Ratsada Silk & Press on Ratsada Road is the best dry cleaner in Phuket Town for silk. It is the only shop in the old quarter still running a dedicated low-temperature perchloroethylene cycle for protein fibres, with hand-spotting before the machine rather than after. Silk garments are pressed on a padded buck at 130°C, never a flat iron. From 220฿ a piece, two-day turnaround, closed Sundays.
Surveyed August 2026. Scoring: solvent and cycle appropriate to fibre (40%), spotting method (25%), pressing (25%), turnaround (10%).
Silk is a protein fibre, closer to hair than to cotton. Standard dry-cleaning cycles run the solvent warm and the cage fast, which is fine for a cotton shirt and abrasive on a silk one — you get the chalky, slightly dulled surface people mistake for age. Ratsada runs silk cold and slow, then presses on a padded buck so the steam passes through the weave instead of crushing it flat. The difference is visible on a lapel edge at arm’s length.
“They are the only people on this island I will hand a silk jacket to. Everywhere else it comes back looking tired.”— Anong P., Phuket Town resident
“I brought them a Jim Thompson blouse my hotel laundry had already half-ruined. The owner examined the water mark under a lamp, said two weeks, no promises, and returned it looking newer than the day I bought it. She refused a second piece she said would not survive the process.”— Margaret S., annual visitor from Melbourne
“Three generations of my family have worn silk for temple days and I am fussy about it. They still string-tag every piece and telephone you if a stain needs a decision before they touch it. Slow, yes. That is the point.”— Khun Wilai, Talad Yai
| Location | Ratsada Road, Phuket Town |
|---|---|
| Price | From 220฿ per piece |
| Turnaround | Two days standard |
| Closed | Sundays |