All of the window treatments required to be maintained the right way. That’s because keeping your window coverings clean will help keep the rest of your house dust-free and well-maintained. And this upkeep also involves when you should clean your drapes or curtains as well as how to go about doing so.
Probably the most frequently forgotten objects in everyone’s cleaning routine are drapes or curtains. After all, it may be difficult to spot any stains or dirt if they are a dark color or made of custom fabric.
And since cleaning your curtains is much more likely to appear as a major task, we have got some advice and product recommendations that will help you get done with the maintenance conveniently.
How to Clean Your Curtains Thoroughly
Your curtains will require a deep cleaning every three to six months even with routine vacuuming. This generally depends on how dusty your home typically is, as well as any other occasional problems (accidents) taking place.
If there are too many curtains that are to be cleaned, you may want to alternate the cleaning plan per floor or room. If your home has two stories, for instance, you might want to deep clean the downstairs curtains in the spring and the upstairs ones in the fall.
You can thoroughly clean your curtains in a variety of methods. If your window coverings can only be dry cleaned, you can do it yourself or you may hire a professional agency to do it. Before performing a deep clean. You should always abide by their guidelines to avoid harming your window coverings. Before deep cleaning your drapes, you should also think about the following:
- What materials do they consist of?
- Do they have any additional embellishments/accessories, such as embroidery, beading, lace, fringe, etc.?
- Are they machine washable according to the tag?
- Are they big enough to fit in your washing machine without becoming ruined?
- If you feel comfortable washing your hands, do you have enough room to do so?
You should hire professionals if your curtains are thick, made of delicate materials, feature decorations, or just aren’t very obviously washable. Nevertheless, there are a few approaches you may take if you’d prefer to do it yourself, depending on the curtains options you have.
Take Down the Curtains or Drapes from the Window
The curtains or drapes must first be taken out of the window frames and laid flat before you do anything else. You should now be able to clearly understand the situation you are in. Consider opening the window first if you believe the drapes or curtains are too dusty so that the extra dirt, dust, or debris doesn’t face you. Prior to beginning a thorough cleaning of your drapes and curtains, make sure to clean your windows thoroughly as well.
To reduce the irritants you breathe in while performing this procedure, it is preferable if you wear a mask. Last but not least, don’t forget to take off all the window treatment hardware, including hooks, weights, and poles. You can then concentrate on cleaning the fabric itself.
✅Related: How to hang curtains again as interior designers do?
Checking the Manufacturer’s Label
Now, before you start with the real deep cleaning process, you have to be sure that the fabric can handle what you’re going to perform. Checking the manufacturer’s label will help you with this.
You should be able to determine from this label if specific washing techniques can harm the fabric or not. There should be warnings that say you shouldn’t machine wash or dry the fabric, for instance. If the product doesn’t have a manufacturer’s label, you can check the product description by researching it online. However, your best option is to leave it to expert curtain fixing services if there is truly no information available.
Use a Vacuum or a Dryer to Remove Dust and Debris.
After confirming that your drapes or curtains can withstand your intended cleaning techniques, the following action is to clear the fabric of any extra dust and debris. For this action, you have two choices:
Dryer: All you need to do is run it through your dryer if you have one. Make sure the cycle is set to no heat, as using heat could harm the fabric’s fibers.
Vacuum: To use a vacuum, simply run it a couple of times across the fabric.
One of the most effective cleaning advice for curtains is to remove excess dust and dirt before washing the fabric with water and detergent. If none of these tools are available to you or the manufacturer’s label forbids it, you can manually shake the fabric outside of your house or in any open space.
Machine or Hand Washing
You should be able to wash the curtains and drapes without creating a mess in your laundry room once the extra debris has been removed. Additionally, you have two choices for this step:
Machine Wash: It’s obvious that using a washing machine is a simpler choice. You save both time and labor, and the cleaning is usually done more thoroughly. Check the label to see if the fabric can be machine-washed. If you decide to go with this strategy, make sure the water is cold and that the machine is on a mild cycle because heat can harm the fabric. Remove the curtain or drape as soon as the cycle is finished because if you wait a while, it’s likely to cause wrinkling of the fabric.
Hand Wash: If the fabric cannot be washed in a machine, your only option is to hand wash the drapes. Typically, this is true with cotton, sheer, and woolen drapes or curtains.
As always, wash the fabric in cold water only. The best solution for the cleaner choice is to make use of dish detergent. Place one curtain or drape at a time and give them each about 10 minutes to soak before removing them. For every panel, you need to replace the water. Make sure to rotate it while rinsing to get rid of the particles. If it appears that there is still dirt and dust in the cloth, repeat the rinsing procedure. Make sure to proceed carefully throughout.
Dry the Fabric and Curtains in the Air
The last step is to air-dry your curtains and drapes once they have been cleaned of dirt and grime. The term air-dry refers to a drying technique where the wet object is left in the open. In other words, since they can result in damage and shrinkage, you won’t be utilizing a dryer or any other device to speed up the process. After one to two days, the curtain panels should be dry.
Conclusion
Be aware that freshly laundered draperies and curtains are more prone to dust and debris since there is so much surface area for them to adhere to. Because of this, after thoroughly cleaning your window panels, you need to upkeep them by performing maintenance procedures regularly. Cleaning your window frames can also be helpful because they have probably gathered a lot of dust over time, just like your curtains and drapes have, and therefore doing so will help keep the curtains in a well-maintained condition. Hoping for this piece of writing to be ideally helpful for you regarding a DIY curtain cleanup.