Care Guide

A Persian-inspired silk rug at this level of craft is not fragile. It is precise. Understand what it needs and it will outlast everything else in the room.

Understanding Silk

Pure silk is fundamentally different from wool, cotton or synthetic fibres in ways that matter deeply for how you care for it. Silk is a natural protein fibre — the same material as your hair — which means it responds to its environment rather than resisting it. It breathes with humidity, shifts with light, and carries the memory of how it has been treated. Treat it well and it rewards you with a surface that improves with age. Treat it carelessly and the damage is permanent.

The good news is that caring for a Mizan silk rug correctly requires very little effort. It requires the right effort.

Daily & Weekly Care

Rotation Rotate your rug 180 degrees every six to twelve months. This ensures even wear across the surface and prevents one area from receiving disproportionate foot traffic or sunlight exposure. A rug that is rotated regularly will wear evenly across its entire surface for decades.

Sunlight Direct and prolonged sunlight is the single greatest threat to a silk rug's colour and fibre integrity. Pure silk will fade in direct sun over time — not immediately, but irreversibly. Position your rug away from south facing windows or use UV filtering window treatments in rooms with strong direct light. Indirect natural light is not only safe — it is how silk looks its best.

Foot Traffic Your Mizan rug is hand-knotted at 367 knots per square inch — a density that makes it extraordinarily durable for a textile of this refinement. Normal foot traffic in a residential setting will not damage it. What to avoid is grit and sharp debris tracked in from outside, which acts as an abrasive on the pile over time. A simple door mat at the room entrance eliminates this risk entirely.

Furniture Heavy furniture placed directly on a silk rug will compress the pile permanently over time. Use furniture cups or felt pads beneath legs to distribute the weight. If a piece of furniture must sit on the rug, reposition it slightly every few months to prevent permanent compression marks.

Vacuuming

Vacuum your silk rug regularly — but correctly. Incorrect vacuuming is one of the most common causes of avoidable damage to fine rugs.

Do:

• Use a vacuum on its lowest suction setting
• Vacuum in the direction of the pile — run your hand across the surface to find which direction the fibres lie flat, then vacuum with that direction
• Vacuum the back of the rug occasionally — lay it face down on a clean hard floor and vacuum the backing to remove settled dust and debris

Do not:

• Use a beater bar or rotating brush attachment — this pulls and breaks silk fibres
• Vacuum against the pile direction — this stresses the knots at their base
• Vacuum the fringe with the main vacuum head — use a soft brush attachment on the fringe only or leave it entirely

Spills & Stains

Act immediately. The longer a spill sits on silk the deeper it penetrates the fibre and the harder it becomes to remove without professional intervention.

For liquid spills:

• Blot immediately with a clean white cloth — never rub, always blot
• Work from the outside of the spill inward to prevent spreading
• Use cold water only on the affected area — warm or hot water sets certain stains permanently
• Blot dry thoroughly and allow to air dry completely before placing back in use
• Never use a hairdryer or apply direct heat to dry a wet silk rug

For solid or semi-solid spills:

• Remove the solid matter carefully with a spoon or blunt edge — lift it away from the surface rather than pressing it in
• Then follow the liquid spill process above with a clean damp cloth

What never to use on silk:

• Bleach or bleach-based cleaners — destroys the fibre permanently
• Alkaline cleaning products — silk is an acid fibre and alkaline products cause irreversible damage
• Commercial carpet cleaning sprays — formulated for synthetic fibres not silk
• Excessive water — over-wetting a silk rug can cause the foundation fibres to shrink and distort the entire piece

Professional Cleaning

Your Mizan rug requires professional wet cleaning only by a specialist in hand-knotted Oriental silk rugs.

Home washing of any kind — including hand washing, machine washing or DIY wet cleaning — is not recommended and may cause irreversible damage to the silk pile, foundation fibres and natural dyes. No matter how gentle the method or how mild the product, home washing carries risks that no Mizan piece should be subjected to.

Professional wet cleaning by a qualified Oriental rug specialist every three to five years will remove deeply settled dust, restore the silk's natural lustre and extend the life of your piece indefinitely. This is not a burden — it is an investment in something made to last generations.

What to look for in a professional cleaner:

• Specific experience with hand-knotted Oriental silk rugs — not general carpet cleaners
• Hand washing process in a controlled environment — not machine cleaning
• Natural drying away from direct heat — not tumble or forced air drying
• References or reviews from clients with comparable pieces

Ask specifically whether they have cleaned pure silk rugs at fine knot counts before entrusting your piece to them. A cleaner who hesitates at that question is not the right cleaner for your Mizan rug.

If you need a recommendation for a qualified Oriental rug cleaning specialist in your area, contact us at concierge@mizanrugs.co.uk and we will assist you personally.

Storage

If your rug needs to be stored for any period:

• Have it professionally cleaned before storage — never store a soiled rug as dirt and organic matter cause fibre degradation over time
• Roll it — never fold it. Folding creates permanent crease lines in silk that cannot be removed
• Roll it pile inward around an acid-free tube if storing for extended periods
• Wrap in breathable cotton or muslin — never plastic, which traps moisture and encourages mould
• Store in a cool, dry, dark environment with stable temperature and humidity
• Check it every three to six months during extended storage

Rug Underlay

A quality non-slip underlay beneath your Mizan rug serves three purposes simultaneously — it prevents movement on hard floors, protects the rug's foundation fibres from abrasion against the floor surface, and provides slight cushioning that makes the rug more comfortable underfoot while reducing pile compression over time.

Use a natural rubber or felt underlay cut slightly smaller than the rug on all sides. Avoid PVC underlays which can react with silk fibres over time and cause discolouration on the back of the rug.

A Final Note

The rugs in the Mizan collection were made to last generations. The craft that produced them has been tested by centuries of use in some of the most demanding environments in the world. They do not need to be treated as museum objects — they need to be lived with, which is what they were made for. The care guidance above is not a burden. It is simply the knowledge that allows something made to last a lifetime to do exactly that.

For any questions about caring for your Mizan rug contact us at concierge@mizanrugs.co.uk — no question is too small when the piece matters this much.

Mizan. Where every knot finds its place.