How To Clean All Types of Curtains

I've had my eye on some new curtains for our front room.  They are gorgeous and will add just the right touch to this part of my home.  As much as we love our curtains, sometimes knowing how to care for them can be a mystery. How often should you be cleaning curtains? How do you protect delicate sheers? Can you use a washing machine? Cleaning curtains doesn't have to be difficult...these tips will help.

Weekly Care

For weekly care, use the upholstery brush attachment on your vacuum cleaner to vacuum heavier weight curtains. For light weight curtains, an occasional shaking is more practical to protect delicate fabric. When cleaning the curtains weekly, be on the lookout for stains or areas that need more in depth care. The tops of the curtains along the rod are especially susceptible to dust accumulation.  You can use a long handled dusting toolto gently brush and dust the area or the wand of your vacuum cleaner.

Drying Curtains

Line drying or using a low setting on a clothes dryer will both work for washable curtains. Remove the curtains from the dryer before they are 100% dry. Aim to remove them when they are about 95% dry. Over drying will set wrinkles, but removing while still slightly damp, make ironing curtains a super simple job. A quick ironing will be all that is needed before replacing your curtain hardware, and rehanging your curtains.

Dry Cleaning

Some curtains may have a label that reads dry clean only.  Doing anything other than dry cleaning is done at your own risk.  Some fabrics may bleed and fade if they aren't properly dry cleaned.  Others may shrink or pill on the fabric surface.  If you do decide to try to machine or hand wash dry clean only curtains, use a very mild detergent and a gentle cycle.  Be sure not to wash anything else with them in the cycle as they may not be colorfast. Hang to dry and only resort to a light ironing if absolutely necessary.  You may be able to iron curtains with a thin white towel, tee shirt, or  blanket in between the curtains and the iron.  When in doubt, follow the directions on the curtains themselves.

Steam Cleaning

Some steam cleaners have attachments to steam upholstery or curtains.  Be aware, though, that only machine washable curtains will hold up to steam treatment.  For me, I get better results washing machine washable curtains than steaming them.  It's not that much more trouble to take them down and wash them, and I feel they come out a lot more clean.  If you do want to try steam cleaning, be sure that your curtains are in fact machine washable before proceeding.

What You Need To Clean Curtains

• Vacuum cleaner
• Upholstery Attachment
• Laundry Detergent
• Washing Machine/Hand washing supplies
• Clothes Dryer/Clothesline
• Dry Cleaners for Dry Clean Only curtains.

Choosing the Best Sofa Upholstery

A new sofa or chair can be a major investment for many families. If that is true of your family, you may be worried that no upholstery will stand up to the tornado that is your son or daughter. Never fear! Here are some tips on upholstery fabric that will guide you to the right choice for your family.

• Durability. Fabrics with a higher thread count (the number of threads per square inch) and a tighter weave are more durable that those with looser weaves. They will stand up the hard abuse that your family dishes out!

• Cleaning. Fabrics made of natural fibers will absorb stains more quickly than man-made fabrics, but they will clean up better. Fabrics made with man-made fibers are soil-resistant but don’t clean up as well (those popsicle stains may be difficult to remove!)Look st the fabric tag: the tag should say S for solvent cleaning, W for water-based cleaning and S-W if both can be used.

• Wear. Highly-textured fabrics, such as tweeds, can fray easily when they get excessive use. The fabrics which stand up best to fraying are flat weaves such as cottons or jacquards.
• Stains. Light colors show soil, while dark colors show debris and dirt. Why not try a medium color with a pattern? Patterns can hide a multitude of forgotten chocolate chips!

Remember after you bring that new sofa or chair home, rotate the cushions every month and vacuum them regularly. It will add years to the life of your sofa. And most of all, enjoy!

Before & After: Painted Upholstery Chair Makeover

Materials needed:
1 Quart of latex satin paint in the color of your choice (I just got word that though Valspar called it latex, this paint is acrylic.  It’s also good to note that others have tried the whole process with just latex, just acrylic craft paints and even Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  It does not seem to matter.)
1 Spray bottle full of water, ready for refills
1 Paint brush
Fabric medium (equal to the amount of paint that you use)
Acrylic craft paint in the color of your choice (It should match the color of the Latex paint should you want to use my exact method and do the final coat in acrylic craft paint.)
Sand paper in super fine grit

Note:  The fabric medium is white and could lighten your paint color a bit.

Tutorial:
1.  Make sure the chair is wiped free of dust and debris.  Clean it well.

2.  Mix 1:1 parts of paint and fabric medium.

I used Ocean Soul by Valspar.  Below is a more accurate depiction of the color used:

Below is the textile medium that I used.  It is by Delta Ceramcoat and I purchased it in 8 ounce containers at Michael’s.

Fabric medium keeps the fabric from getting too hard.   Note:  Some fabric mediums require that you place an iron briefly on the fabric (or a hair dryer) after the paint dries.

I didn’t use much paint – maybe 1/8 of the quart.  I mixed mine in an old cup.  A little goes a long way in this phase, as it will be very watered down.

This will be your base coat.

3.  Water that paint/ textile medium mixture down.   Mix in about 1/2 the amount of water as paint.  (1 part water to 2 parts paint.)  Stir.   It should look more like a stain than a paint.

4.  Remove all seat cushions that are not attached from the chair or other furniture item.

5.  Spritz (fine mist) the part of the chair you will start with first with water.  I started on the seat cushion first.  Don’t be shy, you want the fabric wet.  Rub the water into the fabric.

Sorry about the pics!  I was new to blogging when I posted this!

6.  Brush on the paint slowly while blending the best you can.  Work the paint into the fabric.   Don’t be afraid to use your hands.  Always make your last stroke with the grain so the fabric lays in the right direction as it dries.

Note:  I tried it on a pillow first.  If you have a pillow or if there is an underside of a cushion, start there and see how it goes.

The watered down coats should give you light coverage, almost like a stain.  It will also act as a primer.

7.  Do two coats this way.   Each should be VERY thin.  Water it down even more if you have to.  Let the first one dry fully before beginning the second.  I let mine dry overnight.

It will look worse before better.  This is after one coat.

8.  Don’t worry, your arm won’t fall off.  It is tiring, though, so you won’t mind resting between coats.

9.  Sand any particularly rough parts.   Sand lightly with a fine grit sandpaper.  In the direction of the grain, if possible.

10.  Once my chair was dry, I chose to spray painted the legs in a glossy white.

Below is the chair before the legs were painted, with two coats of paint on the upholstery.

After the legs were painted.

11.  Now, it’s time for a final coat using the acrylic paint.  Mix it 1:1 with the fabric medium, like you did with the latex paint.

Note:  It is not necessary to do an acrylic coat.  You can use latex if you prefer.  I just got word that the Valspar paint that I used is acrylic.  However, most say that acrylic has more pigment.  Either way, you want a third coat and you will want this coat a little thicker.  

I mixed this in a cup as well.  But, this time, be more generous with the paint and dilute it less.  I’d do a full cup of paint, this size. (See below.)

Add just a few thimbles of water to dilute it a little.

I had to mix my own color since the acrylic paints didn’t come in the color I wanted.

Spray the fabric with water again, just like you did on the other two coats.  It simply helps it blend and go on more smoothly.

Paint this layer much more generously.  This will be the layer that will cover the chair more completely. Don’t glop it on, but be generous.  It should provide full coverage unlike the base coats.

12.  I thought my chair needed a little bling, so I added some nail head trim on the arms.  I got the spacing right by folding a piece of paper and taping it so as to laminate it.

Then, I simply hammered them in!  Nothing to it.

13.  Congrats, you have a new chair!