How to Wash Curtains by Fabric: Polyester, Cotton, Linen, Silk, Velvet, Sheers and Blackout
The construction decides first, the fiber second. Here is what each curtain fabric can take, what a lined or pleated drapery cannot, the care codes on our fabric pages, the washing steps for the panels that can be washed, and the routine that keeps the rest out of the machine.
Can you wash curtains, and how, by fabric?
Two questions decide it, in this order: how the curtain is made, then what it is made of. A lined, interlined or pleated drapery, whatever the fiber, is cleaned flat by a professional: the lining shrinks at a different rate from the face, the buckram in the heading and the hand-pressed hem do not survive a drum, and the pleats were set by a seamstress, not a machine. An unlined panel in a fiber from the first column of the table below, with a washable code or label, can go in the machine: cold or cool water, gentle cycle, mild detergent, no heat, back on the rod while damp.
By fiber: polyester and solution-dyed acrylic wash; sheers and voiles are the panels that get washed; cotton and linen wash only when pre-shrunk and unlined, and shrink otherwise; silk, wool, viscose and rayon, velvet with a natural pile, coated blackout and flame-retardant treated cloth go to the cleaner. Blends follow the most delicate fiber in them. In our own Alendel drapery library, 226 of 279 designs carry the mill's washable code, 175 of the 192 all-synthetic ones (91%) against 51 of the 87 with a natural fiber (59%), and all three silks are dry clean.
- The routine: open by the wand, never the edge; vacuum on low suction every month on the coast and every one to three months inland; professional cleaning once a year to every two years, sooner for sheers on an open slider.
- Never: hot water, a hot dryer, chlorine bleach on silk, wool or a coated blackout, a steamer on a shade fabric, or a washing machine for anything we lined.
- If it came from us: the fabric is named on your quote, every fabric in our libraries has its care code on its page, and a panel that comes back short from a cleaner is re-hemmed in our workroom.
Written by Exotic Shades & Draperies in Fort Lauderdale, the workroom that sews the draperies, from the mills' care sheets, Consumer Reports, the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute, the FTC's labeling rules and the conservation notes textile museums work to, with the care codes counted across the 438 Alendel fabrics on this site. It covers curtains and draperies; shades, blinds and screens are in how to clean shades and drapery.
How the curtain is made decides more than the fiber #
A care label describes a cloth. A drapery is five or six cloths and a heading sewn into one object, and the weakest of them sets the rule. Find your construction here before you read the fiber table.
Washable, if the fiber agrees
Unlined panel, rod pocket, tab, grommet or snap tape
One cloth, a top hem and a bottom hem, nothing stiff inside. This is the store-bought curtain, the unlined sheer and the unlined cafe panel. If the fiber is in the washable column and the label or the mill's code agrees, it can be machine washed on the gentle settings below. Metal grommets and nickel snap tape go through the wash; take out hooks, rings and hem weights first.
Professional
Lined drapery
Two cloths sewn together at the sides and the heading, each with its own shrinkage. Consumer Reports puts it plainly: even when the face is a washable fabric, "the linings and seams could shrink in the wash." A cotton sateen lining can lose length a polyester face will not, and the panel comes out of the machine with a lining that hangs below the hem, or a face that bags over a lining that did not move. Every drapery we sew is lined, so every drapery we sew is a professional clean.
Professional
Interlined and silk
A bump or flannel interlining between face and lining is three layers of three different fibers, often with a silk or a linen on the room side. Water is out of the question; even solvent cleaning is asked for gently. These panels are cleaned flat by a drapery specialist, dressed by hand and rehung. Our silk is lined and interlined for that reason and kept behind a sheer or a solar screen on sun walls; our linen is lined, with a solar screen behind it on west and ocean walls.
Professional
Pleated heading with buckram
Pinch pleats, goblets and inverted pleats stand up because a stiff nonwoven called buckram is sewn or fused into the top four inches. The mill that makes it rates its buckram to keep "pleats looking new after laundering or dry cleaning," with less than 3% shrinkage, but the pleats themselves were tacked by hand and pressed into the cloth. A home machine opens them; a drapery cleaner re-dresses them. Ripplefold hangs from snap tape rather than hand-set pleats, which is one reason an unlined ripplefold sheer is the most washable drapery there is.
