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Handloom Saree Care & Repair · A complete guide
A handloom saree
can outlive
a generation.
Proper handloom saree care is simple — wash it kindly, store it carefully, mend it gently. Your great-grandmother’s Benarasi can become your daughter’s. Here is exactly how.
A wooden box.
Neem leaves.
Muslin.
That is all a silk needs.
Neem leaves.
Muslin.
That is all a silk needs.
01 · Handloom saree care by fabric
Care guide
by fabric.
| Fabric | Wash | Dry | Iron | Store |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cotton handloom sarees |
Cold hand-wash, mild detergent (Ezee, Genteel). First 2–3 washes separately. | Line-dry in shade, never direct sun. | Damp iron at medium. Iron on reverse for printed pieces. | Folded flat in cotton wraps. Refold every 3 months along different lines to prevent crease tears. |
Silk sarees (Benarasi, Kanjivaram, Chanderi) |
Dry-clean only. We can recommend two trusted dry-cleaners in Delhi NCR. | Never machine-dry. Air on a wide hanger out of light. | Steam-iron on low. Place a muslin cloth between iron and zari work. | Wrap in muslin, store flat in a wooden box with neem leaves. Never plastic. |
Jamdani sarees · fine cottons |
Hand-wash cold, no rubbing. Salt in the first wash to set colour. | Lay flat on a clean towel. | Low heat, on the reverse, while still slightly damp. | Hang on a wide padded hanger, away from light. Refold direction every 6 months. |
Block-printed (Ajrakh, Bagru, Kalamkari) |
First wash separately, cold water + 1 tbsp salt to set the natural dyes. | Shade-dry, inside out. | Medium heat on the reverse. Steam helps revive the print. | Folded in muslin. Some colour transfer is normal — keep away from white storage. |
Tie-dye sarees (Bandhani, Leheriya) |
Hand-wash, single piece, cold water. Dyes can run for the first 3 washes. | Flat-dry, never wring. | Low heat, reverse side. Do not stretch the knots flat — they are part of the texture. | Refold gently to preserve the puckered texture. |
Seven golden rules of handloom saree care
If you remember only seven things.
01
Never hang a heavy silk saree — it tears at the shoulder over time. Fold flat.
02
Refold sarees every 3–6 months along a different line. Crease lines crack the fibre.
03
Wrap silks in muslin or pure cotton. Never plastic. Plastic suffocates the fibre.
04
Wash a new handloom saree separately for the first 3 washes. Dyes need time to settle.
05
Iron on the reverse for any printed or embroidered saree. Always.
06
Neem leaves or cloves in storage repel insects without chemical smell.
07
Direct sunlight fades natural dyes in handloom sarees irreversibly. Always shade-dry.
02 · Handloom saree repair
When something goes wrong.
Most handloom saree damage is fixable. Here is what to do for each problem — and when to write to us directly.
A snagged thread
Do not pull. Push the snag to the reverse side gently with a blunt needle, then iron flat. For any handloom saree bought from us, we fix this for free.
Zari has tarnished
Common in pieces stored damp. Take to a karigar in Karol Bagh or Chandni Chowk for re-zari work — usually ₹400–800 per saree. We can introduce you to the right hands.
Colour bleed beyond expected
Soak in cold water with 1 tbsp salt + 1 tbsp white vinegar for 30 mins. If still bleeding, send us a video — likely a dye-fixing issue we will replace under our saree care promise.
Edge fraying
Stop wear immediately, take to a tailor for a kucha border — a fine running stitch along the selvedge. Costs ₹150–250 and adds years to any handloom saree.
A hole or burn mark
Rafu (invisible darning) by a master karigar can save almost any handloom saree. We have three darners across Delhi who do museum-grade work. Email us a photo.
Want to repurpose an old piece
A cherished but worn handloom saree can become a kurta, a dupatta border, a quilt, or kantha-stitched into something new. We work with karigars who specialise in heritage repurposing.
We stand behind
every thread we sell.
If a handloom saree from Teevra develops a problem that shouldn’t have happened — a dye that bleeds beyond normal, a thread that breaks within the first month, a print that fades with regular care — write to us. We will sort it.
We are not a platform. We know every piece we sell. We know who made it and what it should do. If it doesn’t, that is our responsibility to fix. Good handloom saree care starts with us standing behind the piece.
— Teresa & Vrinda
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