How to Clean Your Cream Curtains

Cream curtains are a fantastic addition to any home. They bring style and elegance to a room without being overbearing. They can blend into any background or be a bold statement when paired with other curtain accessories.

However, as with any other pale colored fabric, cream shows dirty marks easier than their dark counterparts. If your curtains are hanging in a frequently used room or covering an outside doorway such as a ranch slider to the deck then they are bound to pick up dust, grubby hand prints and even dirt splashes. Unfortunately with a color such as cream you can’t get away with only cleaning your curtains ‘once in a blue moon’.

By committing to having cream curtains you are committing to keeping them fresh and clean, I’ve come up with a simple routine which makes washing my curtains a breeze so you won’t mind having to do it as often.

Try and pick a nice warm sunny day for your curtain washing foray, as you’ll need to hang them out to dry and fresh outside air is best. It not only ventilates them but quickens the overall drying time. A sunny day with slight warm breeze is perfect curtain cleaning weather!

In preparation for your washing day you’ll need to make sure you’ve got a few things in the cleaning cupboard. Often you’ll already have these things in the house, but if not, here’s a list to take to the supermarket.

• Napisan or another brand fabric whitener (choose colorfast if you can.)
• Liquid detergent – You can either use a liquid washing detergent or a gentle dish washing detergent
• White vinegar (only if you need to clean metal curtain rings)

So now that you’ve got your supplies, what do you do with them? Well here are some step by step instructions on washing those curtains.

• Take your curtains down from your windows, removing any rings or hooks.
• Fill your bathtub (or if you have a gigantic pot) with cold or tepid water and stir in the recommended amount of Napisan. Usually the bottle will tell you how many capfuls to use per liter. A couple of capfuls should be sufficient.
• Fully submerge your curtains in the Napisan bathtub and leave soaking for the period stated on the bottle.
• Once you’ve soaked your curtains you are ready to do the actual washing. Depending on what fabric your curtains are made from and whether or not they are lined, you can either hand wash them in the bath with some liquid detergent or put them in the washing machine on a very gentle cycle.
• You must not machine wash your curtains if they are heavy or lined, this could possibly wreck them and ruin the shape. So remember hand wash only unless they are a light synthetic fabric.
• Once your curtains are washed, hang them outside to drip dry. (Don’t use the spin cycle on your washing machine!)
• Now that your curtains are fully dry you can bring them inside to iron. Be careful with the heat if your curtains are made from synthetic materials as they could melt!

While your curtains are drying you can clean your curtain rings. This is a great way to get rid of any rust spots.

• Get an old pot and fill with water and a splash or two of vinegar.
• Put all your curtain rings in the pot and boil for a while until your curtain rings gleam like new again.

Now that you have freshly washed cream curtains and newly shining curtain rings, you’re ready to rehang them and enjoy!