December 03, 2002
Clean curtains

My grandmother frequently laundered her curtains. Every couple of months she’s strip the windows, wash the curtains wipe the windows and rehang the curtains. As a kid, this mystified me. As a young adult, I considered it an old-fashioned housekeeping practice, one that was meant for women who stayed at home without a career. I grew up in a house that didn’t launder its curtains every three months. In a tidy house is curtain washing really necessary?

Yes. Yes, it is. When we moved last February, I washed the floor to ceiling (very high ceiling) sheers that I had custom made for the old house. They had 18 months of accumulated dust on them. They smelled bad. It took two washes to get them clean. I rehemmed them, put them in our new living room and forgot to wash them.

Something reminded me yesterday and I stripped the windows and washed the curtains. What a difference. Not only are the curtains cream-colored again (instead of a slightly dingy grey) but the living room smells fresher. My grandmother had the right idea, didn’t she?

These days, I balance a life of career and homemaking. My office is ten steps from the laundry (it’s true, I just checked) so it’s easy to keep up on washing. I take breaks from writing or image editing to clean windows or sweep the veranda. It’s a balance that I like. Now I just need to put “wash curtains” in my To Do list a little more often. Early March should be about right…

Posted by kuri at December 03, 2002 10:06 AM

Comments

A good reminder for me is when I see the spider webs hanging off of them!!

Posted by: Heidi on December 3, 2002 10:57 AM

Them buggers are dust collectors aren’t they? And you know how dusty Tokyo is…

Posted by: gomichild on December 3, 2002 06:01 PM

What a coincidence. I was going to wash mine, too. I do it once a year, before the holidays. You’ve inspired me to follow through. But now the couch looks twice as dingy. Guess I better stop blogging and wash those slipcovers, too.

Posted by: M Sinclair Stevens on December 5, 2002 03:30 AM

My mom washed theirs once after about a year. Unfortunatily they smoke a lote and the water turned yellow and nasty and the curtians fell apart. :-(

Posted by: Dave on December 7, 2002 02:21 PM

My mom washed theirs once after about a year. Unfortunatily they smoke a lote and the water turned yellow and nasty and the curtians fell apart. :-(

Posted by: Dave on December 7, 2002 02:21 PM
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