I have had to answer so many questions in my store when selling scarves so I thought it would be helpful to combine some of the common answers in this guide – hope you find it helpful! Do read my other guides on various aspects of vintage scarf collecting and buying.

FABRIC

Silk is the fabric of choice for most scarves, vintage included, and except for the war era when silks were not allowed for use in clothing, established names in scarves will have mostly silk scarves.

• There are different types of silk: silk twill, silk crepe, habotai silk, chiffon silk, etc. They differ by thickness, weight and weave pattern. In layman terms, silk twill has fine parallel lines that the fabric is made of, and in highest quality scarves it’s thick and crisp, which prevents wrinkles, too; silk crepe has no lines and normally will be of heavier weight; habotai silk does not show any weave either and is thinner silk which is most prevalent in scarf production; chiffon silk is sheer or semi-sheer silk, usually with a soft touch to it; silk satin has a luster to it which catches light and is very shiny.
• Acetate is another fabric which is very common in vintage scarves. Even though it’s artificial fabric, I personally like it a lot – it has some to a lot of shine, it is easier to care for compared to silk, and it is wrinkle-resistant and very durable. Acetate comes in crispier thicker fabric and finer very silk-like fabric as well, often in a twill pattern. If you don’t know fabrics enough to compare, ironing helps identify acetate: under heat with steam it emanates a bit of artificial smell that you will never get from silk under the same conditions.
• Nylon is very common in vintage sheers; it has to be handled carefully if you press your scarves, it’s easier damaged by heat than other fabrics. If you hold it between your fingers, it’s sleek and has a bit of texture that’s not found in other fabrics. Also, if you put some water in it, it kind of ‘sits’ on it as opposed to immediately soaking the spot right away.
• Polyester can be sheer, soft, shiny or smooth. Advantages are ease of care, flowing nature, wrinkle resistance. Personally, my least favorite fabric, but it’s easy to care for, and if the pattern is right, shouldn’t really matter.  If you compare a few silks and polyesters, you can tell the difference easily.
• Rayon - in sheer variety, close to silk, just heavier and not as soft, thicker texture. Don't wash any rayons, they shrink.
• Blends – like silk blends – are wonderful because you still get the nice qualities and feel of silk with an extra bonus: better resistance to age and wear and easier to care for. Most common blends for vintage scarves are silk/rayon and silk/vinal (those are usually on the sheer side). Vera Neumann was a big user of these blends, and you really cannot tell they are not silk if you don’t specialize in fabrics.
  Rayon is another good scarf fabric - it's usually heavier, with more flow to it, and is a bit thicker for sheers. Rayon shoudn't be washed since it will shrink in most cases.

Most people remove labels from scarves for wear, so most of the vintage scarves do not come with labels which state fabric content and care. Here are a few tips on how to tell what fabrics the scarves are made of:

• If the edge is handrolled, it’s most likely silk. Very few alternate fabrics will have a handrolled edge, it’s usually the higher quality fabrics that are rolled by hand, which would be silk or silk blends.
• Silk is easy to tell – having handled thousands of scarves, I can tell it without even touching, but touch will tell it all. There are various types of silk, but all have a natural fabric touch. Some silks are crisp and thick, like Hermes and higher quality scarves twills; others, made of silk crepe – crepe de chine, often referred to as ‘the Mercedes of silks’ – are soft and heavy. Take a few scarves that you know are silk and some that you know are not and you can tell the difference.
• If it’s a big name, like Chanel or Hermes, and it’s authentic, then it’s 100% silk. Big fashion houses like that never made anything but silk scarves. If it’s not, then it’s a fake.

CARE

Most vintage scarves can be laundered, BUT WITH CAUTION. Here is what you have to watch out for:

• If there is a ‘dry clean only’ label on a vintage scarf, then you shouldn’t wash it at all. Today, most silks have ‘dry clean’ on them, and personally, I wash ALL silks and never had a problem. But with vintage, due to different dyes used at the time, it’s safe to follow the instructions on the scarf.
  If it’s a hand blocked pattern, or if you can see dyes unevenly distributed, or can tell it’s a hand-dyed process, you shouldn’t wash it since it will bleed and will give you dye transfer and streaks. It’s hard to explain how to tell a hand blocked or hand-dyed scarf, but once you’ve seen a few, you can tell.
• Almost any scarf can be put BRIEFLY into water with handwash detergent in it for a light freshening. Sometimes washing will alter the feel of fabric and will take away the crisp feeling of some silks. You do have to take it out quickly – don’t let it sit in water, just move it around a few times, under half a minute to a minute, and take it out – don’t wring it out, ever, put it on a towel, and roll up in or fold the towel over to get rid of excess moisture, after which just hang it to air dry (don’t use metal hangers to clasp since it will leave rust stains; better fold it over a hanger or just put it on a net-like surface to dry; don’t hang on a hook since it will stretch the area it’s hanging from)
• You can use silk stain removers and regular stain removers (bleach-free) on most scarves, but do that with caution, and wash off fast, so it doesn’t sit too long. Just touch the spot with the solution on a q-tip or similar, rub lightly and wash off by touching the area with a damp cloth. Most light fresh stains can be removed with just a bit of plain water.

Generally, if it’s an expensive scarf or one you really cherish, do not attempt washing it, if you are unsure! You have to have some experience washing silks, and your results may vary, so use this only if you are comfortable and try a few scarves you least care about to see if it works.

PRESSING

All silk scarves can be pressed with an iron under decent heat and even with steam. If you are uncomfortable with high heat, just use low ‘silk’ heat setting and no steam. But I have personally never had a problem ironing with high heat and steam.

Nylons and other artificial fabrics you have to be a bit more careful with, but again, they normally can be ironed with regular heat and steam with no problems. NEVER REST THE IRON ON ANY SCARF – keep it moving all the time.

DRY-CLEANING

I am not a big fan of dry-cleaning vintage scarves, and have had scarves ruined that way. I prefer laundering them, but I do have a lot of experience with it and feel comfortable enough doing it. So if you prefer to dry clean,  pick a good dry-cleaner you trust who have had experience with vintage scarves (avoid $1.50 per garment cleaners and the like – they are horrible!). In most cases, washing will do the trick, but choose the method you are more comfortable with, and with more expensive scarves, do go the dry-cleaning route.