Ask the maker
Coated blackout
Blackout is a cloth coated with passes of foam or acrylic. One widely used blackout lining's care sheet allows a delicate wash at no more than 86 °F (30 °C) with no spin and no tumble, forbids bleach because it "will chemically damage the coating and face," forbids dry cleaning, and adds that the finish "is not designed to be durable to washing." Other coatings differ. A sewn-in 3-pass blackout lining, which is how our blackout draperies are made, goes to a cleaner who handles coated goods and says so.
Never the machine
Roman shades, valances and anything on a lift
A roman shade is drapery fabric with a lining, rings, ribs and cords; a valance is fabric over buckram or a board. Vacuum them, spot-clean the face with a white cloth and cool water, and treat anything more as a workroom job. The lift systems, the rings and the pressed folds would not survive the trip through a drum, and a cellular or roller shade is another subject entirely: how to clean shades.
Why the construction rule is not caution for its own sake. A drapery we make is cut to a measured length, lined, hemmed by hand, pleated and pressed, and a linen panel is steamed in place on your wall. A linen panel is cut to the shortest point of the opening so it kisses the floor rather than breaking on it; a sheer is made to hang back to the same length after cleaning. A home wash undoes the measurement first and the pressing second. When a panel does come back from a cleaner short, long or without its pleats, re-hemming, re-pleating and re-lining a panel we made is work our own workroom does.
Read the label, the symbols and the mill's code #
Two surprises first. Under the FTC's Care Labeling Rule, care instructions are required on textile wearing apparel and on piece goods sold for making apparel; curtains and draperies are not in it, so a curtain sold with no care label breaks no rule. Fiber content is another matter: the Textile Act's labeling requirements name "Curtains and casements" and "Draperies" among covered products, with fibers listed by percentage in descending order. So a curtain will always tell you what it is, and only sometimes how to wash it.
Swipe sideways to see every column.
| Symbol | What it says | What it means on a curtain |
|---|---|---|
| Washtub | A number is the maximum wash temperature in °C (30 °C is 86 °F, 40 °C is 104 °F). US labels put dots in the tub instead: the more dots, the hotter. A hand in the tub means hand wash. A cross through it means do not wash. | One bar under the tub is a mild cycle with reduced mechanical action; two bars is very mild, the wool cycle. On a curtain, assume the gentle cycle whatever the tub says. |
| Triangle | An empty triangle allows any bleach. Two diagonal lines allow oxygen (non-chlorine) bleach only. A crossed triangle means no bleach. | Chlorine bleach damages silk, wool and coated blackout outright, and most mills that allow it on polyester want it diluted. When the triangle is missing, treat it as crossed. |
| Square with a circle | Tumble dry; the dots give the heat. A plain square is natural drying: a curved line for line-dry, vertical lines for drip-dry, a horizontal line for dry flat. | Curtains are the one textile you can dry on the rod. Hanging a panel damp lets gravity pull the creases out and the hem settle where it was sewn. |
| Iron | Dots give the sole-plate heat: one for synthetics and silk, two for wool and polyester blends, three for cotton and linen. A crossed iron means do not iron. | Press on the back, along the length, while the cloth is still evenly damp. A dried patch re-wetted on its own leaves a water mark. |
| Circle | Professional cleaning. The letters say what the cleaner may use: P for perchloroethylene-class solvents, F for hydrocarbon solvents, W for professional wet cleaning. A bar under the circle is a mild process; a crossed circle means do not dry clean. | A circle with no washtub beside it is the label most custom draperies would carry if they carried one: the construction, not the fiber, decides it. |
Words on US labels
"Dryclean" means more than you think
In the FTC's rule, the single word "Dryclean" means any solvent may be used safely in a process that includes machine cleaning, moisture in the solvent up to 75% relative humidity, hot tumble drying up to 160 °F and steam pressing. When a cloth cannot take that, the label must say "Professionally dryclean" and state the modification: the FTC's own example is "Professionally dryclean, reduce moisture, short cycle, tumble warm, no steam." If your drapery label says that, hand the words to the cleaner. And if a product "cannot be cleaned by any available cleaning method without being harmed," the rule requires the label to say exactly that.
