Caring for your Bow Tie
At Le Noeud Papillon we want you to own your bow tie for a long time, long enough that you can hand it over to your own children when the time comes. In order to do this, we ask that you maintain and keep safe your bow tie. Store it in a dark place to avoid sun damage of the silk. Store it in a cool and dry space. But most importantly, you will need to maintain the silk from time to time.
Looking after your bow tie is its own art form. You need to have the right two tools, such as a pair of finger scissors and a gas cigarette lighter.
Pruning your Bow Tie
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Step 1 | Pruning The Hairs Off Your Bow Tie
In the event that you worn your bow tie numerous times or that you have a cleanly shaved but abrasive to touch face, don't be surprised if hairs of silk pop up from the seams of your bow tie. Take a pair of finger scissors and lightly prune the edges. Remember to ensure that you try to singe the hairs as close to the fabric as possible not close enough that you might cut into the fabric. See this video below.
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Step 2 | Singe The Remaining Hairs With A Lighter
Once the fabric has been pruned you need to take an ordinary gas lighter and run a naked flame along the edges of the seam of the bow tie and, if hairs have popped up in the centre of the bow tie, along the main body too. The importance is to make sure that the naked flame is close enough to the silk so as to singe off the hairs but far enough away from the bow tie that you do not scold or leave a mark on the silk itself. Excessive heat, either by singeing or by pressing the bow tie with a hot iron, can be detrimental to the way the fabric appears.
Pressing your Bow Tie
The next key part to maintaining your bow tie is pressing the silk. After each wear the bow tie needs to be pressed unless of course you choose to leave your knot tied using our lock and slide hardware. When pressing your bow tie you must remember that woven jacquard silk is not a rough and tumble fabric. We therefore ask that you place a piece of lint free cloth between the iron and the low setting for silk on either steam or regular iron before pressing firmly down on the fabric in short spurts and sweeping the iron across each blade of the silk.
How to wash your Bow Tie
In this instance we must insist that you dry clean your bow tie with a reputable local dry cleaner. Please do not attempt to wash the bow tie at home. For spot marking, please never rub liquid into the silk. Spot marking it best done by daubing water onto a cloth and going over the top of the spot only. However, if your bow tie has been marked, we recommend taking it immediately to your nearest dry cleaner.