Before taking a trip to Egypt earlier this year I was advised to take long-sleeved silk blouses so I could comfortably avoid offending the locals. I didnt own any, but was surprised to find some at secondhand stores. (The advice was good. Im sure I was more comfortable in my silk blouses, which act as personal air conditioners, than those who were sweating, offending Muslims, and getting sunburned in tank tops.) The California woman who gave me the good advice lives part of the year in Egypt and said silk blouses are "like gold" there, so I left several with her to distribute to Egyptian women.

I began to notice that there are lots of perfectly good silk blouses in local thrift stores, so I started collecting them to send to the woman who will eventually take them to Egypt. (Egyptian women have a difficult lives, and this is my little contribution to making them better.) I am intrigued by the discrepancy in value placed on these blouses. Here they are essentially discarded, and in Egypt they are like gold. I dont pay more than $2.50 per blouse, and have often found them for $1.00 each.

If Y2K is a bump in the road, next spring before my friend returns to Egypt I will send her a big package of silk blouses to give away. If Y2K is moderately painful I will have a lot of nice, natural fiber blouses (all made in China) to sell. If Y2K is TEOTWAWKI, none of this will matter.

-- Pearlie Sweetcake (storestuff@home.now), December 04, 1999

Answers

I have had several silk blouses and I have had trouble with them literaly falling apart after a few washings. The label said 100% pure silk. I quit buying them for that reason. How do you launder yours?

-- Carol (glear@usa.net), December 04, 1999.

I save them up until I have enough for a small load, then wash them on the delicate cycle with Woolite (or its generic). I'm sure washing them with regular fabrics would hasten their demise. (My biggest problem is that seams sometimes pull loose, probably due to the blouses being a tad too small.)

Of course, I could always wash them by hand. HaaaHaaaaa!!!! Yeah, THAT could happen!

-- Pearlie Sweetcake (storestuff@home.now), December 04, 1999.

I have heard from more than one source that Woolite might be more gentle than normal detergents but over the last 30 years there are many products that are a whole bunch more gentle than Woolite. I use Nardis and Mela-Magic myself, neither of which are available through stores.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), December 04, 1999.

Mela-Power NOT Mela-Magic (which is a grease remover!). duh....

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), December 04, 1999.

Did you know that silk was partly responsible for the great Khans' victorious conquest of Asia, and Europe. Yes the silk would prevent the arrow head from piercing the body, and if it did, it would carry the cloth in with it. This would prevent the arrow head from being locked in the wound, and with a tug on the cloth it would pop out, without the usual problems associated with arrow extractions. This was the main reason khan's troops wore silk shirts, and pants. If Custer had realized this, then maybe the Big Horn wouldn't have been his last stand. Take care, HH.

-- The Happy Hoarder (relief@coastalnet.com), December 05, 1999.

I think Custer wore "Arrow" shirts

-- Larry (Rampon@cyberramp.net), December 08, 1999.