How to {Easily} Clean Silk Ties

I don't mind taking silk ties to the drycleaner; it only happens now and then (not bad for a husband who wears a tie 6 days a week), so $5 to have a tie cleaned is good value in my view. Unless the 'now and then' turns into 5 or 6 ties at once. Shannon Lush (author of the fabulous stain removal book 'Spotless') has a fantastic alternative to professionally dry cleaning silk ties. I discovered it on this radio interview. Shannon is a guru in Australia when it comes to stain removal. I thought that I would put her advice to the test (because if it didn't work I could still take them to the dry cleaner!).

So here are some of the ties that will be taking part in my DIY cleaning trial.

Most of the ties had small spot stains on them.

Except this one. These grease stains appeared after the tie was loaned to a friend who enjoyed a kebab while wearing it. A kebab that must have been very juicy!

This is what Shannon recommends:

1. Buy a bottle of cheap shampoo (the cheaper the better - go for a non branded product - to ensure that it contains little or no fruit oils).
2. Wash the tie in a solution of shampoo (just a little bit of shampoo!) and blood temperature water. If the tie has spot stains, dab a little shampoo on it and rub the stain.
3. Rinse the tie in blood heat water (the same temperature as it was washed in). This is the most important part - test the water temperature on the inside of your wrist. If you use cold water, the change in temperature can make the tie go wrinkly.
4. Lay it flat on a towel in the shade to dry (not in the wind - it will wrinkle!).

I laid my clean ties on a bath towel inside.

Look at how beautifully these ties cleaned up!

Look at that - no kebab juice!

If you need to iron the tie, put a clean cloth between the iron and the tie. I gave each of the ties I washed a gentle iron underneath a piece of white cloth.

Shannon highly recommends spraying silk ties with Scotchguard. Any food can then be wiped off with a paper towel.

I am impressed with the results. Cleaning silk ties at home is simple and easy!