Lamp Shade Cleaning Guide

By Perth Home Cleaners
Posted in House Cleaning
On February 7, 2025

Changing the colours of your light can completely shift and alter the atmosphere of a room, almost as much as a complete renovation would.

If you want warmer shades in your home, you should install yellow-coloured lights, these can create a warm and cosy atmosphere. If what you are after is brightness, white coloured light is the perfect solution for you.

Lampshades can also alter the mood and colour of a room, with them coming in different materials and many different shapes and designs. This lampshade cleaning guide covers all the important cleaning chemicals and procedures you should adopt when cleaning your lampshades.

Cleaning Fabric Lamp Shades

The first step to clean any kind of lampshade is to remove it. There is a high chance of damaging the material of your lampshade if the quality and intensity of the cleaning solution and chemical you are using are wrong. One thing you should be careful about is to know whether your lampshade is glued or stitched. If it is stitched you are good to go, but if it is glued, water could destroy its construction.

Here are a few steps which you can follow to clean your fabric lamp shade:

The first thing is to fill your sink with warm water, add some dish soap and dip your lampshade in it.
You can also use some baking soda to remove any yellow stains.
Let it rest for 10 minutes. Now use a toothbrush to add some baking soda to the lamp shade.
Thoroughly rinse the lamp shade with a generous amount of water to get rid of all the baking soda cleanser, dirt, and dust.

If your lamp shades are glued or are made of delicate fabrics (for example silk or linen) the best thing is to use a dry cloth to wipe off the dust. Then put some ivory soap on a wet cloth and scrub your lampshade with it. Then take a clean microfiber cloth to wipe all the dirt and stains from the inside and outside of your lampshade. However, always be careful to not wet the shade too much.

Cleaning Paper Lamp Shades

Many people run into trouble when cleaning a lamp shade made of paper, or any other non-fabric material. The main reason behind this is that you cannot wet these materials. Another problem is that if you frequently clean a paper material, its colour can fade.

Still, a lot of people prefer lamps with paper shades as you can dust off dirt easily. Whether you use a special vacuum machine or a microfiber cloth, both work great to get the dirt off. Start rubbing the cloth gently on the lamp shade from top to bottom and repeat this step 2 or 3 times. To get the best results you can use the brush attachment on your vacuum machine. It is important to stay careful so that you don’t damage any of the ribbons or laces that decorate your lamp shade.

Here a few steps you can follow if you want to reattach the glue seam on your paper lamp shades.

Prepare some glue in a preferably disposable dish (such as a paper plate)
Use a small and clean paintbrush, to dip into the glue and apply on the lampshade.
Apply this glue lightly in the glue line present on the shade.
Once your glue is tacky, start overlapping the corners to get a perfect seam.
You may use some paper clips or another suitable fastener at the upper and lower side of the seam.

Cleaning Your Glass Lamp Shades

People face trouble when cleaning glass lampshades due to the delicate nature of this material. But trust me, cleaning glass shades is the easiest of all and requires minimum effort. You can simply place your glass lampshade in the dishwasher along with other dishes and get it cleaned within minutes. If you don’t have this tool, you can simply make a warm solution of water and soap with some spoonfuls of vinegar. Spray it onto your glass lamp shade and then wipe clean to bring a quick shine.

Lampshades Galore

The amount of light coming from your lamp is affected by the power of its bulb, colour, and the type and neatness of the shade present on your lamp. If you want to get the most light, it is important to keep your lamp shades clean. Hopefully, this guide will be very beneficial if you are searching for an easy solution for your type of lampshade. The details presented in this guide will help you understand each step more thoroughly. But be careful about choosing the perfect chemical and method depending on the material of your lampshade.

If you want to ensure the regular dusting, maintenance and cleaning of your lampshades you can hire regular cleaning services from Perth Home Cleaners.