To wash curtains, take them down, remove the hooks, and wash one or two panels at a time on a cool, delicate cycle with a slow spin, as long as the care label allows it. Check the label for the lining or blackout backing as well as the front fabric. Air dry them, or rehang light panels while slightly damp. Most curtains need this about twice a year.
The label matters more with curtains than with most laundry, because two panels that look almost identical can need completely different treatment.
How often should you wash curtains?#
Persil's curtain guide suggests a deep clean about twice a year, with a weekly pass of the vacuum's brush attachment in between. That's a sensible default for bedrooms and living rooms. Some windows need more:
| Where the curtains hang |
How often to wash |
| Bedroom or living room |
Twice a year |
| Kitchen |
Every 3 months, since cooking grease holds dust |
| Home with pets, smokers or allergies |
Every 3 months |
| Sheer or net curtains |
Every 3 to 4 months, or when they look gray |
| Window that gets heavy condensation |
Check the hem monthly for mildew spots |
| Any room |
Vacuum weekly with the brush attachment |
The weekly vacuum is what keeps the twice-a-year wash from turning into a gray-water ordeal. Use low suction so the fabric doesn't get sucked into the nozzle, and work from the top down.
Check the label first, even on similar curtains#
Two ordinary curtains from the same store show how much this varies. IKEA's cotton LENDA curtains can go in a warm machine wash, but not the dryer, and the label warns they can shrink up to 7%. On the 118-inch panels in that listing, 7% is more than 8 inches off the length. Its BENGTA blackout curtain has a polyurethane backing, so it gets a cold wash, no dryer, and a low iron on the front side only.
Washing both of those on hot would shrink one and could damage the backing on the other. Read the label on every set, and photograph it while the curtains are still hanging so you have it later.
Heavy lined drapes, velvet, silk and curtains with stiffened pleat headings are usually dry clean only. If yours are, skip to the section on curtains you can't wash.
How to wash curtains in the washing machine#
- Vacuum or shake them first. Take them outside if you can. The less dust goes into the drum, the less gray the wash water gets.
- Take a photo of how the hooks sit in the heading tape, then take the curtains down and remove every hook, ring and weight that comes off. Put them in a labeled container.
- Check the hems and lining for tears or loose stitching. A wash will make a small split bigger.
- Load one or two panels at a time. Wet curtains are heavy, and an overloaded drum won't rinse them properly.
- Put sheers and nets in a laundry bag or an old pillowcase. Persil suggests this to stop them tearing in the drum.
- Pick the delicates cycle, or a cool wash with a slower spin. Use the temperature on the label and a normal dose of mild detergent.
- Take them out as soon as the cycle finishes so creases don't set.
How to dry curtains#
Follow the drying symbol. Lots of curtains, including both IKEA examples above, say no tumble drying at all.
For light cotton or polyester panels, you can hang them back on the rail while slightly damp. The weight of the fabric pulls out most creases as they dry. Open the window to help.
Heavy curtains and anything with a blackout backing should dry flat or over two parallel lines first. Rehanging a soaking-wet heavy panel puts a lot of weight on the rail and the heading tape, and it can take days to dry.
If your label does allow the dryer, Persil's tip is to take curtains out when they're about 95% dry and let them finish in the air, which stops wrinkles from setting.
Iron only if you need to, at the setting on the label. Blackout curtains get ironed on the fabric side only.
Clean the window while the curtains are down#
An empty window is the best moment for the jobs you never quite get to. Wipe the rail and brackets, vacuum the sill, and clean the frame. If there's black spotting in the corners from condensation, deal with it now, because it's where curtain hems pick up mildew.
It's also the right time to wash the windows and clean the window screens. If you have blinds behind the curtains, clean those too. Let everything dry before the curtains go back up.
When you rehang a pair, put each panel back on the side it came from. Panels rarely fade or drop evenly, and swapping sides makes any difference obvious.
Curtains you can't wash#
For dry-clean-only curtains, keep up the weekly vacuuming and spot clean small marks with a damp cloth, testing a hidden corner first. A handheld steamer can freshen hanging curtains between professional cleans if the label allows steam.
Some dry cleaners will take curtains down and rehang them, which is worth paying for with heavy interlined drapes.
Common mistakes#
- Washing on hot "to get them really clean," then finding the curtains no longer reach the sill.
- Washing one panel of a pair and not the other, so they hang at different lengths or shades.
- Shortening new curtains before the first wash. If the label mentions shrinkage, wash first and hem after.
- Tumble drying a blackout curtain.
- Leaving hooks in, where they snag the heading tape and rattle against the drum.
A twice-yearly ChoreLists.com reminder for curtains, and a weekly one for the vacuum, is all the scheduling this job needs.