Silk Carpet Cleaning
A silk carpet can be a very decorative investment in your home. Whether it was a souvenir from a trip to China or a must-have purchase at an estate sale, you’ll want to ensure that it lasts for a very long time. One of the best ways to ensure your silk carpet remains as nice as the day you bought it is by cleaning it on a regular basis. Depending upon the traffic level, you’ll want to wash it every six months to a year. This will ensure that dirt and dust are off the carpet, leaving it in excellent condition for a long time.
Many silk rugs look like silk but really aren’t. Before you go to get your silk carpet cleaning done, you should confirm that you actually have a silk rug and not an artificial silk rug. Knowing this will ensure that your rug is properly cleaned, no matter the outcome.
To test for a silk rug, you can do the following:
- Burn a fringe. If the ash is black and crispy, it’s silk
- Rub it vigorously against your palm. It it’s warm, it’s silk
Now that you’ve determined that your rug is in fact real silk, you can start to find out how to clean it.
The Delicacies of Silk Carpet Cleaning
Silk carpet is a very luxurious item and should be treated as such. This means that the cleaning can’t sustain being thrown into a washing machine or being pushed under a shampoo machine. It will need to be dry cleaned using a dry foam or powder as even a little bit of water could potentially stain the carpet. You’ll also want to avoid high heat so that fibers don’t burn, causing discoloration marks across the carpet.
Silk carpet cleaning needs to be dry, low heat and gentle above all else. Spot treating stains immediately will prevent the rug or carpet from showing age before its time as well.
Options for Silk Carpet Cleaning
You’ll need to get your silk carpet cleaning done somehow and luckily you have a few options to choose from.
You may want to save the money and opt to clean your silk carpet on your own. This is perfectly okay as long as you don’t use harsh chemicals and choose a very dry option. One such method is the Dryel home kit. It is kind of like dry cleaning for your dryer. If your rug is really large, however, this isn’t something that will work.
Your other option is to have a company clean the silk carpet for you. Some may come to your house and clean it in front of you, while others will take it back to their facility. Inquiring around to some local companies will ensure that you find one that fits what you want. The companies that require the carpet to go to their facility will often offer free pickup and delivery, so as long as you don’t mind being away from your silk carpet for up to a week, you’ll find this to be the easiest method.
