Dry cleaning curtains ….

I have wool tartan curtains that my kitten peed on ,I got a quote for cleaning then which was in excess of £100 .

I washed them at 20 degrees and stretched them flat over two washing lines to dry .
They were fine ,didn't even need ironed .

I recently paid £100 for a pair to be dry cleaned by a local non chain dry cleaner. They are lined heavy cotton, 90” by 130” each curtain.
I did think it was quite reasonable, as they hadn’t been cleaned for a long time. Try a smaller cleaners. It does depend how expensive the curtains were in the first place and how expensive they would be to replace should they be ruined by washing.

Our Dry Cleaners charge per metre, so large curtains are extremely expensive to get cleaned.

So do ours, but I think I only paid about £30 a pair recently. It is a small independent firm.

I make a point about never buying curtain fabric that is described as 'dry clean only'

However, having said that, many fabric manufacturers put that on all fabrics, regardlessof whether they can be washed or not, to save claims against them or litigation, so if the fabric is not too heavy and ornate and the fabric used is made of cotton or synthetic. I risk washing them anyway. the worst that has ever happened is that they have shrunk a couple of inches, so I just let fown the hems and rehemmed it.

O have washed mine. They are cotton so why not?
I did them in the bath and then spun them at 800.
They are fine.

my hall curtain shrunk when it was dry cleaned, had to be fixed by the dry cleaners and I also lowered the curtain rail. No other dry cleaning these days, only a quick wipe over my plantation shutters and easily done with a dusting glove. They use different eco dry cleaning products these days

re cotton: I always pre wash cottons prior to cutting for clothing, there is always a shrinkage factor as with any viscose. I don`t think curtain manufacturers do this pre-shrinking

Just give it up. Stick them in the washing machine and see what happens. They may be fine. If they are ruined then buy some which can be machine washed. That may sound brutal but unless the curtains are very expensive it's not worth the cost of having them dry cleaned.

I suppose 2 reasons I can’t machine wash them is that they have plastic inserts sewn into the top to house triple pinch pleating and that they cost £1000 8 years ago (when DH still worked).

Decided now to hoover them throughly as there are no stains on them and they have not yellowed as they are not in direct sun.

One of the reasons for completely replacing just about everything in the living room apart from wood furniture is that hopefully, DH’s NON-STOP coughing (3.5 years and counting) might actually stop.

Glammagran
Do you have pets? That could be the cause of your DHs coughing.
Asthma?
Living in countryside.
So many things can lead to coughing, has he had any tests by the doctor?
Try keeping a diary or wallchart to see what he's near/just eaten etc when he starts coughing!

Can you take your curtains down and give them a good shake outside instead of washing them?

I’m a Saturday sales person for an independent dry cleaners. We charge by weight, something like £4.70 per pound. Curtains with blackout linings cannot be dry cleaned.

Thanks for your replies. DH does have asthma, we have no pets (used to have horses) and live in a semi-rural area. He’s always had a tendency to cough but its become very much worse in the last 3.5 years. Absolutely no closer to finding out why. It’s causing him to be increasing breathless with little exertion.

We will take curtains down again and hoover them with a hand held attachment probably outside. New flooring goes in on Monday. New sofas at beginning of September.

My DH's non stop dry cough was caused by his blood pressure medication. His GP changed to a different brand(?) and the coughing stopped within a couple of weeks.
Back to curtains, are they lined?

The trouble with curtains is that they are so expensive that you dare not take a risk. It’s not like taking a chance on a dress or coat.
When we had all our curtains cleaned because of smoke damage, the company took them all down, and they came back tied up to keep the pleats in and they re hung them. I don’t know what the cost was, because the insurance company sent them, and I don’t know who they were, but they did a fantastic job. I can’t find anyone who does similar.

DH has a more usual wet cough rather than a dry cough so feels at times like he’s drowning. He’s on antibiotics again atm and had oral steroids about 3 months which did not help. He is currently taking Losertan and Falodopine for his BP.

I wash them. I have some lovely Laura Ashley lined curtains, they are fine in the washer.

My post hasn’t come through.
I worked out that if you paid £1K for the curtains 8 years ago - they’ve cost £2.50ish a week. As the saying goes ‘you’ve probably had your money’s worth’.
Personally, I’d take a risk and wash them. I’ve washed loads of stuff labelled dry clean only (even a wool winter coat) and it’s been fine.

I agree with Georgesgran delicate wash and hang them on the line. I try not to buy dry clean only items now as our local dry cleaner has closed down. There is not another one for miles.

If you wash your curtains how often do you do so ? As a keen young housewife I washed mine every year but now I just leave them until replaced .

Beware washing if the lining is a different fabric as one may shrink a little and the other not.