Taking care of your fabric
Curtains
Care should be taken to dust and clean curtains. Dust the curtains from top to bottom using a feather brush or an attachment for your vacuum machine.
Make sure your curtain is machine washable before putting it in the washing machine. Dry cleaning is recommended because fabrics might bleed and fade, shrink differently than the threads (that might cause puckering), shrink differently than the lining/interlining fabrics. Fabrics that are washed will lose the stiffness and become limp besides shrinking.
Curtains tend to be bulky and tend to bunch up in washing machines - dry cleaning is always recommended. In some cases steam cleaning migh help - but do make sure that the curtains are machine washable before you get started.
Curtains with tapes or trims should be dry cleaned - there are too many variables ( shrinking, colorfastness, delicate nature of trims) to control what happens in a washing machine.
Pillows
Follow the direction on the care label of the decorative pillow cover. Find the material that the pillow is made of and follow the directions for that material. If there is embroidery or an embellishment involved it might be better to dry clean the piece. Remember that pillow covers that are made form silk, suede, leather, wool cannot be cleaned with water.
Decorative pillows with tapes or trims, metal embellishements should be dry cleaned - there are too many variables ( shrinking, colorfastness, delicate nature of trims) to control what happens in a washing machine.
Inserts
Follows instructions on the tag. In general inserts can be machine washed and dried. Use warm wash and delicate settings. Hang dry them till they are mostly dry and then fluff them in the dryer. Make sure that they are completly dry (especially feather and down inserts) before using them.
Cleaning Upholstery
Before you clean anything look at the cleaning code ( usually a tag/label attached to the underside or below the cushions). Follow the recommended instructions. Here are cleaning codes for most upholstery.
Upholstery Cleaning Codes
| Cleaning Code | Description |
| W |
Water Based Cleaner Spot clean using the foam only from a water-based cleaning agent such as a mild detergent or non-solvent upholstery shampoo product. Apply foam with a soft brush in a circular motion. Vacuum when dry. |
| S |
Solvent Cleaner Spot clean using mild water-free solvent or dry cleaning product. Clean only in a well ventilated room and avoid any product containing Carbon Tetrachloride or other toxic materials. |
| WS |
Water / Solvent Cleaner Spot clean with a mild solvent, an upholstery shampoo or the foam from a mild detergent. When using a solvent or dry cleaning product, follow the instructions carefully and clean only in a well ventilated room. Avoid any product that contains Carbon Tetrachloride or other toxic materials. With either method, pretest a small area before proceeding. |
| X | Vacuum OnlyClean this fabric only by vacuuming or light brushing to prevent accumulation of dust and grime. Water-based foam cleaners or solvent-based cleaning agents of any kind may cause excessive shrinking, staining or distortion of the surface pile and therefore should not be used. |
| D | Dry clean Only |