Silk is an amazing natural fabric that is made by silkworms. This cloth looks mesmerizing due to its smoothness. The cloth ‘silk’ gave birth to the term ‘silky,’ which, as everyone knows, gives an impression of something that is soft and smooth to touch and has a lustrous shine due to its texture. Due to the stunning properties of silk, it is considered to be a royal and luxurious fabric. Placing a silk rug in your house can improve its look significantly. A room with a silk rug will give off a ‘royal’ and a ‘luxurious’ impression. If you want your house to look luxurious, it could be a great idea to place a silk rug on the floor.
However, a silk rug only looks good as long as it is clean and shiny. Once it gets dirty and full of stains, even the most precious silk will look unpleasant. This is why you need to take care of the silk rug to avoid it from getting dirty. It is difficult to clean the silk once it gets dirty. Therefore, prevention becomes mandatory. However, if you haven’t been able to take proper care of it, you can still follow simple steps that will tell you how to clean a silk rug easily. You should also learn the prevention mechanisms to prevent your silk rug from getting dirty all over again.
In this guide, we will talk about:
- Things You Need to Prepare Before Cleaning a silk rug
- How to clean a silk rug
- How to care for a silk rug
- And more
After reading this article, you are able to clean your silk rug at home by yourself.
What Tool Do You Need Before Cleaning A Silk Rug?
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If your silk rug has gotten dirty or is full of stains, you will need some specific tools that will help you clean it properly. After you use the tools properly and follow all the steps specified, your silk rug will look as good as new. Here is a list of everything you need:
- A broom for cleaning off the dust (don’t use a hard broom as it could get rough on the delicate rug)
- Baking soda (for its cleaning properties, use it as directed in the cleaning the silk rug guide only)
- A good quality vacuum cleaner (This will absorb all the dust properly without harming the rug at all)
- Vinegar (Again, for the amazing cleaning properties that it has)
- A gentle cloth that is soft, dry, and clean. (This will help to scrape off any remaining dirt. You can keep 2-3 pieces of this cloth at hand for convenience)
- Water (This should be obvious; water is something that you must keep next to you whenever you are performing any cleaning process)
Keep all these tools ready before you begin the cleaning process. Now, follow this guide properly.
The Steps of Cleaning A Silk Rug
Once you have prepared everything, it is time to begin the process of cleaning your precious silk rug. Here are the steps that you have to follow carefully:
- With the help of a vacuum cleaner, get rid of all the unwanted dust particles. Make sure that the rug is cleaned properly.
- If any remaining dust particles don’t seem to be going away, try using a soft broom to gently remove any sturdy dust particles that might have gotten stuck in the fabric.
- Beat the silk rug lightly to scrape off any dust that remains.
- Apply soda mixture on the area that has been affected with a stain and use a dry cloth to pat it.
- Lastly, take some vinegar and add water to the mixture. Add this mix to the affected area. This will help in eliminating any stains as well as an odor that might be left on the carpet.
While the steps should work in most cases, you can consider hiring professionals for this work if you are unsure. A silk rug is fragile, and you do not want it to get harmed during the process. If you are sure about this, you can continue to perform these measures by yourself. However, if not, then it will never hurt to call the experts.
How do You Care for A Silk Rug?
As mentioned earlier, preventing your rug from getting dirty is the best way to keep its original beauty intact. Therefore, once you clean the rug, follow the steps specified below regularly:
- Placing the rug in areas with low traffic: It would be a good idea to keep the rug in an area where not many people walk with shoes on. Avoiding any contact with the shoes can help keep your rug clean consistently.
- Vacuum the rug regularly: It should come without saying that you must vacuum your precious silk rug regularly to avoid it from getting dirty in the first place. If dirt is left on the rug for too long, it can get stuck in the fibers, which will then require a thorough cleaning to loosen its grip.
- Preventing any spilling and staining: If you know how to clean a silk rug, you know how difficult it could get to clean the stains or spills. This is you must avoid drinking or keeping things near the rug that can spill.
- Prevent unpleasant odor: If you need your rug not to give off an unpleasant smell, you should sprinkle some common baking soda on it. Make sure to sprinkle a generous amount and more on the specific area of the smell. After a few hours, clean off the odor.
- Dealing with the spills: Even if you try your best to avoid any liquid from spilling on the rug, unfortunate situations can always happen, so if something does spill, you must deal with it immediately. You should not wait to clean it properly later on. Do what you must right away by taking a gentle cloth and putting it on the affected area to absorb the liquid. You can proceed with cleaning later on.
- Eliminate buildup of dirt: Even with regular vacuum cleaning, your rug will get some dust on it eventually. You can avoid the buildup of the dust particles by using a broom occasionally.
Now that you know how to clean a silk rug and take care of it, you can place it in your room without any worries!