An embroidered set is really two garments in one: the base fabric, which you can usually wash, and the embroidery, which you usually cannot wash the same way. Most damage we hear about comes from treating them as a single thing.

Read the care line first

Every product page here has a Care row in the details table. It says one of three things, and each means something specific:

• Machine wash cold — gentle cycle, cold water, inside out, no bleach. Safe for our cotton and rayon sets.
• Hand wash recommended — the embroidery is fine enough that a drum will pull it. Chikankari and light thread work sit here.
• Dry clean only — the fabric itself will not survive water, or the piece is lined. Chanderi, vichitra silk and jacquard viscose sets sit here.

The routine that works

1. Turn the garment inside out. This alone prevents most of the visible abrasion on embroidery and printed panels.
2. Cold water. Warm water is what makes dark dyes bleed onto the dupatta.
3. Mild detergent, dissolved in the water before the garment goes in. Never pour concentrated detergent directly onto embroidery.
4. Do not wring. Press the water out between your palms, or roll the piece in a towel. Wringing is what stretches rayon out of shape permanently.
5. Dry in shade, flat or over a wide hanger. Direct Mumbai sun bleaches colour out of cotton in a few afternoons.

Sequins, and the iron

The fastest way to ruin a sequinned Anarkali is a hot iron placed directly on the work. Sequins are plastic. They melt, they curl, and there is no repair. Press on the reverse, on low heat, with a cotton cloth between the iron and the fabric — or use a steamer and skip the iron entirely.

Sequin work also sheds a few pieces over its life. That is how the technique behaves and it is not something we can replace a set for; our vichitra silk set page says so before you buy.

First wash, separately

Wash dark shades — maroon, wine, navy — on their own for the first two washes. Indian dye runs a little at first, and it is far easier to accept that in a bucket than to explain it to a white dupatta.

If something arrives already damaged

That is a different matter entirely and it is on us. Film yourself opening the parcel, and email us within 48 hours — see the Return & Refund Policy. With the video we replace or refund straight away.