Washing velvet curtains

[Solarjunkie]

Any tips or comments about the above?

[andy hughes]

Don't - get them dry cleaned, or you risk ruining them.

[Solarjunkie]

That's a risk I'm prepared to take. I know how to iron velvet (from the back, on a towel) but not sure about the washing.

[shaneystar]

If they are real velvet then I would take Andy's advice and have them dry cleaned.Because otherwise they will shrink and the pile will be ruined.However if they are a Dralon type velvet you can wash them in the machine on a cool wash using a non biological powder or a colour wash powder..or liquid as the case may be.Spin them on the lowest setting and hang them out in the air to dry.They should need little or no ironing.If they are large curtains do them one at a time in the machine.

[shaneystar]

P.S.
Never iron velvet. It needs to be steamed. Velvet is a piled fabric. An extra filling is added to the weave of the fabric. Ironing will crush this and cause irreversible damage to the velvet. Just hold the iron above the fabric and steam it.

[shehin]

I once took a chance and machine washed a velvet curtain. I washed it on a cool cycle with slowest spin speed. Unfortunately the curtain needed to go straight in the bin as came out torn into shreds. Not quite sure what went wrong but I wouldn't bother trying if I were you.

[WendyS]

I have previously washed velvet curtains But I did it the hard way - hand washing them gently in lukewarm soapy water in the bath. Then I let them drain in the bath overnight to get rid of the worst weight of water and hung them out next day on my Hills Hoist. While they were drying I hand brushed the fabric in one direction. They came up beautifully and didn't shrink but the washing temperature needs to be barely hand warm. I've also found that if the outside weather is unpredictable it's possible to rehang slightly damp curtains back up on their rails, leaving them spread out and the windows open. The breeze dries them out quickly and it's a lot cheaper than paying dry cleaning bills. Good luck. Hope it works for you.

[talisman]

Many thanks to all of you.