Just like anything else in your home, cleaning curtains need to be a regular task added to a cleaning schedule. Often overlooked, curtains and draperies can get dingy and dusty. By learning how to take proper care of your curtains, you can extend their lives as beautiful window treatments.
The more light cleaning you do with your curtains, just as with other cleaning, the less time you will need to spend on more intensive cleaning measures. By adding your curtains to your regular housecleaning schedule, you will immediately see results by way of brighter, nicer looking curtains.
Before reading on, keep in mind that different curtain and drapery materials require different care, so it’s best take that into consideration before washing or cleaning them.
Weekly Cleaning
While you most likely not want to take your curtains 
down and wash them every week, a bit of dusting and vacuuming can go a long way for regular upkeep of your window treatments. The options for cleaning implements range from feather dusters, damp cloths, vacuum attachments and static dusters (among other things), here are a few general tips:
- By starting at the top of your curtains and working your way down, you’ll avoid dust falling on parts of the curtains which you have already cleaned.
- Spend time concentrating on dusting the hems and folds of the curtains because most of the dust accumulates in these areas.
- When using a damp cloth to clean curtains, be sure to vacuum the curtains first. This will prevent smearing the dust and dirt around while attempting to remove it. For this reason, using a damp cloth might not be best for lighter colored curtains.
- Leaving your curtains hanging while dusting them is much easier and less time-consuming than removing them. If your curtain rod is weak and cannot support the weight of cleaning them, consider purchasing a more secure curtain rod.
- When dusting and vacuuming, remember to clean both sides of the curtains. Debris and dust accumulate on both the window-facing and room-facing sides of the curtains.
- If you don’t remove it, this debris can cause odor or fall to the floor, leaving you with more cleaning to do. Also, dust causes allergens, so removing it can be very helpful to members of your household who are sensitive to allergens.
- Start at the top of your curtains and work your way down so the dust falls onto parts you haven’t dusted yet.
- Concentrate on dusting hems and folds as most of the dust accumulates in those areas.
- If you use a damp cloth, make sure you dust or vacuum the curtains first to avoid smearing in dirt. It’s best not to use a damp cloth on lightly colored curtains.
- It’s easier to leave your curtains hanging when you dust them. Consider getting a more secure curtain rod if you aren’t able to hold the curtains taught to vacuum or dust them.
Of course, it is still a good idea to actually wash your curtains sometimes, but with regular cleaning, you will have to do this less often while keeping your curtains looking fresh and clean.
