Haband ties - silk or rayon?

[matei]

Hello!

Does anyone know if the '40s/50s Haband ties were rayon or silk?

I've recently acquired a really cool Haband tie, which is either from the '40s or '50s. It has a wee stain on the bottom, as if the previous owner dipped it in his soup or something.

I've seen instructions for cleaning ties before - but they were for rayon. I don't want to ruin this tie!

Thanks!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The one i have is silk - confirmed via a burn test. But ...

I was in a vintage clothing store, and i found two replicas of my Haband (both also made by Haband). One felt the most like rayon that i've ever felt in a tie, and the other appeared to be some kind of synthetic. My guess is that it was acetate, but i'm not sure.

Try to get a bit of the fabric for a burn test. That will be conclusive (at least it'll tell you the difference between animal and plant protein!).

bk

 

[herringbonekid]

my 30s habands are rayon and rayon/wool.

 

[John in Covina]

So far, I have found an article by Bob Cianci that says if they are silk they must be dried cleaned but only if not too fragile. It was suggested the dry cleaner put them in the delicates bag and remove before the extraction cylce hits it's zenith.

Rayon, crepe and satin ties can usually washed with Woolite and gently pressed with a warm (not too hot iron) and he said better clean and too flat than grungy and unwearable!

In NYC there is a place called Tie Crafters that does cleaning but it is a bit pricey, google / yahoo it to see.

 

[Pilgrim]

I have used Tie Crafters in the past for some good silk ties. They are a bit pricey, but they do good work. I believe they're regarded as one of the best tie cleaners in the entire US.

 

[matei]

I decided to forgo the burn test (thanks anyway but I would've started the London Fire of '06 with my luck) and attacked the offending stains with a mixture of a Woolite-esque substance and water.

It worked pretty well. I didn't douse the whole tie, just the stains. I then stretched it out to dry.

Methinks the tie to be rayon, as it is a bit rougher feeling than my silk ties.