Removing curtains for cleaning

[CAMP AIR]

I have white (not very clean) curtains in my 07 Safari SE (23'). Do I have to
remove the end caps to slide the curtain tabs off, or is there a magic formula
to removing them? Can I wash them or do they require dry cleaning? Thanks

[CanoeStream]

Hi CAMP AIR. Welcome to the forums!

This from a dealer's former sales manager -- http://www.airforums.com/forums/f206...ins-32928.html

Yes, you have to remove one end cap from top and bottom. The general experience has been that there is no assurance that a "dry cleaner" would actually dry clean your curtains. They usually make their own judgement on whether to dry clean or water wash.

I need to wash mine over the winter here and probably will opt for doing it gently here at the house.

[Lumatic]

There is a DIY dry cleaning kit consisting of a bag with a packet of some kind of chemical. You put the fabric inside the bag and throw it in a dryer. Works OK.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, we took our curtains to a local Dry Cleaner because my owners manual says to. ["dry Clean only"] One look from the lady behind the counter, at the plastic guides sewed in place with elastic, and she said NO! My wife washed them in our machine at home on a gentle cycle.

[Disneysue925]

The curtains on our trailer were "new", but I believe they came from Airstream. (the fabric matched some 90's fabrics they used) We washed them on gentle cycle with Woolite in cold water. They are now clean and smell fresh. All of the hangers survived just fine. There was actually a fairly impressive amount of dirt in water on the first rinse. I'm not sure dry cleaning would given such a good result.

Good Luck!
Sue

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, we took our curtains to a local Dry Cleaner because my owners manual says to. ["dry Clean only"] One look from the lady behind the counter, at the plastic guides sewed in place with elastic, and she said NO! My wife washed them in our machine at home on a gentle cycle.

[nautiqueman]

I took the curtains out of my 2001 AS and my dry cleaner friends washed them and they look brand new. The dry cleaner staff thought I had really great material as it did not harm the curtains in any way.

They take time putting them back in, so I suggest an Ipod and cold beer to reinstall.

[jm2]

Originally Posted by Disneysue925

We washed them on gentle cycle with Woolite in cold water. They are now clean and smell fresh. All of the hangers survived just fine.

the cold water wash works well! line dry them; don't dry them in a clothes dryer, they are likely to shrink a little....

and if you take down more than one window at a time, tag them so you know where they go back up! iirc, there were about 16 individual curtains in our 25C, and someone being 'helpful' took the tags off, and, then dried them in the dryer....

[goodwrench]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, we took our curtains to a local Dry Cleaner because my owners manual says to. ["dry Clean only"] One look from the lady behind the counter, at the plastic guides sewed in place with elastic, and she said NO! My wife washed them in our machine at home on a gentle cycle.

did your drapes have any water stain problem from window sweating . if so did washing remove the stain sahendrix08@gmail.com

[goodwrench]

Originally Posted by jm2;1[SIZE="4"

[/SIZE]089331]the cold water wash works well! line dry them; don't dry them in a clothes dryer, they are likely to shrink a little....

and if you take down more than one window at a time, tag them so you know where they go back up! iirc, there were about 16 individual curtains in our 25C, and someone being 'helpful' took the tags off, and, then dried them in the dryer....

did any of the drapes have water stain from window sweating,if so did it come out/thks shirleyhendrix08@gmail.comhttp://www.airforums.com/forums/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Len n Jeanne]

I called the Airstream mother ship on this one for our grungy curtains, and they recommended dry cleaning. Our local dry cleaner's wouldn't touch them, though, for fear that the plastic slides would melt. They offered to launder them, which was a big improvement in cleanliness, but they did shrink horizontally.

Jeanne

p.s. If your seat cushions get grungy, we used a professional upholstery cleaner to good effect.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by goodwrench

did your drapes have any water stain problem from window sweating . if so did washing remove the stain sahendrix08@gmail.com

Hi, my curtains had no stains.

[jm2]

Originally Posted by goodwrench

did any of the drapes have water stain from window sweating,if so did it come out/thks shirleyhendrix08@gmail.comhttp://www.airforums.com/forums/images/smilies/wink.gif

no "sweating stains"....

[slickandrews]

Hiya Gang!

I don't know if this has been covered yet, but a "miracle product" for almost all of your cleaning need can be found in TSP.

Trisodium Phosphate powder is available at any of the home improvement stores, hardware stores, and any place that sells paint and supplies.

DO NOT LET THE STUFF TOUCH ALUMINUM!
It'll put whit-ish stains on your exposed aluminum that need to be polished out....But for general cleaning of all other filth on your rigs interior parts, it almost can't be beat.

For draperies you'll need TSP powder, a washtub, some decent fabric softener, a sunny day, and some rubber gloves to protect your skin from the TSP.

The best way I've found to clean up the draperies...


1) mix about 1/4 cup of TSP powder with 5 gallons of very warm water in a tub... Bathtub works great!

