Silk should be washed in much the same way as wool. While it is not so strongly affected by soaps and alkalis as is wool, its gloss is destroyed by the use of strong cleansing agents. The delicacy of the fiber makes hard rubbing impossible, for it breaks the fibers and destroys not only their durability but also their silkiness. In wringing silk, it should be placed between dry towels or heavy cloths and put through a loosely adjusted wringer. It should be ironed on the wrong side while still damp, with a moderately hot iron. Silk is very easily scorched and, if the iron is too hot, the silk will be stiff. The iron should be pushed back and forth with a wriggling motion to give softness and pliability to the silk. It is often best to iron silk under a cloth; to do so gives less body and a softer finish. Ribbons, if of good quality, may be very successfully washed. To iron them they should be covered with a dry cloth and the iron moved frequently back and forth over the surface of the cloth above them.