Curtain/blinds cleaning questions

[moparjohn]

The blind and curtains in my 73 TW are in need of cleaning. The blinds will come out easy enough, and I guess I will wash them by hand so I do not remove them from the roller. The curtains have white clips attaching them to the curtain rods. I cannot see any way to remove the curtains but by sliding them out of the tracks of the curtain rods. I also belive the clips are sewn on, so more hand washing, which is ok. Comments suggestions? THanks MPJ

[Aviator]

We threw the curtains from our '97 in the washer using the delicate setting and Woolite. Then hung them to dry. They turned out pretty well. There are a couple of water leak stains we couldn't get out, but at least we know they are "clean".

[lgastall]

To remove my curtains I drilled out the rivet in the curtain track (I had one at each end) and was able to slide out the curtains with the hooks still attached. Do be careful as the hooks in mine were very brittle and snapped of their own free will.

I put mine in the wash on a low wool setting but the sundamage backing material completely disintegrated rending the curtains unusable. In retrospect I would have hand washed them and out them on the line to dry.

Good luck getting it sorted.
Lucy.

[aaumpine]

Same here with our curtains. They did seem sturdy enough to survive the washing machine. They sure were a mess when the machine finished.

[Joy M]

Only the drapes in the bedroom were original, and the living area had been replaced. They were all very yellowed, but I didn't want the expense of replacing them. A friend recommended Oxyclean powder and to soak them until they were white again. The trick she told me about is to heat some water to almost boiling, then add the oxyclean & start stirring so that it starts bubbling. I mixed it in a large bucket because it REALLY bubbles. Then add it to warm water in a bathtub and add the drapes. It took about 3 days of soaking, but they came out beautiful. I made the same mistake as the others and put them in the washer on gentle cycle and there was some shredding on the old drapes on the vertical edges. So I just turned them under and basted a blackout fabric I got at Hancock fabric. Worked great and it's so dark in there we sleep really late! The tabs are all brittle and I'm going to replace them also. Good luck!

[moparjohn]

I washed my first pull down blind, in Oxyclean, came out much cleaner, then I tried to squeeze the water out and the backing kind of melted/gummed up, and pulled away from the curtain/blind material, UGGG!!. So I guess I ruined it Anyone know of a way of saving it? The front material is good. Now I'm faced with repalcement of the two binds, and all the curtians if the same thing will happen. MPJ