As I'd been practically living in this perfect (100% silk!) (reversible!) Ursa Minor piece (a.k.a. my first piece of mail at the new place) since it arrived, I thought I'd give it a break and put on my previously-usual hot weather outfit (i.e. something mydearthing). However, after a half hour of freaking out, thinking I had thrown away this upcoming year's scholarship due to my failure to hand in a form on time, the stress combined with the heat forced a costume change, and this dress was, of course, the first pick. Meltdown (literally and psychologically) averted. Though I'm slowing giving up hope that this dress will ever be off of me long enough to wash...
Speaking of washing, do any of you kOs readers have a hemp shower curtain? I just purchased a couple from my favorite brick-and-mortar store (an environmental boutique called Carbon), and I washed and dried one before hanging it after discovering that it was about a foot too long for my unmovable shower curtain rod. After that, it was the perfect length, but it seems to have stretched out quite a bit again after getting soaked from my man's shower. Is it safe then to dry it on medium heat each time I wash it to reshrink it, or will that weaken the fibers too much? Leave a comment or shoot me an email if you know. And if you haven't heard of hemp shower curtains, I highly suggest looking into it. It's the only fabric curtain you can get without a liner, as the hemp is tightly woven enough that the water doesn't go through it. It does get soaked with each shower, so there is a bit of maintenance to it (i.e. you have to wring it out and make sure it has some air flow to dry it out, and it has to be washed every week or two to avoid any mold growth). But from the reviews I've read, the work is worth it, as there's absolutely no toxic chemicals in it or smells released from day one. Vinyl shower curtains are one of the worst things you could ever bring into your home because of the constant off-gassing of VOCs, and they aren't even recyclable when you inevitably have to throw it out. That, my friends, is what you call 'totally lame'.
