Silk is a beautiful fabric and has a reputation for being delicate, but it’s not a difficult material to clean. Just take care to follow our easy guidelines and you’ll be sure to have luxurious clean silk.
Clean Silk
If your silk fabric can be machine washed, follow the instructions on the tag.
For hand washing, fill a sink or large bowl with cold water, add a mild detergent, and place the silk fabric inside. Gently agitate the water for a few minutes to clean. After washing, rinse with cold water. Place on a towel to dry. Do not wring or twist the silk; this will damage the fabric. Do not leave silk in the sun to dry.
What Not to Do
- Do not use bleach to clean silk. Bleach will damage the delicate fibers.
- Never spray perfume or hairspray on silk. The alcohol in these products will damage the fabric.
- Store your silk by hanging it up rather than by folding it. This helps to ensure the silk will not be ruined or discolored.
How to Remove Stains
You should always blot up stains on silk; do not rub. Rubbing the silk might affect its texture.
To fight stains, combine a teaspoon of salt and a cup of cold water. Dampen a rag with the salt water and lightly blot the stain. Rinse with cold water and repeat if needed.
Keep Silk Soft
After a while silk can become rough or itchy. Keep the fabric soft by adding a few squirts of hair conditioner to the silk’s wash water. The conditioner will give your silk a soft and flexible feel.
Treat Discoloration
Silk can get discolored and look yellowish. This is easy to remove or prevent. When hand washing the silk add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the water. This will fix the discoloration or prevent it from happening.
Silk Upholstery
Clean silk upholstery with a cloth dampened with cold water. Do not over-wet the silk as this may discolor it. If you are nervous about cleaning silk upholstery, hire a professional to do the job.
Keep your silk beautiful and soft with these tips. If you ever have any doubts on how to treat your silk, start with the gentlest cleaning method, see how that works, then go from there.