If you’ve been putting off cleaning your curtains and drapes you’re not the only one. This is a job that can feel daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! Let’s demystify how to clean curtains and drapes and add this to our spring cleaning this year. You’ll freshen up curtains and drapes, remove dust and be ready to fling those windows wide open.

Vacuum or Wash?

First of all you’ll want to check the care tag on your curtains and drapes and see what the recommend care is for your curtains or drapes.

Vacuum
If your vacuum cleaner has an upholstery/drapery tool, this is a great way to effectively clean curtains and drapes. This is also a great option for dry clean only drapes and curtains and will remove any dust and freshen up the window treatments.

How-to: Start at the top of your curtain and move from top to bottom and left to right, moving slowly to allow the drapery tool to effectively clean the fabric. Repeat if necessary.

If you don’t have a vacuum cleaner attachment but your drapes or curtains are dusty and they’re not washable, you can toss them in a cool dryer and fluff them up a bit to get the dust off and freshen them up. Take them outside first and give them a good shake to remove excess dust and then put them in the dryer on the ‘fluff’ or ‘air’ mode on cool for 15 minutes or so.

Launder
If your curtains or drapes are machine washable, start by shaking them out outside if they are dusty and then place them in the washing machine. Generally speaking, washing them on gentle and cold is going to be the best, safest way to go so you don’t get any shrinkage. You can see my favorite laundry products here.

Once they are clean, place them in the dryer on cool to fluff them up and to get any wrinkles out of them and to start the drying process. Remove from the dryer and line dry them. If you don’t have a place to line dry your curtains, lay a sheet over a stairway railing and lay them over the sheet or you can hang them back up with the window open to ensure that they dry quickly. Steam or iron them to remove any creases or wrinkles.

Quick Tip: Hang curtains and drapes up when they are almost, but not quite dry. This will naturally get rid of wrinkles and a smooth finish.

Ready to clean your curtains and drapes? Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

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