayon, it usually (almost always) can be hand washed in cold water. Let dry flat. I never paid attention to any labels on the yardage bolt that said “dry clean only”, I just got a little extra yardage (to allow for shrinking) and I hand washed it and let it air dry. And then after I made my garment (usually a “t-shirt” sort of shell top, or a skirt) I kept hand washing it. Occasionally I’d get lazy and put it in the washing machine, gentle cycle, with Woolite, and then air dry it. Never used heat when washing, or drying. And almost all my clothes kept their shape and looked great. Only one time did the fabric lose its “drapey” feel after handwashing. But it still was OK, just had a more cottony feel. And one time the yardage I bought shrunk SO much after pre-washing it (before cutting out the pattern) that I had to use a different pattern that required less yardage. But most of the time, it was fine.

Yes, far, far more than you asked for. But you made the dire mistake of posting this thread on a board where the Rayon Queen resides, so you get what you get.

My advice to you on this matter, is to take your chances and hand wash it, or just suck it up and dry clean. You may find that the garment doesn’t shrink enough to worry about if you hand wash (I usually hand washed any store-bought rayon clothing I got) but you DO take your chances. It’s up to you!

The thing that really pisses me off about ready-to-wear rayon clothes that insist on dry cleaning is that probably 98% of them really DON’T need to be dry cleaned. It’s just that the manufacturer didn’t want to go to the bother of pre-shrinking the fabric (by handwashing it first before cutting) so they just don’t do that. And then expect you the consumer to pay to have it dry cleaned for the life of the garment. (See, this is why I don’t usually buy a lot of rayon clothes, but prefer to make my own!)

[moggy]

Thank you, Q.o.R. (Queen of Rayon)
<sigh> I guess I’ll take my chances and wash the stuff- since I bought it at a thrift store, I won’t be out that much money if it shrinks too much.

[handy]

Fabric University explains it all for ya:
http://www.fabriclink.com/Rayon.html

Just drop ‘how to clean rayon’ at http://www.google.com/
youll find lots of info.