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I take the advice of what not to wear regarding cashmere. You really don't need to wash it as much as people think. As with wool, odors don't stay in the fibers, so air our the sweater between wearing them and you should be good. This is of course if you wear an undershirt (ouchie if not!). But I hand wash everything in woolite or just with cold water and no detergent.

Heat can help get smells out of fabrics-- when i used to live in a place where people could smoke in bars i would hang my coats and sweaters by the radiator and they would air out.

I don't know why people think they have to dry clean these fabrics. People were wearing silk and cashmere clothing long before drycleaners ever existed. How do people think silk shirts and cashmere blankets were washed at the turn of the century? In the 1700s? Earlier?

Wash by hand and line or screen dry these items. The way it's been done since silk and wool were first spun and woven into fabrics.

I wash in the sink w/ shampoo. I figure, if it works on my hair, it will work for another animal's hair.

Actually, in response to KaraSP up there, in the past people did NOT wash their silk clothing, they brushed it. I'm just saying that because I make historical Elizabethan/Tudor costumes and I've done research on the topic.

Silk was also the outermost layer of clothing and was rarely soiled with sweat - inside layers of linen that could be boiled clean was what was worn next to the skin. A silk gown or suit would be carefully brushed clean of dirt and packed away.

Some silk can be washed by hand in cold water with quilt soap or pure castile soap (raw silk, dupioni, even taffeta) and hung up to dry, but other kinds (typically the sheer soft kind) will lose that lustrous texture and will never be the same again.