Curtains are an excellent feature in a home. They are attractive and serve as a strong statement piece in a house. When done right, they complement the house’s atmosphere with the right colors and patterns. Furthermore, curtains provide many functional benefits. This includes keeping sunlight at bay and creating some much needed privacy from the public.
However, curtains are constantly exposed to direct sunlight while also being large landing spots for dust particles. As such over time, they start to absorb bad odors, and facilitate the growth of mold, mildew, and dust termites. This can negatively impact the health of house’s inhabitants and should be addressed immediately.
Regular cleaning and maintenance is a must for curtains. However, curtains and drapes can be made from a whole range of different materials. Each of which require different cleaning and maintenance techniques. To help home owners, we have written this article to cover the cleaning methods for the most common curtain materials.
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Sheet or Lace Curtains
Sheet or lace are the most lightweight fabrics for curtains. While they lack in terms of sunlight blocking and noise reduction, they are favorable for the relatively easy maintenance needed. These lightweight curtains can easily be removed from their hooks and transferred to the washing area. To clean them, home owners can start by shaking off any debris before either machine washing or hand washing them.
Velvet Curtains
Generally, velvet curtains and drapes are dry-clean only, though some can be machine washed. To be sure you would need to check their label, or perform a colourfastness test. This test involves taking a piece of damp white colour cloth and repeatedly touch a hidden part of the curtain. If the colour starts to transfer to the cloth, then you should solely use dry cleaning methods.
Lined Curtains
Lined curtains are considered dry-clean only as machine washing can cause irreversible wrinkles. Even if their instructions indicate that machine washing can be used, only delicate cycles should be used. Ultimately, it would be better play safe and have them brought to your dry cleaner.
Polyester Curtains
Polyester curtains have little maintenance requirements. Their durable qualities allow them to be machine washed without being wrinkled. With the help of regular vacuuming or avoiding spills on them, you should not expect to have too much difficulty keeping them clean.
Rubber Backed Curtains
Rubber backed curtains retain heat better than other curtains and can be machine washed. However, when putting them into a washing machine, you should only use cold water and small amounts of liquid laundry detergent. Unfortunately, colourfastness is pretty common with this sort of curtains, as such you will need to research on the appropriate formulated detergent to be used.
Choosing Professional Curtain Cleaning Services
If you fall into one of the following categories:
- Are unsure what type of cleaning is suitable for your curtain material
- Find it difficult to take down or put up your heavy curtains
- Do not have the facilities to wash large curtains
- Have stubborn stains and dirt on your curtains
- Want to have a thorough cleaning of your curtains
You should consider employing the help of professional curtain cleaning Singapore services. For affordable sums, they will be able to take care of the entire “pick up – clean – re-hang” process for you.