Rust marks on silk
What changes on silk. Every effective home rust treatment is an acid, and acids weaken protein fibres. On silk the fibre fails before the rust does.
The method for silk
- 1Do not use lemon juice, and above all do not put silk in direct sun to dry it out.
- 2Rinse the area with cool water in case the deposit is loose surface rust rather than a bonded stain.
- 3If that does nothing, this is a professional job. Say so to the cleaner, because a rust stain treated as a general stain gets bleached and set.
- 4Meanwhile, remove whatever caused it. Rust on stored silk is almost always the hanger or a fastening plus damp.
What ruins it
No chlorine bleach, ever, on rust of any kind: it reacts with iron and sets the mark darker and permanently. On silk it also destroys the fibre.
The general case, and what it costs you
The general method, the detection notes and what this does to a garment's resale value are on the rust spots page.
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