Curtains - Dry clean or wash them myself?

[Deleted User]

Hope this is the right board ...

I found a lovely pair of curtains (pale colour; fully lined) in a charity shop at the weekend. Perfect size for my bay window and only £5 - what a bargain! :j

Thing is that they are a little on the grubby side (not bad; just in need of a bit of a clean) and I'm wondering if anyone has an idea of how much they would cost to be cleaned, or whether there's an alternative I could use instead? Don't think they're machine washable (there's no label, but they're quite heavy).

Anyone any ideas?

jpscloud

If it's just the weight that's a problem and the material could stand washing in water, I'd do them in the bath with some handwashing liquid.

PS - nice find!

runnerbean17

My curtains say dry clean only too. I stuck them in the washing machine on a cool wash, that got all the kids grubby handmarks off and were fine

Pink.

Hi Corona,

This existing thread may help:

Curtains - Dry clean or wash them myself?

I'll merge your thread with that one later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

[Deleted User]

Thanks everyone for the response - also thanks Pink for the thread. I DID search for one, but obviously not very well ....:o

I mentioned this dilemma to my elderly neighbour this morning and she told me that she NEVER dry cleans anything - and gave me the following advice.

Start by vacuuming them whilst they're hanging up - particuarly the hems if they're full length. Then do a bit of gentle spot cleaning on anything that really can't be ignored. Then hang them out in the rain (so that they smell fresh) ! She then irons them well, whilst still just slightly damp, and then hangs them back up. She did, of course, say that curtains should be vacuumed regularly anyway.

All I can say is, her house looks pristine - including her curtains

Think I'll give this approach a go first (nothing to lose ??)

Northern_Princess

My OH accidently let the dog in earlier before he'd dried him off :eek: We have dry clean only curtains between the lounge and conservatory. The lining of the curtains is cream and now has a lovely big muddy mark on it Will it be ok to sponge with warm water? The lining is cotton type material. If anyone has advice on how to get rid of the muddy stain I'd really appreciate it.

NP x

k66

Let it dry then vacuum the area, only when you have done this hold a dry towel behind the area and gently damp sponge the right side of the curtain.

meritaten

Its often possible to 'brush' a mud stain out - let it dry thoroughly then use a fairly stiff brush and see if you can brush it out. If not then if possible try to hold the lining away from the curtain and gently sponge with warm water and detergent, or soap. then rinse it away with a clean sponge.

Northern_Princess

Thank you for your replies. I managed to brush a lot of it off, gently sponged it and am waiting on the curtain drying to sponge again as I think it'll need re-doing.

zippychick

ive merged this with our washing curtains thread

Zip