And, the garment is it wool and silk? Woolite in a sink sounds good, cold water, and soap, soak,rinse, soak , rinse until the water runs clear. keep the strings as straight as possible. You might think of basting them in between two sheets of light muslin or linen. No twisting this cloth, press between white towels and lay flat to dry. The key is cold water, and rinse and be as gentle as if you were washing your great grandmothers last three hairs on her head.

Remember it hasn’t been out of the box in a long time, sing it a joyful song as you give it a bath. That’s what I did with my Grandfather’s tools with their spruce up before I started using them after a 60 year break in the tool box.

The tzitzit and decorative strings were badly frayed at the bottom. I have cut them all back by two inches (which is permissible for tzitzit as long as the strings remain at least four inches in length below the final knot) and now they hang individually as they should.

I will be removing the existing tzitzit and restringing them with new strings (a wonderful skill I learned back in April when I began exploring wearing a tallit katan). I am also looking for a local tallit artisan to remove and replicate the decorative string design.

Finally, Ryan and I are trying to figure out the best way to clean the garment, itself. Most likely, Woolite in a sink with special care to not make the strings any worse than they already are.

And with that, Phillip’s tallit will hopefully last for another generation.