Silk, Viscose and Sheen: Living With a Lustrous Rug

There is a particular moment when light falls across a lustrous rug and the whole design seems to shift and shimmer. It is one of the great pleasures of a fine interior. But sheen comes from specific fibres, and each behaves very differently in daily life. Understanding them is the difference between a rug you love for decades and one that disappoints within a year.

Silk

Silk is the original luxury fibre. It is remarkably strong for its fineness, takes dye brilliantly and allows extraordinarily detailed designs to be woven. It is also expensive, and rugs made wholly of silk are usually reserved for rooms with light foot traffic, where they can be admired as much as walked on. More often, silk is used as an accent within a wool rug, highlighting part of a pattern.

Viscose

Viscose is a fibre regenerated from plant cellulose, most often wood pulp. It is sometimes sold as "art silk" or "bamboo silk", which can be confusing: it is not silk, though it shares its sheen at a fraction of the price. Viscose is beautifully soft and glossy, but it has characteristics you should know about:

• It is weaker when wet. Spills should be blotted immediately and never scrubbed. Water can leave marks or cause discolouration.
• The pile crushes. Furniture feet and heavy traffic can leave lasting impressions.
• It shows footprints. Because the fibre reflects light, walking against the pile changes its appearance. Some people love this; others do not.

Blends

Many of the most practical lustrous rugs combine a sheen fibre with wool or a durable synthetic. The blend gives you the play of light with far more resilience underfoot. Always check the composition listed on the product page; it tells you far more than the word "silk" in a name. Our Silk Shadows designs show how much atmosphere a lustrous finish can bring to a room.

Where lustrous rugs belong

Bedrooms, formal sitting rooms and dressing rooms are ideal: places where feet are often bare and traffic is gentle. Hallways, kitchens and dining rooms are not. Lustrous rugs are at their best where the light is good, so position them to catch a window or a lamp.

Caring for sheen

• Vacuum gently, without a beater bar, and in the direction of the pile.
• Blot spills straight away with a dry white cloth. Never rub.
• Avoid home carpet shampoos and steam cleaners.
• Use a professional rug cleaner experienced in delicate fibres for any deep clean or serious stain.
• Rotate the rug regularly so wear and light exposure are even.

Our general guide to removing common rug stains is useful, but for viscose and silk, always err on the side of less water and more patience.

A decorator's note

A lustrous rug changes character as you walk around it, looking lighter from one side and deeper from the other. Before deciding on placement, view it from the doorway and from your usual seat. Many decorators orient the pile so that the richer, darker tone faces the main seating.