Clean Silk Lampshade
A Clean Silk Lampshade is really very easy to accomplish. Today many shades are silk and require cleaning on a regular basis.
Even if you do not have silk, it’s a good idea to keep your shades clean. Once you turn on the light, the lamp seems to become a magnet, attracting everything from spiders and bugs, to dust. Within a few weeks, it’s time to clean the shade.
The first steps are easy enough. We pull out the vacuum and remove all of the dust and webs from the shade. That seems to hold for a while, and then we’re back pulling out the vacuum, and redoing it again.
We can have a Clean Silk Lampshade if we keep up this process. However, it’s a very good idea to get them washed at least twice a year, if for no other reason than to keep the color bright.
What You Will Need
Bath tub
Water
Ivory soap flakes or
Ivory dish soap or
Wool-lite
Towels
Start Here
1. Fill the Bathtub with warm water, making sure the water is deep enough to cover the shade. Then add whichever soap mix you like into the water as it is being filled.
2. Add your lampshade to the mix, and get it completely wet. You can do this by raising and lowering the lampshade into the tub. As you continue to raise and lower the shade, the water will start to get very dirty.
3. A really Clean Silk Lampshade will require you to drain the water from the tub and refill, along with the soap you are using. Continue raising and lowering the shade until the water is clear.
4. Remove the shade to the towels and let the shade stand until it is completely dried.
5. Return the shade to the lamp, and enjoy, you’re done.
Some Good Ideas
This process can be repeated with just about any shade made of material that you
have in your home.
I had a client who used all white string shades throughout her home. Twice a year I would clean them by placing them into the tub, after filling it with hot water and liquid ivory soap, using a cup to rinse the shades until they were clean.
They were placed on top of towels for a day or two until completely dried, and then returned to the lamps.
The great thing about Ivory, back then, was that it contained a chemical that would turn anything white. The lampshades turned white when dried.
That all changed when clear dish cleaning liquid came into being.
In order to make clear dish cleaning liquid, they had to remove the chemical for whitening. I think that was a mistake.
If you have something other than material, like metal or wood, or possibly even glass, follow your manufacturer’s recommendations for cleaning.
A Clean Silk Lampshade is one of many Spring Cleaning Tips.
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