How to Keep Your Silk Rug Clean & in Excellent Condition
Posted on: 23 January 2015
Silk rugs offer an elegant touch that can showcase your home's beauty, but proper maintenance and cleaning of your silk rug is essential to maintain your rug's look. Silk rugs require different cleaning methods than standard cotton or wool rugs, and improper cleaning can lead to a very expensive mistake. Here is information on how to care for your silk rug and keeping it looking as good as possible through the years.
Treat Your Silk Rug Well
While silk rugs are beautiful, they should be treated as more of an ornamental piece than a rug that is designed for everyday foot traffic. Due to their delicate nature, silk rugs can easily lose their color and suffer damage to their embroidery designs, which is the type of damage that cannot be repaired. As a result, you'll want to place your silk rug in an area where it won't likely be stepped on if possible.
Use Simple Cleaning Methods
In most cases, cleaning your silk rug is simply a matter of sweeping away dust with a broom, taking care to be gentle as you sweep away dust particles or debris. It's also safe to use a vacuum, but be sure to use the brushless suction attachment instead of the standard roller attachment. You don't want to roll across the silk rug's delicate fibers and break down the carpet's fibers as you clean. Try to simply shake your rug out and use a broom in most instances to minimize repeated vacuum use if possible.
Clean Up Stains
If you spill something on silk, you need to act quickly to ensure the stain doesn't set into the silk fibers. You should remove solids with a spoon, taking care not to rub any substance into the carpet. Try to gently scoop the material off your rug in smooth motions to ensure you don't press or scrape into the rug. For liquids, apply a clean cloth to the substance and gentle blot at the stain.
There are some homemade methods for removing tougher stains that may also work well for you. You can apply a mix of 50 percent water and 50 percent white vinegar to your stain or simply a bit of club soda. You should remove any excess liquid you apply and then let your carpet air-dry. Take care to never use harsh chemicals or heat to clean a silk rug or remove stains, as both chemicals and heat will end up destroying your silk fibers.
Ultimately, given the cost of silk rugs and the difficulty of removing stains, many end up bringing their rug to a cleaning specialist for more professional treatment. If you want to use a rug or carpet cleaning professional, you should probably ask about what treatment methods they have available, what your chances of success are, and what guarantees they might offer to protect your rug.
A professional rug cleaner will likely have the tools needed to remove most stains from your silk rug, but it's important to be informed about the cleaning process to get the results you want. In the meantime, follow the above tips and it should go a long way to keeping your rug in good condition and as clean as possible throughout the life of your rug.
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