You spent more time than you care to admit this morning picking out the perfect outfit. At the center of your ensemble is that silk top you just bought after eyeing it for weeks. You're on the way to the office, coffee in hand, and ready to face whatever the day brings… uh oh... you spilled coffee all over yourself… OH S**T!

1. Wipe don’t press: Use a damp cloth or towel to gently wipe or blot the stain. Be careful not to apply too much pressure to the stained area, as this may cause the stain to set faster by pushing it further into the silk fibers.
    
2. Keep the garment away from heat and sunlight: After you're over your "oh s**t moment, the next thing to do is reduce the stains exposure to natural and artificial light and heat until you can get it to the dry cleaners. Ideally, you’d want to take the garment off as quickly as possible, because even your body heat can further set the stain. That said, if you’re in public, we recommend toughing it out until you find a suitable place to change into your second outfit choice. Once you’ve changed, the best thing you can do is hang the garment up. If that isn't possible, place it gently into a laundry bag and try to avoid allowing the stain to come in contact with the clean portion of the shirt or other garments.
    
3. Bring the garment to a professional cleaner: Silk isn’t something you want to attempt to clean at home. Cleaners use a variety of solvents to remove tough stains. These include specific tannin removers, vegetable based products, and hydrogen peroxide. When they have the right information, professional cleaners have an arsenal of tricks that can remove your stain to remove your stain without adding unnecessary heat, pressure, or detergents which can compromise the fabric of your garment. Professional cleaners, such as Rinse, have an arsenal of tricks. If you have a silk item with a stain, schedule a Rinse as soon as you can and we’ll take care of it.
    
4. Give your cleaner as much detail as possible: Information is power for your cleaner. It is critical for the cleaner to know what type of stain is on the garment -- in this case, it's coffee. Your dry cleaner removes stains based on what specific substance was introduced into the fabric. While it might seem like unnecessary information, the treatment is different if you spilled plain coffee vs. coffee with cream and sugar. Specifically, since creamers contain dairy and coffee alone does not. The cleaner would use a protein stain remover for the milk and vegetable tannin stain remover for the coffee. Even the slightest detail can help the cleaner remove the stain completely. The more specific you are about the source of the stain, the better chance the cleaner has to remove the stain entirely.
   
   Photo by Engin Akyurt from Pexels