Jul 16

How to Clean your Handmade Lampshade

You've created a beautiful handmade lampshade for your home, but how do you keep it looking its best?

In today's blog post, we'll delve into various techniques for cleaning different types of lampshades. Whether it's practical tips for hard and soft lampshade cleaning or methods for maintaining plastic, PVC, and glass ones, you'll discover how to thoroughly clean, remove stains, and even handle lampshade fringes.

Preparing Your Lampshade for Cleaning

Before embarking on cleaning your handmade lampshades, you must ensure that the bulb is switched off, allowing this time to cool. We suggest that you unplug any table lamps at the mains for safety reasons.

Cleaning the frame and bulb

An integral part of every lampshade, the frame and bulb can become dusty and gather pet hair and fluff. To clean, simply wipe down the frame with a dry micro fibre cloth and gently dust the bulb.

Removing your Lampshade for Cleaning

Dependant on the method of cleaning you're using for cleaning your lampshade will depend if you need to remove your lampshade or not. For example, blowing away the dust from fringing and the tops of lampshade for a table lampshade, warrants leaving the shade on the base, but if you need remove a mark with our Lampshade Cleaning Foam, we'd suggest taking the lampshade off the base.

If you're lampshade has a Duplex Ring and Shade Carrier, the shade should be easy to lift off, whereas if your lampshade has a utility fitting, then you'll need to unscrew the lamp holder.

For anything above a light dusting on a pendant light, we'd recommend removing the lampshade from the fitting, to prevent over reaching while cleaning.

Drum and Hard Lampshades

Lampshades made with either our Lampshade Making Kits or Rigid Shaped Frames and our Self Adhesive Lampshade Materials are known collectively as 'hard lampshades', with the most popular shape being a Drum Lampshade.

To clean a hard lampshade, start by vacuuming the top edge of the lampshade where dust collects, using a soft brush attachment, or a feather duster so to not scratch or damage the fabric. Our Lampshade Cleaning Foam Pack, which contains two handheld foams, is ideal for removing any light marks and for overall removal of dirt dust and pet hair from the outside of the lampshade.

For spot cleaning, simply turn the Lampshade Cleaning Foam onto its short edge and use the corner to target any marks.

To clean the inside of a hard or PVC lampshade, simply take a cloth, dampen with warm water, wring out excess water and gently wipe around the PVC, where possible avoiding contact with fabric at the top and bottom of the lampshade. We recommend removing the lampshade from the lamp base to do this.

Pleated and Gathered Soft Lampshades

Due to the nature of pleated and gathered lampshades, including our DIY Ribbon Lampshade, dust can easily accumulate in the folds. The best method to get into these difficult to reach areas is with a soft paint brush, to loosen the dust and dirt.

Pick up any debris with a lint roller, or gently blow away loosened dust with a hairdryer on a cool setting or if using a warmer setting, ensure you keep the hairdryer at least 20 - 30cm away from the lampshade to avoid scorching the fabric.

Another DIY method is to reverse wrap Paper Tape or masking tape around your hand and press this firmly onto the lampshade, to lift dust.

Cleaning Lampshade Trimming and Linings

Many soft shades, whether handmade or shop bought have either a lining or trimming or both! Dust and dirt can gather on these decorative and protective features but can be treated in the same way as a soft lampshade outer, as detailed above.

In addition, a hair dryer can be particularly useful for blowing the dust away from any trimming or fringing and we’d suggested for table lampshades it’s best to leave the lampshade on the base, making it easier to access.

Paper or Parchment Lampshades

Before starting to clean either Paper or Parchment Lampshades, to avoid oils or dirt transferring from your fingers, consider wearing protective gloves, such as our Painters Gloves . The delicate nature of both paper and parchment lampshade means that only dry cleaning methods should be used to clean this type of lampshades. If you have a Pleated Lampshade, a soft paint brush is ideal for loosening dust between the folds.

A dry micro fibre cloth is also ideal for removing dust, and our Lampshade Cleaning Foam can be used sparingly for any marks, although dependant on the age and condition of the lampshade, we suggest testing this first in a discreet area.

PVC, Plastic, and Glass Lampshades

For solid lampshades made of PVC, plastic, or glass, that don’t have any fabric elements, remove the lampshade from the table lamps or pendant lamp fitting, and pre clean using a Micro Fibre Cloth to get rid of any excess dust, then wash gently in washing-up liquid solution, before rinsing and air drying.

How to Spot Treat Stains on Lampshades

Soft Fabric lampshades can sometimes sustain more stubborn marks, that need ‘spot-treating’ focusing on wet cleaning one specific area, using mild detergent and a neutral covered cloth. We found this useful step by step guide on the Better Homes and Gardens website.

Quick Guide to Cleaning Lampshades by Material Type

Lampshade can be made from many different fabrics, and similar to cleaning clothes of they need different treatments. Here's our quick reference guide on what methods to use for which materials: