Advice needed for washing curtains

lab-lover

We are painting our sitting room and so its time to wash the curtains, never been washed before. They are ring top and are made of polyester with cotton lining.They dont have any washing instructions on them so i was going to get them dry cleaned, just come from local shop who will send them off but the man said they may shrink and it will cost £22 each,i have 2 windows in room, so i dont fancy pulling out £44 each time.

I am now thinking of shoving them in the washer on a 40 degree wash,has anybody tried this? cos i am worried about the rings going rusty.

Thanks xx

tanith

If it says they are polyester with cotton lining they may be alright to wash but by no means certain.. I had what I thought were cotton mix cream bedroom curtains and although they only shrank a tiny bit , they creased to hell and no amount of ironing ever got the creases out again.. I had to thrown them eventually...

Bambywamby

The cooler the wash the better, no extra spin and hang up as soon as they come out of the machine so they dont het super creased.

lab-lover

Thanks for that, havent gave a thought about creasing! Just had a look at curtains and believe it or not they havent even got a tag on them at all, but the lining is thin cotton with a thick polyester actual curtain.
Think i ll just wash them(wait for a really windy day) cross my fingers and see what happens. xx

moodykerry

Hi, I recently washed my curtains on a 40 degree wash and they shunk 6 inches :eek: Please be extra careful, the cooler the wash the better!

lab-lover

40 degrees is the coolest wash i have, 6 inches is a lot though. Appreciate the warning though. thanx

Pink.

Hi,

I'll second what moodykerry has said. I washed my bedroom curtains (100% cotton) yesterday. I've just ironed them and gone to hang them, only to find that they are at about six inches short.

Pink (who is frantically unpicking the hem)

Pink.

I just came across this thread which might help: Cleaning curtains

Pink

Churchmouse

I think just as important as the temperature is the amount of agitation in the wash. I have done mine on the delicates wash and been okay. My latest machine (about3 years old) has a handwash setting and that's even better. So if you go for it use the gentlest wash and lowest temperature you can.

whatatwit

I would try a cold wash, or maybe a wool cycle if your machine does one.
As long as there is plenty of room in the machine, it will clean them.

If you are unsure of the temp your washer doeas, go to a launderette, they will usually have a cold wash cycle. And you could then get both curtains in the washer together and any shrinkage should be the same.

lab-lover

Thanks all, will use the wool cycle/handwash cycle, trouble is now my washer is playing up,its adding time on for some reason!!