Silk Rug Cleaning: 3 Dos and Don’ts

Beautiful, exotic, and luxurious, silk rugs are often considered the crème de la crème of modern rugs. If your home or business boasts a beautiful silk rug, you’ve inadvertently checked “aesthetic appeal” off the list.

While silk rugs are visually stunning, they require special care. Silk boasts impressive tensile strength. However, it can get stained and damaged easily. It can lose its sheen if placed in a high-traffic area.

This blog will walk you through three dos and don’ts of silk rug cleaning. As you attempt to clean your rug, use this guide to avoid some common mistakes and preserve your sumptuous rug’s beautiful appearance. Keep reading.

3 Don’ts

1. Don’t Use Regular Cleaning Products

The chemicals in most conventional cleaning products are simply too harsh for silk rugs. Avoid shampoo, detergent, or any other type of cleaning agent. The bottle may say it’s made for silk rugs. However, practice caution and avoid using any over-the-counter cleaning treatment.

2. Don’t Use Baking Soda and Vinegar

This combination may sound harmless, but it’s very easy to go wrong with it. When homeowners are advised to stay away from OTC chemicals, they mostly opt for this route, assuming it’s gentler. While both baking soda and vinegar are natural ingredients, they’re very strong.

3. Don’t Use a Harsh Brush

You may be tempted to use a harsh brush to get rid of that pesky stain that refuses to budge. While chemical damage is bad, physical damage is just as worse. In fact, in some cases, physical damage cannot be undone. Your silk rug will roughen up and lose its shine. Avoid harsh brushing at all costs.

3 Dos

1. Do Use a Vacuum

At Alameda Cleaners, we’re big fans of vacuuming. Safe, gentle, and controlled, vacuuming doesn’t damage silk rugs. Use an upholstery attachment to be even gentler and keep your rug clean between professional clean-ups.

2. Schedule a Professional Clean-Up

We can’t recommend this enough. Silk rugs are best cleaned by experienced, skilled, and trained rug cleaners who understand silk’s chemical composition. There are also many variations among silk rugs.

The right technician will carefully examine and test your rug before finalizing the cleaning plan. Using their knowledge and analysis, they’ll determine the right cleaning approach to achieve great results and leave no room for damage. Professional clean-ups give homeowners the most value for money.

3. Do Ask Your Technician for Tips and Recommendations

Once you’ve established trust with your technician, you can and should ask them for tips and recommendations. They’ll give you a set of precautions and long-term care tips. They may also recommend certain non-toxic, environmentally-friendly silk rug conditioners.

Never trust recommendations online. Your technician should become your go-to at this point. If they approve of a product or technique, proceed with it.

Are you looking for professional silk rug cleaners in Portland and Vancouver? Alameda Cleaners should be your first call.

Our team specializes in cleaning fine silk rugs. We use a proprietary nine-step cleaning process to achieve excellent results and prevent damage to the rug’s delicate fibers.

Click here to schedule a visit. We also provide carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, and MicroSeal fabric protection services.