2) MONDO IMPORTANTE!!!
Soak the draperies in a pail of clean, clear water BEFORE you place them in the tub of TSP solution. WET AND WASH THEM ALL AT ONE TIME. This will ensure that they all come out even in color when they're dry.

3) After the fabric has all been wet down in the clear water, gently ring them out to "damp", and all at one time, plunge the material into the tub of TSP solution.

4) Agitate the fabric around in the TSP/Water solution for about 5 minutes.
BE SURE to be wearing some rubber gloves, because it can irritate most people's skin.

5) Let the fabric "sit" in the warm TSP solution for 20 to 30 minutes. (You'll be surprised at how ORANGE the solution gets!) That's all of the oil, nicotine, pollution, cooking sludge, and general filthyness coming out of the fiber.

6) Wearing your rubber gloves, agitate the whole mess again for about five minutes.

7) Drain the tub and run clean, clear water over and through the material while gently wringing the fabric.

8) Refill the tub with clean, clear water again. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the fabric softener to the water and agitate it along with the fabric for about 5 minutes.

9) Let the curtains stand in the "fabric softener water" for 10 minutes or so.

10) Drain the tub, and run clean, clear water over and through the drapery material...while gently wringing it out.

11) Bundle all of the curtains up in a big sheet or a large plastic bag, and transport them outside onto the CLEAN concrete driveway or patio, or even onto the dry lawn.
(Spreading them out on the lawn will also FURTHER deoderize them, 'cause of the clorophyl gas that the lawn emits)

DO NOT SPREAD THEM OUT ON A WOODEN DECK! The stain on the deck may transfer into the fabric!

12) Lay them out neatly in the sun to dry, making sure that they're laying on the ground in just about the same way that they'll be hanging in your rig... You don't want them to be too out of shape.

13) When they're dry, you MAY have to pull out the old iron and board and hit 'em once to make them "crisp" and straighten out the pleats, but we've never bothered with that step.

14) Take 'em back in to the rig, slide those damn tabs back into the channels, put the end caps back on...

15) Decide that you do, in fact, want NEW draperies.... and spend a Grand ordering them.

HAHAHA!
Cheers!
Slick and Kathy

[SpiritAtBay]

Originally Posted by slickandrews

Hiya Gang!

15) Decide that you do, in fact, want NEW draperies.... and spend a Grand ordering them.

Ha! I can totally see me doing that!
that was great, thanks!

gina

[aftermath]

The PO did wash the curtains and then threw them into a dryer and I believe he did this more than once. Our curtains have shrunken (shrank?) and the back ones barely fit any more.

Last spring we did have some staining from a very damp front window. It was actually leaking but slow enough just to keep the curtain damp. We removed it, washed it and it cleaned up very nicely.

I would recommend that you wash them at home following the same procedure as you would on one of your finer garments. Do not dry them in a hot dryer and you should be just fine.

As far as the TSP suggestion, I can't get TSP in my community. They have outlawed the use of many phosphates and TSP is very heavy with phosphates hence all the warnings about using gloves and such. Our curtains were not dirty enough to require the use of a heavy duty cleaner.

[netman1969]

We washed our on gentle cycle with warm water and woolite. Hung them to dry. Came out perfect and no shrinking. Sounds a lot easier than the hand wash method.

[KiwiAS]

We found this a helpful thread and have successfully washed the curtains from our 2006 16' using detergent for woollens and the cool, delicate wash cycle in our washing machine. We dried them on the washing line on a breezy day and didn't need to iron them. No discernible shrinkage and they look and smell fresh.

BUT…we stuffed up a bit with the first set of curtains. The hook side of the hook and loop (velcro) fastenings used to join the curtain sections snagged the curtain face fabric during the washed and caused some nasty runs.

To avoid this happening with the second set of curtains, we got hold of a roll of the loop side of the fastenings, cut short lengths of this, and attached it to the 'exposed' hook fastenings on the curtains before washing them.

[Ntex]

I know this is an older thread, but the question I have is the same as asked initially here....how do I remove the curtains in the first place? I have a 2004 Classic. There are snaps at the corners holding the curtain edge to the wall, but how do I get the plastic sliders out of the metal track? In one post above they said to remove the end caps. These are white plastic held on with screws and they sure didn't want to budge very easily when I tried. I fear breaking the end caps. Is this how everyone does it?


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[KiwiAS]

Yep - you have to unscrew and remove the plastic end caps on the rails. The clips slide out but are sewn onto the curtain so they just go in the washing machine with the curtains.

Please note my earlier comment if there are any bits of Velcro on the curtains.


Cheers, KiwiAS.

[Ntex]

Thanks! I will apply a little more force on those end caps. And the hint about the velcro is also very useful. I also appreciate the one above about labeling where each curtain came from as it is taken down, so it can be replaced easily. As usual, folks on this forum empower me. Its so great.


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