Caring for a Bunad Between Wears – Air, Don't Wash

Air the bunad – don't wash it

The most repeated rule in all bunad care: the wool body is aired and freshened, not washed. Wool is naturally odour-shedding, so a good airing removes most of a day's wear without going near water. Putting a bunad away while it is still warm and damp from the body, by contrast, invites odour, mildew and moths.

1. Take the bunad silver off first – it always comes off before airing, pressing and storage.
2. Hang the bunad in fresh, moving air for a day or more, out of direct sun (sun fades the dye) and away from damp.
3. Let body warmth, moisture and odour evaporate fully before the garment goes back into storage.
4. Never store the bunad warm or damp, and never in plastic, which traps the moisture inside.

Brush gently and let the wool rest

Between airing and storage, a soft brush is the whole 'cleaning' the wool needs. Use a soft clothes brush and brush lightly with the nap, not against it, so you lift dust, lint and hair without roughening the surface. Keep well clear of the embroidery and any silver – they do not take brushing. Then let the bunad hang and breathe on a wide, padded hanger before it is put away; the tailored wool should rest, not be pressed flat straight away.

• Soft brush, light strokes with the nap – never hard or against the nap.
• Steer clear of rosesaum, hardangersøm and silver; the embroidery should be left untouched.
• Hang on a wide, padded hanger that supports the shoulders – never a thin wire hanger.
• Don't pack the bunad away right after wearing; let it air and rest first.

Relax creases without harming the embroidery

Light creases often drop out on their own once the bunad hangs. If you need more, steam is safer than ironing – it relaxes folds without direct contact, with no sheen, flattening or scorch marks. If you must use an iron, do it gently and never straight onto the wool.

1. Hang the bunad in a steamy bathroom, or use a garment steamer held slightly off the fabric and kept moving – don't soak the wool.
2. Never steam straight onto embroidery or silver; freshen the fabric around the motifs, not across them.
3. If you must iron, do it from the reverse with a damp pressing cloth between iron and wool – lift and press, don't drag.
4. To smooth fabric behind embroidery, lay the piece face-down on a padded surface so the embroidery sinks in and keeps its relief.
5. Let the bunad hang and dry fully and go cold before it is worn or put away again.

What you can safely do yourself – and what you can't

A careful owner can do a real, useful part of the care at home. But there is a clear line where the honest advice is 'this belongs with professionals' – on a garment this valued and hard to replace, that is the expert choice, not caution for its own sake.

• Safe at home: air the wool, brush off dust, steam or gently press from the reverse with a damp cloth, and barely dab a fresh water spill – then stop.
• Safe at home: hand-wash a genuine linen or cotton shirt or apron you know is colourfast – the wool body is never hand-washed or soaked.
• For professionals: cleaning the wool itself, stains that don't lift with a dab, and anything oily, protein, tannin or dye-based.
• For professionals: repair and invisible reweaving of moth holes, all embroidery and seam work, and any alteration – whether letting a child's bunad down or taking an adult's in.
• For professionals: silver beyond a gentle buff – deep tarnish, oxidised or gilded silver, bent or loose parts.

When the bunad needs more than airing

The wool body is aired and brushed – but when it is soaked through with odour, has set-in stains, needs heavy creases over embroidery pressed out, or has developed a hole, professionals take over. If you are unsure, or the bunad needs cleaning, repair or alteration, you can send it to us from anywhere in Norway – describe your wish, for example silver polishing, in the comment field. You see the price before you order. Be early before 17 May, as the cleaners fill up in the weeks before Constitution Day.

Frequently asked questions