Care & maintenance

A soft, dry cloth is usually all it needs. Avoid anything abrasive, household polish or solvents, and never use anything wet on a fabric shade. Always switch the light off and let it cool before handling.

That covers almost every piece we make.

There's no fixed schedule. In most rooms, every few weeks is plenty. Perforated and woven shades are the exception — a little dust can soften the pattern of light they cast long before it becomes visible, so they're worth a little more attention.

Direct sunlight fades silk and sari fabric faster than anything else. Steam and damp will lift a leather binding and mark a wooden or stone base. And nothing we make should be cleaned with a damp cloth.

Depending on the piece, the finish may be antique brass, antique copper or brass. The exact finish is always named on the product page.

Each is applied and hand-worked, so no two pieces are quite identical. Variations in tone and texture are part of the finish, not imperfections to be corrected.

Because the finish sits on the surface, it should be cleaned, never polished. That distinction is the key to caring for it.

No — to any of it. This is the one instruction that really matters. Metal polish is mildly abrasive, and an applied finish is precisely what that abrasion can remove. Once it's gone, it cannot simply be put back, and the damage isn't reversible.

A soft, dry microfibre cloth is all a brass or copper finish needs. No water, household cleaners or solvents.

A dry cloth lifts them. Fingerprints sit on the surface, so anything stronger is treating the finish rather than the mark.

Not the finish itself. Our antique finishes are applied with their depth and variation already built in, and are designed to stay that way.

What does change is the life around them: brass fittings and chains darken with handling, leather marks, and silk softens. These natural changes are part of how the piece ages.

A dry cloth. Blackened, antique and painted finishes sit on the surface of the metal rather than through it, so anything abrasive will take them off. No polish, no solvent, nothing wet left standing.

Photograph it and email us before you do anything to it. Some finishes can be touched in and some cannot, and it is far easier for us to put right something that has not already been repaired at home.

Use a soft, dry brush or a lint roller, gently. Never use a damp cloth or cleaning product. Silk can mark permanently when wet, while vintage sari fabrics are often more delicate than they appear.

Keep them out of direct sunlight. A shade in a south-facing window will visibly shift within a year, and the deep colours go first. This is true of every silk shade made anywhere, not only ours.

It does — and that's part of their character. Silk and sari fabrics both reflect and transmit light, so the colour you see in daylight can transform when the light is switched on, changing the atmosphere of the room.

Do not cut it and do not pull it. Send us a photograph. Vintage textile behaves differently from new and we would rather look first.

A soft brush, or a vacuum on its lowest setting with a brush head held slightly away from the surface. Woven shades hold more dust than they show.

Natural fibres respond to their surroundings. Direct heat from a radiator or prolonged exposure to steam can cause them to loosen over time. In a normal room, they will remain stable for years.

A soft, dry cloth is all it needs. Because leather on a lighting piece sits close to a heat source, avoid furniture conditioners — they can soften the hide and cause it to darken unevenly with the warmth of the bulb.

Expected, and generally an improvement. Leather is one of the materials in the range that genuinely does take on the marks of use.

Dry cloth. No polish, no wax, nothing wet. Timber stays porous under its finish, so standing water leaves a mark that does not lift.

Some bases are timber finished to resemble distressed stone — the Loire is one example. It is still wood, so treat it as wood: a dry cloth only, with no water or wax.

It may look like stone, but it does not behave like it.

Do not stand a glass or a vase on a wooden or stone base. It is the single most common way to a damaged product.

Solid timber naturally moves with changes in humidity. Mango, with its open grain, can show this more visibly. A fine line along the grain, particularly near a radiator or in direct sun, is usually the wood responding naturally rather than splitting.

Keep wooden bases away from direct heat and strong sunlight. If a line becomes wide enough to catch a fingernail, send us a photograph.

Most of our fixtures take E27. For perforated and woven shades — Halo, Kosen, Solstice — use a clear vintage-style filament LED: those pieces exist for the pattern they throw, and a frosted bulb erases it. Check the maximum wattage on the product page and stay under it. Bulbs are not included.

Switch off at the wall and let the bulb cool before removing it. For hanging lights, support the fitting with one hand so it doesn't swing on the flex.

Our lights can be dimmed using a dimmable LED bulb and a compatible dimmer switch. If the bulb flickers or buzzes when dimmed, it is usually a compatibility issue between the bulb and dimmer, rather than a fault with the fitting.

Installed by a Part P registered electrician, and mounted to a solid structural surface rather than plasterboard where the piece is heavy. Fitting a hardwired light yourself can invalidate both the warranty and your household insurance.

Switch it off at the wall and email us at info@studioscratch.uk with a photograph. Do not keep using it.

If your piece arrives damaged, please photograph it and email us as soon as possible. This helps us make a claim with the courier, but it does not affect your consumer rights.
We’ll arrange a replacement or refund and cover the return postage.

Email us with your order number, a photograph and a brief description of the fault. Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 are not affected by anything on this page.

Keep the original packaging if you can. If not, remove the shade and bulb, wrap the body and shade separately, and never place anything heavy on a fabric shade.