Hand-washed silk rug cleaning — Hereke, Qum, and antique Chinese silk, washed alone.
Silk rugs are the most delicate hand-knotted pieces. We wash silk individually with pH-balanced soap and temperature-controlled water — never alongside wool, never on a machine, never in a batch. For more than a decade, the Cohen family has hand-washed Hereke, Qum, Persian silk (Tabriz, Kashan, Isfahan silk), and antique Chinese silk. Pickup across Manhattan, the Hamptons, Westchester, Greenwich, and Stamford.
Hereke, Qum, antique Chinese — and every great silk weaving.
Each silk tradition has its own fiber, its own dye chemistry, its own foundation. We wash each one with the process appropriate to its construction.
Hereke
Turkish silk, the masterpiece. Imperial workshop weaving since 1843. Some pieces exceed 1,500 knots per square inch.
Qum
Persian silk, often more than 1,000 knots per square inch. Calligraphic, garden, and prayer designs in jewel tones.
Tabriz Silk
Northwest Iran. Workshop silks with central-medallion drawing and exceptional technical precision.
Kashan Silk
Classic medallion design rendered in silk. Harmonious palette of deep reds, navy, and ivory at fine knot count.
Isfahan Silk
Court-style atelier weaving. Fine silk on a silk foundation, up to 1,000 knots per square inch.
Antique Chinese Silk (Imperial)
Qing dynasty and earlier. Restrained palettes, dragon and phoenix iconography, exceptionally fragile dyes.
Antique Chinese Silk (Art Deco)
1920s and 1930s Peking weavings. Pastel grounds, French-influenced floral drawing, silk on silk or wool.
Antique Japanese Silk
Rare silk weavings from the Meiji and Taisho eras. Often combined with metallic thread; treatment is its own protocol.
Silk-on-Silk Foundation
Silk pile on a silk warp and weft. The most fragile construction in the rug world — washed in cool water only.
Silk Highlights on Wool Ground
Common on Nain, Isfahan, and finer Tabriz pieces. The silk highlights require their own treatment within the bath.
How a silk rug moves through our atelier.
Seven to fourteen days, calibrated to fiber, knot density, and dye chemistry.
Inspection.
Master artisan examines silk fiber, foundation, and dye stability. Antique Chinese silk gets its own protocol — the dyes are the most fragile in the rug world.
Washed alone.
pH-balanced soap, temperature-controlled water, cool throughout. Silk is never washed with wool, never in a batch, never on a machine. Every parameter is set by hand.
Slow flat drying.
Padded slatted frames in a temperature-controlled room, never tumbled. Hand-finished, wrapped, and returned home in better condition than the day it left.
Why silk is never washed with wool.
Silk fiber is 3 to 5 microns thick — finer than a human hair. Natural silk dyes are among the most fragile in the rug world. A Hereke or Qum silk may carry more than 1,500 knots per square inch on a silk-on-silk foundation. Wool and silk cannot share a bath: the wool's chemistry — warmer water, stronger soap, longer soak — will dull, felt, and dye-bleed silk on contact.
Machine-cleaning destroys silk permanently. A rotary brush splits the silk filaments. Dry-cleaning solvents destabilize the dyes and dull the lustre. We hand-wash silk alone, in cool water, on the gentlest soap chemistry, on its own schedule. It is the only process appropriate for a silk rug, and it is the only one we have ever used.
Where silk recovers its lustre.
Silk dries differently from wool. We dry silk flat on padded slatted frames, in a temperature-controlled room, over slow days — never tumbled, never hung. The pile recovers its lustre slowly and evenly. By the time the rug is wrapped to return home, it is in better condition than the day it left.
Us versus a standard cleaner.
Where the two paths diverge. Eight choices that separate an atelier from a cleaning service.
Cleaning Method
Horizon
Hand-washed by master artisans
Standard Cleaner
Rotary machine, generic chemicals
Pickup & Delivery
Horizon
Complimentary — by our team, in our truck
Standard Cleaner
Third-party courier (or your problem)
Antique & Modern Silk
Horizon
Conservation-grade, by hand
Standard Cleaner
Same process as everything else
Process Time
Horizon
7–14 days, properly done
Standard Cleaner
1–2 day machine ‘express’
Dye Stability Testing
Horizon
Tested before every wash
Standard Cleaner
Not tested — rugs lose color
Where Your Rug Is Cleaned
Horizon
Our family atelier, supervised
Standard Cleaner
Third-party wash plant
Restoration & Reweaving
Horizon
In-house, by hand
Standard Cleaner
Outsourced or refused
Inspection
Horizon
By hand, before any work begins
Standard Cleaner
Visual only, if at all
Ready to have your silk rug cared for by our atelier?
Where we pick up your silk rug.
Letters from across the Northeast.
A few of the rugs we've cared for — and the families who trusted us with them.
“They returned an heirloom Tabriz — the colors look exactly as my grandmother described them.”
“A 1920s Heriz I thought was beyond saving came back better than the day my parents bought it.”
“Our clients trust us with eight-figure homes. Horizon is the only atelier I send their rugs to.”
Questions, honestly answered.
What clients ask us before they hand over a rug — and how we answer.
How is a silk rug cleaned?
Why is silk washed alone, not with wool?
Hereke silk — does it get special treatment?
How long does silk cleaning take?
Antique Chinese silk — is it saveable?
Faded silk — is the color restorable?
Silk with moth damage — can it be treated?
Do you pick up silk rugs across Manhattan, the Hamptons, Westchester, Greenwich, and Stamford?
Where is silk actually washed?
How is silk rug cleaning priced?
How is a silk rug cleaned?
Why is silk washed alone, not with wool?
Hereke silk — does it get special treatment?
How long does silk cleaning take?
Do you pick up silk rugs across Manhattan, the Hamptons, Westchester, Greenwich, and Stamford?
Where is silk actually washed?
Antique Chinese silk — is it saveable?
Faded silk — is the color restorable?
Silk with moth damage — can it be treated?
How is silk rug cleaning priced?
More from Horizon.
Other ateliers, every service we offer, and the rest of our story — a few directions to explore.
Bring us your silk.
Hereke, Qum, Tabriz silk, Kashan silk, Isfahan silk, antique Chinese silk — whichever silk tradition you own, we wash alone, by hand, with the process appropriate to its construction. Complimentary pickup from Manhattan, the Hamptons, Westchester County, Greenwich, and Stamford.
By hand · By the Cohen family · By appointment