Vacuuming your carpets and polishing the furniture are jobs that are often carried out on a weekly basis – but it’s easy to overlook the curtains! Poor curtain care allows dust to be attracted and smells to be absorbed, often resulting in allergies from pollen and pet hair.
Smoke particles can be trapped in curtain fabrics, and salty sea air can also affect the curtain material. How often should you wash your curtains? Find out more here…
Keep Your Curtains Clean
Every six months is the recommended time frame for giving your curtains a wash, although if you’ve noticed unpleasant odours or discolouration you may choose to do this more often.
Bear in mind that over time curtain fibres may rot so cleaning them is a much less expensive way than having to replace them. Cleaning your curtains on a regular basis will help to keep your entire house fresh and hygienic.
If someone in your household suffers from allergies or is hypersensitive to dust then you may need to increase curtain washing to every one to two months. Inhaling compounds produced by spores can be toxic and induce a range of health problems such as:
- Breathing difficulties
- Sinus infections
- Bronchitis
- Migraines
- Sore throats and runny noses
- Joint pain and inflammation
If your curtain fabric is hard-wearing and in a dark colour washing can be less frequent whereas a delicate pastel fabric that shows the dirt may need to be washed every three months.
Hand Washing and Machine Washing
Washing your curtains needn’t be a chore if you follow a few simple guidelines. Look at how to clean curtains here…
- Take out all curtain hooks and loosen the heading tape
- Shake the curtains to remove excess dust
- If washing by hand pre-soak in cold water
- Ensure the detergent is completely dissolved before immersing the curtains
- Don’t rub or wring the curtains and rinse thoroughly
- Squeeze out as much water as possible
- Follow up with a short washing machine spin
- If curtains are fully machine washable use a programme for delicates
- A fabric conditioner will help reduce friction between fibres, creating less static cling
- Before re-hanging your curtains dust and clean the tracks and sills – and wash the windows
Drying and Ironing
Dry curtains outside if at all possible, but bring them in when still a little damp as this makes ironing so much easier. Position each curtain on the ironing board lengthways on the wrong side – stretching the fabric gently as you go. Hanging the curtains whilst still slightly damp will make sure they drop to the right length.
Dry Cleaning
Dry cleaning curtains can be easily done professionally – particularly if your curtains are large and heavy, or made from materials such as velvet, chenille, silk, or wool that can’t be washed due to a shrinkage factor of these delicate fibres.
Custom made curtains with embroideries need special care as the use of hot water, detergent and the constant rubbing action of the washing machine can easily cause damage.
Dry cleaning uses a chemical to clean the curtains without needing water which may be absorbed by the fabric and destroy the fibres. Cleaning solvents work by washing the curtains and then the solvent is recovered by an extractor so that it doesn’t evaporate into the air and cause pollution. This recovered solvent can then be re-used.
Prices for cleaning your curtains is dependent on the type and thickness of your textiles, and a pre-clean inspection will be necessary.
You may prefer to clean your curtains at home by washing one panel at a time in the washing machine using cold water on a gentle cycle – remove the panel immediately to keep the lining from wrinkling and lay the curtain flat to dry.
Call in the Experts
Why not make the rest of your house match your newly cleaned curtains? A trusted domestic cleaning company will not only refresh your carpet but will take care of your rugs and upholstery too.
Every room will be comprehensively cleaned by trained domestic house cleaners ensuring that carpets are cleaned with hot water extraction methods that kill 99.99% of all known germs. All cleaning solutions are safe for families, pets and the environment.