Is That Real Silk Or Imitation Silk?

When it comes to area rugs, there is actually a lot involved in how they are made, the materials used and how they are properly maintained. For professionals in the industry, these rug topics are all things that we are very familiar with and well versed in. As a company, we are always here to help with any of your questions. We actually encourage customer inquiries. It is our belief that an informed customer is a happy customer! As a rug owner, you may want to know a bit about the rug you own. Our first bit of advice is always to check for a tag on the back of the rug. The tag will typically provide plenty of information about your rug. The tag will usually tell you where the rug was crafted, the type of rug it is, how it was crafted, the size of the rug and the fibers used in crafting it. This information is great to help with an understanding of what specific type of rug you have, as well as what the proper service and maintenance methods are. If there is no tag present, or you simply have more questions, you can always reach out to our staff at the Oriental Rug Cleaning Facility and we would be happy to help in any way that we can!

Silk is a material that is used to craft certain types of fine area rugs. Silk has a particular look and feel to it that will typically stand out immediately to a professional rug technician. However, these particularly distinctive tell tale signs may not be as noticeable to your average rug owner. There is a synthetic type of rug that is meant to replicate the look and feel of a natural, silk rug. A faux silk area rug is called a Viscose rug. Viscose rugs are purposely crafted to imitate a silk area rug and it can be tough to tell the difference between the two at times. Provided in this post will be some information to help you determine if your rug is natural silk, or a synthetic imitation.

Silk, Faux Soie, Art Silk, Coconut Silk, Bamboo Silk, Flax Silk, Banana Silk, Raw Silk, Hemp Silk, Mercerized Cotton and Rayon are all descriptive terms for silk fibers in any type of textile available to consumers these days. Rug owners beware! Often, many rugs that are labeled as “silk” that are machine made and available to consumers today are not actual silk that has been spun directly from silk worms. Instead of being actual silk, these faux silk rugs are more of a mix of inexpensive cellulosic type fibers that purposely are meant to trick and confuse the rug purchaser. The cellulosic, chemically treated fibers have a shorter than average life span and do not hold up well at all to standard, every day usage.

Any professional rug cleaning technician will know that extreme caution needs to be followed when cleaning these types of area rugs, whether they actually are genuine silk, or a synthetic imposter. Natural or faux silk rugs can often have a propensity to have dye transfer issues, as well as issues with the natural texture of the rug. Natural silk or faux silk area rugs always need to be groomed by hand while the rug is being dried. This helps to reset the full, plush surface pile.

One of the unfortunate issues with natural silk or synthetic look a likes is how easily damaged they are. If you have a mistake at home and a stain sets before you can get the rug to a professional for a cleaning service, the stain would more than likely not be able to be removed without performing permanent damage the the fibers. This is an extreme case involving these types of rugs, due to the delicacy of the fibers involved. When treating pre-existing stains on a silk or faux silk rug, the possibility of being unable to completely remove the stain should be kept in mind, with the goal of some signs of improvement being realistic.

It is highly recommended to never use any over the counter products when attempting to treat a stain on your silk or imitation silk rug. Over the counter products typically contain harsh chemicals that can cause more harm than good to the delicate fibers.

When the time comes to have a professional rug washing service performed, or even if you just have a few questions about your rug, never hesitate to reach out. We have friendly staff members standing by and ready to help!