Q&A - Venus & Gaia

How to take care of my silk ?

  • Wash by hand inside out with tempered water or using a washing machine at 30°C maximum (use the delicate program)
  • When washing in a machine, if possible use a protection filet or an old cotton pillow case
  • Use a mild laundry detergent (nothing too harsh, chemical or powdered)
  • Don’t use a drying machine after washing and don’t wring up the silk when washing by hand
  • When your silk is still ligthly damp, you can iron it inside out on the delicate program of your ironer / low heat

Why is silk so expensive ?

There are several reasons : first, production takes from 45 to 60 days. A lot of silk threads are necessary to produce 1 kg of silk. They are carefully selected and crafted by hand as this work cannot be automated.

Silk worms that produce our textiles are fed fresh white mulberry leaves every day by hand : these plantations have to be cultivated and monitored as much as the silk worms.

Furthermore, silk worms are very sensitive to the environment they evolve in. Room temperatures, light and noise have to be carefully monitored otherwise the worms stop producing silk. They have to be under a strict surveillance as they easily get sick and can propagate their disease to their worm mates.

Silk production is a 24/7 job that requires a constant human presence and a real farming expertise in which the majority of tasks cannot be automated.

Another explanation is that import fees from China to Europe are very expensive.

But at Venus & Gaia®, we decided to minimize margins in order to make silk goods accessible to every walled. We know that 50€ is still a great amount of money, but the average market price for the type and quality of goods we sell is usually around 90€.

Silk is a very resistant and sustainable material when it is well taken care of. A pillow case will easily last a couple of dozen years. For a good that is used 8h a day in average, it is still a profitable investment that your skin and hair will greatly thank you for in time !

Why is the color of the same product so different from one picture to another ?

Silk is a very hard textile to photograph because its aspect changes so with the luminosity, which it attracts a lot. 

Each dye has either warm (golden, yellow) or cold undertones (silver, white) which are revealed under the light : silk appears more luminous, shiny or clear that when placed in the shadow. This versatility is visible in real life with your naked eye : you'd be surprised how much your pillow case turns into a piece of art with natural sunlight !

The shinier the silk, the better because it is a criteria of quality.

Can I return a purchase ?

Of course. See our terms and conditions then send us an email at hello@venusandgaia.com.

To sum up, we accept return within a delay of 14 days after reception of the product, if it hasn’t been used, washed or degraded in any way.

We reserve the right to accept or not the product return.

Is the packaging environmentally friendly ?

We try to use a minimum amount of packaging, that’s why there is no useless ornamentation in our packages. All of our cardboard packaging is recyclable and/or made of recycled material.

We chose to put some products in thick waterproof plastic reusable pouches to protect the silk from any transportation issues. The pouches can be used to travel safely with your silk or to any extent (think toilet bag, lingerie bag…) and are recyclable.