How to care for handmade lace

A well-kept piece of handmade lace outlives its maker. These are the habits we recommend to everyone who takes a Filoure piece home.

Storing

Store flat whenever possible, wrapped in acid-free tissue or a clean white cotton cloth — never in sealed plastic, which traps moisture and yellows fibres. If a piece must be folded, pad the folds with tissue and refold along different lines once or twice a year. Keep away from direct sunlight and radiators.

Cleaning

Less is more. Air a piece in shade before considering washing. When washing is truly needed: lukewarm water, a drop of pH-neutral soap, and hands only — soak gently, never wring or twist. Press the water out between two towels and dry flat, shaped with your fingers while damp. Cotton and linen lace can be gently steamed; silk pieces should only ever be aired or entrusted to a textile conservator.

The safest cleaning is the one you didn’t do.

Small repairs

A pulled loop is not an emergency — never cut it. Ease the tension back through neighbouring stitches with a blunt needle, working from both sides toward the pull. If a motif comes loose from the mesh, a few tacking stitches in matching fine cotton will hold it; for anything larger, write to us. Every Filoure piece can come home to the atelier for repair, for life.