Material
Curtains
Layered fabric, lining and interlining that shrink at different rates, so spot cleaning in place beats washing or dry cleaning them.
- SurfacePorous
- WashingSpot only
- Colour run riskHigh
- Reviewed7 September 2026
What curtains can and cannot take
- Heat Avoid
- Water and soaking Use with care
- Acids, including vinegar Use with care
- Strong alkalis Use with care
- Solvents Use with care
- Chlorine bleach Avoid
- Abrasives Use with care
Always test on a hidden area first and let it dry before you treat the visible mark.
General rules for curtains
Spot clean in place rather than taking them down, unless you are sure of what they are made of.
A diluted mild detergent on a cloth, tested on a hidden area such as the hem turn back or behind the leading edge, is what the trade recommends. Blot rather than rub, and work outwards from the mark.
If the curtains genuinely need cleaning through, professional steam cleaning in situ avoids the shrinkage problem, which washing and dry cleaning both create.
Check the label
Made to measure curtains are usually a face fabric, a lining and sometimes an interlining, each of which can shrink at a different rate. A curtain maker's own advice is that dry cleaning risks uneven cleaning and that even a small percentage of shrinkage significantly alters the drop.
Stains on curtains
- Baby sick Leave them hanging and treat the mark in place. A curtain maker's own advice is that washing or dry cleaning...
- Blood Blot first, then use cold water and a tiny amount of compatible detergent. Work from the edge, rinse or blot...
- Body oil Blot surface oil from curtains without rubbing. Use a barely damp mild wipe only if the maker permits water-b...
- Breast milk Blot free milk with dry cloths. Use this route only where the maker permits a barely damp surface clean. Prot...
- Bronzer Lift loose bronzer from curtains before it is rubbed in. Blot cream bronzer, follow the material or care labe...
- Coffee Blot curtains first. Use a damp route only where the care label explicitly permits spot cleaning. Glued, line...
- Concealer Lift the concealer, flush Curtains from the back with cool water, pre-treat the oily residue with one drop of...
- Cooking grease Lift and blot cooking grease from Curtains, absorb the oil, pretreat both sides with washing-up liquid for 10...
- Deodorant Rub a fresh white deodorant mark off curtains while it is dry. For residue that remains, follow the care labe...
- Hair dye Blot hair dye from Curtains, test the mildest compatible cool detergent route, clean inwards, remove residue...
- Lipstick Lift lipstick from Curtains, work from the reverse with a drop of washing-up liquid, rinse cool, wash to the...
- Motor oil Blot motor oil from Curtains, absorb the residue, pretreat both sides with a little washing-up liquid, wash t...
- Nail polish Lift accessible free polish without rubbing and keep the item dry. The fibre, finish or construction makes a...
- Period blood Lift any tissue with a spoon edge, then blot. Use cold water and a tiny amount of compatible detergent for th...
- Pet urine Blot until nearly dry, then use only the cool-water quantity curtains can tolerate. Use a labelled pet urine...
- Sweat Blot Curtains, follow its care label and use one supported cool hand rinse only if permitted. Keep rubbing an...
- Tomato sauce Lift tomato sauce from Curtains, then wipe or blot inwards with a tested cool detergent solution. Remove resi...
A pair of curtains is several fabrics sewn together and cut to a specific length.
Shrinkage is the expensive failure
A curtain is made to a drop. A small percentage of shrinkage is enough to leave it hanging above the sill, and there is nothing to let down. Curtain makers warn about this specifically, and it applies to washing and dry cleaning alike.
The layers differ
Face fabric, lining and interlining are frequently different fibres with different shrinkage and different reactions to solvent. Cleaning them as one item is what produces puckered seams and uneven colour.
The header holds stiffening
Pleats and tape can sag or harden after cleaning, which changes how the curtain hangs even if nothing has shrunk.
Gravity helps you
A spill on a curtain runs downwards and the mark is usually longer and lower than it first appears. Check the hem.
Sources
What we checked and when. Where a manufacturer instruction disagrees with anything here, follow the manufacturer.
-
Why you cannot dry clean made to measure curtains, Britannia Rose
manufacturer
UK curtain maker's guidance that made to measure curtains combine face fabric, lining and often interlining with different compositions, that dry cleaning solvents can clean the layers unevenly and that even a small percentage of shrinkage significantly alters the drop, that pleats and stiffening can sag or harden, and that the recommended alternatives are vacuuming, spot cleaning with a diluted mild detergent tested first, and professional steam cleaning in situ.
Checked 7 September 2026
-
How to clean curtains, Hillarys
retailer
UK curtain and blind retailer guidance that its curtain fabrics are dry clean only, that machine washing risks the curtain and the lining shrinking at different rates and puckering, that up to 3 percent shrinkage can occur even in a first professional clean, that a small mark is spot cleaned by dabbing with warm water on a clean cloth and then diluted white vinegar tested on a hidden area first, and that water and steam are kept off the face of velvet curtains.
Checked 7 September 2026
-
How to remove stains from baby clothes, Persil UK
manufacturer
UK manufacturer guidance to act quickly on formula, blot when immediate washing is impossible, rinse under cool water, soak for at least 15 minutes where the care label permits, pre-treat with detergent and then wash to the care label.
Checked 7 September 2026