Guest Blogger: How To Properly Clean Window Treatments

 Guest Blogger 1K+, Entry #2579, June 30, 2013

When renovating your home and trying to add some glamour and beauty, windows are often one of the most important areas to start with. Installing windows with different styles or colors can do wonders for your home, and provide a fresh new look. When deciding the type of window treatments for your home, you need to look at different designs to determine which one will decorate your home best and blend with the rest of the house.

Window dressings require a lot of maintenance and cleaning to keep them looking good. Window treatment cleaning is a very simple house hold task that can be done using a brush or a hand vacuum cleaner. Treatment and cleaning your dressings allows the curtains to last longer and look more appealing, eliminating the need for frequent replacement. Maintaining window dressings is easy and cheap, if you know the right process for your home’s treatments.

How to keep your window treatments looking beautiful for years to come

Image via: Panageries

There are several options for cleaning your window treatments, depending on which type you use. Blinds, shades, curtain panels and drapery need to be dusted and cleaned on a regular basis to continue to hold the color and pattern of your dressings.

Machine Washing

Machine washing is especially useful for curtains made of soft fabric. Be careful not to use detergents that are too strong because they may damage the fabric and ruin your curtains or remove color from the fabric. Machine washing is very effective in removing stubborn stains, and it makes washing easier. Dry cleaning blinds and drapes also offers a quick solution to window treatment, and it can be easily done at home. This method of cleaning window dressings is very helpful when you have a lot of dressings to wash, which would be difficult to do by hand. However, for fiber glass and some special types of blinds that require delicate treatment, cleaning with a brush or a soft cloth and cleaning supplies is far more effective.

Tips for caring for your window treatments

 Image via: Six Walls Interior Design

Dry Cleaning

Another option for your window treatments is dry cleaning. If your curtains or draperies are dry clean only then be sure to never wash. If you do wash the dry clean only items, you can be subject to shrinkage or color loss with your items. Always have your dressings dry cleaned if the care label says so.

Dusting

Dust and debris always builds up on your window dressings, and regular and thorough dusting is important to avoid staining and to protect your family from allergies and pollutants. The best tool for dusting is a hand vacuum cleaner, which can be moved up and down along the curtains or drapes gently for clean and more appealing windows.

Clean and dust your curtains with these helpful tips

Image via: Mariko Reed

Shades and Blinds

With shades and blinds, you can simple dip them in a bath to clean the items of dust and dirt. A white vinegar bath can help remove the dust from the blinds and have them looking brand new. To avoid purchasing new blinds or shades, take a few hours and clean the items in warm water with vinegar to remove the dirt and grime.

Erika is an avid home decorator who enjoys maintaining the style of her home. To find more home decorating options visit Blindsgalore, a specializer of honeycomb shades and other window dressing options.

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