Carbon Tetrachloride
+1 Dry cleaners really are the best equipped people for the job of cleaning a silk tie. To me, the price is worth it.Yikes! Don't monkey with silk and washing...
I've had great luck with dry cleaners, frustrating as the price can be.
I would say dry clean only, and only with a dry cleaner that says they know how to do it. Even if cleaned, the pressing can mess up the tie. Once you have to have a tie cleaned, you stand a good chance of the tie never being the same.
That's a good point. Some dry cleaners are much better at cleaning ties than others. I've heard of this place, but have never used them:
http://tiecrafters.com/cleaning.html
I would say dry clean only, and only with a dry cleaner that says they know how to do it. Even if cleaned, the pressing can mess up the tie. Once you have to have a tie cleaned, you stand a good chance of the tie never being the same.