Some time ago, I heard or read somewhere that salt can be used to clean silk flowers. Really? I’d never tried it.
I’ve been working with a client whose dining room table has been full of stuff, including books, bills, unopened Christmas cards, tax documents. A few days ago, we made some serious progress and could see about half of its surface. Good timing, since family will soon visit for February school vacation week. I spotted a silk flower arrangement on the floor, under a lovely antique breakfront piece. It looked dusty. I told her about the salt cleaning method, adding that I’d never tried it.
There’s a low silk flower and foliage arrangement near my desk. Okay, time to try it. Timing is everything, though. Since I’d just washed the kitchen floor and didn’t want to clean up after myself, I carefully thought through the process. I pulled one of its stem sections, placed it in a clear plastic bag from the grocery store that had held some fruit or produce, then put that bag into another, similar bag. I then poured in some kosher salt, thinking that its size and relative coarseness might make it clean better than “regular” table salt. After tying off both bags, I held them in the sink and shook them vigorously.
Untying the bags and carefully lifting out the stem section, it had worked! The flower blossoms and foliage looked better than the rest of the arrangement. Some grains of salt remained on some of the stems. I carefully blew them off, thinking that a hair dryer would work better. Indeed, the whole cleaning process would be done better in another way – outside! That’s not realistic in Vermont in February, but it’s good to know that the cleaning “solution” really works.
I emailed my client. Will she try it? That’s to be determined.
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