Oily Stain On Silk

August 1, 2007 5:50 AM

How do I get a stain out of a silk tie?

About 3 months ago, I got some food on a cream silk tie and although I acted PDQ in removing the bulk of the spill, I now notice it has left a slight oily discolouring in two places.

Does anyone have any tips for cleaning silk ties that have worked for them in the past? I have an interview tomorrow and I really want to wear this particular tie!

posted by davehat to clothing, beauty, & fashion (11 answers total)

if you are in the UK (which I think you are by lookin at your profile) M&S and Next both sell little cloths for exactly these types of stains (stocked next to the ties funnily enough). I have used them before and they have worked for me.


Best of luck with the interview.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 6:09 AM on August 1, 2007

I had a grease-stained silk tie like that and took it to a local dry cleaner, who returned it looking like new. You can probably still take it in today and have it for tomorrow.
posted by pocams at 6:11 AM on August 1, 2007

Won't really help you, but for the record, in the US and especially New York, TieCrafters is the place to go for tie cleaning

http://tiecrafters.com/
posted by Jahaza at 6:21 AM on August 1, 2007

An aside: the best advice about stains came from my drycleaner: Never put anything on a stain--don't try to dab it out with water, or lemon juice, or vinegar, or anything else. Just leave it alone. When you put water (or anything else) on the stain, the fibers in the fabric absorb the water--and more of the stain--and make getting the stain out much more difficult.
posted by fandango_matt at 6:51 AM on August 1, 2007

I meant to add: Once an item is stained, just bring it directly to the drycleaners.
posted by fandango_matt at 6:52 AM on August 1, 2007

I have to get of first thing in the morning for the interview, so I've missed the dry clean window on this one.

I'm going to see what I can find out about ClanvidHorse's suggestion. Any idea what this thing is called in case I have to ask for it?
posted by davehat at 7:11 AM on August 1, 2007

Sorry Davehat, I have no idea what these little cloths are called. I am sure someone in M&S will be able to help you out.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 7:32 AM on August 1, 2007

Eh, I've tried many different dry cleaners, and they usually end up ruining the tie. They usually press it at something less than the perfect angle and ruin the texture.

I wear a tie every day, and am a bit of a messy eater, but I've found that blotting grease stains with some slightly soapy water and then blotting it to dry usually will take the stain out. The tie won't look quite as good as new, but it'll look a whole lot better than a dry cleaner would leave it looking.
posted by J-Train at 7:50 AM on August 1, 2007

Goo-gone.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 8:13 AM on August 1, 2007

I've used Tide wipes before. They even got out a bit of a set-in stain that had been there a few weeks.
posted by ijoyner at 1:56 PM on August 1, 2007

Tide to Go. Took that 2-week old sucker right off in 5 minutes. Amazing!
posted by ruwan at 3:02 PM on August 1, 2007