There are certain fabrics that can give your home a luxurious and glamorous finish.

Silk is certainly a fabulous choice for adding an elegant touch to your home but it is the most practical?

With faux-silk materials also available on the market, which one is the better choice for your home? Take a look through the pros and cons of each before you make your decision…

Real Silk

Pros

• Shines and shimmers – the fabric catches the light beautifully and will create a  gorgeous, rippling effect at your window
• Rich, luxurious texture – smooth to the touch, real silk has a delicate yet recognisable texture
• Full and sumptuous – give your window a striking depth with this  full and fabulous fabric
• Dry Cleanable – if you accidentally splat or splutter anything onto your blinds or curtains, you can simply take them to the dry cleaners who will clean them with expert care

Cons

• Low durability – if you’ve got children or pets who are likely to pull, tug and grab a lot, the fabric can become damaged and worn
• Prone to staining – although you’re not likely to throw liquids or food around, if anything does hit the silk, you’ll need to move quickly to remove it otherwise you could be left with an unsightly stain
• Sunlight damages – if the front of the silk is exposed to direct sunlight, it can fade quite quickly and appear patchy and uneven
• Cost – due to being s luxury material, real silk does come with quite a hefty price tag

Faux Silk

Pros

• Shiny and bright – guaranteed to shimmer in the light and create a wonderful shining effect at your window
• Affordable – faux silk is available at a much cheaper cost than it’s real silk counterpart, allowing you to achieve the same striking effect for a more affordable price
• Extremely durable – stronger and more robust than real silk, you can take them down and wash them then iron them before rehanging if you need to
• Gorgeously glamorous – thick and full, this shining fabric simply oozes luxury and will add an elegant and glamorous finish to your decor

Cons

• Wrinkling – the fabric can often wrinkle when it’s packaged or in transit, which means you may need to iron it before you hang your blinds/curtains
• Not as strong – being a synthetic fabric, it isn’t as strong as real silk and heavily perfumed chemicals and nail varnish remover should be kept away as they can severely damage the fabric
• Ages poorly – more susceptible to wear and tear, therefore can often look worn out as it ages

While both real and faux silk have the same appearance and a near identical texture, their strengths and weaknesses dictate which one is better to use in which situation.

If your room tends to get a lot of light, faux silk will be a better choice as the sun won’t damage the material. If you want to give your room an astonishing finish that it both full and shimmering, you really can’t beat real silk.

We hope that this has been helpful to you but if you have any further questions, please let us know in the comments and we’ll try our very best to get an answer for you.