Cleaning handmade curtains/blinds - not sure of fabric

spiddy100

It's March, the sun is out, and it's time for some spring cleaning!

We moved here three years ago and were left two pairs of curtains and several roman blinds which had been handmade by the previous owner. They are all in dire need of a good clean.

Trouble is I have no idea what the fabric is or whether it is washable. Added to which, I don't know how one would normally clean a roman blind - do you take it apart or just dunk the whole thing in the bath or what?

Any advice very welcome

mum2kathryn

Hi,

You could have a look at the thread I posted about curtains.

ttp://forums.monheysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=4499482#post4499482

I've just washed mine on a gentle cool wash inside a duvet cover and they've come out fine. Don't know about blinds though!

Niki

lil_me

http://ezinearticles.com/?Roman-Shades-Made-From-Fabric&id=66854

I think if you choose to wet wash any of them, be prepared incase they come out wrong and shrink etc

kittiwoz

If I was going to go to the trouble of making curtains I certainly wouldn't use a fabric that was either going to cost me a fortune in dry cleaning or shrink in the wash and ruin all my hard work and I would tend to assume that anyone else who handmade their own curtains would also be an OS money saver so they wouldn't either.

theblindman

All fabrics will shrink slightly when washed in water, this is fine if they are unlined, if the lining moves differently to the face fabric it will look awful. All expensive or cheap lined curtains should only be dry cleaned. In the longrun it is cheaper than replacing curtains so is a good money saver!!

spiddy100

Thanks all

I hadn't thought of vacuuming the blinds - have done that and it's made an enormous difference! Feel rather stupid and more than a little sluttish for never having done it before.....

I think I will take the plunge and wash the curtains in water (handwash I think, in the bath), they are not lined and not entirely to our taste anyway - we are planning to replace them at some point so I think I will take the risk. The fabric doesn't feel like an enormously expensive, easy to ruin type, but who knows