On this site
The codes on our fabric pages
Every fabric in our libraries carries the mill's cleaning code. On the Alendel pages: WA is washable, P is professional dry clean, WA-P is either, S is dry clean or a solvent spot clean, W is a water spot clean, WS is either kind of spot clean and O means read the instructions. The code rates the cloth on the bolt. It does not overrule the construction above: a WA-P face sewn to a cotton lining is still a professional clean, and a WA sheer on buckram-pleated heading is too. For shade fabrics, the Crestron, Mermet and Phifer sheets give a cleaning method per style; they are linked from each shade fabric page.
How to wash each curtain fabric, and what goes wrong when you do not #
The settings apply to an unlined panel that is labeled or coded washable. The last column is what we counted in the Alendel drapery library on this site, 438 designs, 279 of them marked Drapery, read on 18 October 2026. Every fiber's weight, sun, humidity and flame behavior is in curtain fabric types compared; this table is only about cleaning.
Swipe sideways to see every column.
| Fiber | Machine wash? | Water and cycle | Drying and pressing | Made-up drapery | Watch for, and our library |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polyester (also recycled polyester, microfiber, linen-look and most "faux silk") | Yes, when the label or the mill's code says so | Cold or cool water, gentle cycle, mild detergent; no chlorine bleach unless the label allows it | No heat or the lowest dryer setting, out while damp, or straight back on the rod wet. Iron low, synthetic setting, on the back | Professional cleaning, flat | Oily soil clings to polyester (it is oleophilic); heat sets a crease for good; static draws dust. 223 of the 270 polyester-containing drapery designs in our library carry a washable codeCotton Incorporated on polyester |
| Cotton (sateen, duck, canvas, chintz, cotton prints) | Only if it is pre-shrunk and labeled washable; most decorator cottons are not | Cold water, gentle, mild detergent | Hang while damp; no dryer heat. Iron medium to hot while still damp, on the back | Professional cleaning | Shrinks in the first wash unless pre-shrunk (about 8%, says one fabric house), fades and yellows in sun, mildews in a damp room. 22 of the 56 cotton-containing designs in our library are P or SPentik on cotton shrinkage |
| Linen and linen blends | Hand wash or gentle cold cycle only if unlined and labeled; a lined linen drapery, never | Cold or lukewarm water, no wringing | Hang while damp; never tumble dry. Hot iron while damp, on the back | Professional cleaning | Shrinks 3% to 10% in the first wash, grows and shrinks with humidity, creases, fades and weakens in sun. 30 of the 42 linen blends in our library are WA-P; the one 100% linen is SLinoto on linen shrinkage |
| Silk (dupioni, taffeta, shantung, silk velvet) | No | None: water sets stains and leaves rings | Never the dryer. If it must be pressed: warm, dry iron, wrong side, while evenly damp | Professional only; name the fiber when you drop it off | Sunlight fades and weakens silk; perspiration salts and alkaline detergents weaken it; chlorine bleach and presoaks damage it. All 3 silks in our library are SOhio State fact sheet on silk |
| Wool and wool blends | No, unless the label says hand wash | Lukewarm or cold, mild bleach-free soap, no agitation | Flat or hanging, away from sun and direct heat. Press only with steam and a press cloth | Professional cleaning | Felting if agitated warm, moths when stored soiled, ultraviolet light weakens the fiber. The 2 wool blends in our library are WA-PCanadian Wool Council care sheets |
| Viscose, rayon (also bamboo rayon, modal, cupro, lyocell blends) | No, unless the label says washable; dry-clean-only viscose shrinks hard | If labeled washable: hand wash, cool water, drip dry | Never tumble. Iron low to medium, damp, on the back | Professional dry cleaning, with the solvent named on the label | Loses 30% to 70% of its strength wet, shrinks 5% to 10%, water-marks, and can brown if left damp. 13 of the 24 viscose blends in our library are P or SJames Dunlop: an insight into viscose |
| Solution-dyed acrylic (outdoor and porch curtains, Sunbrella and similar) | Yes | Cold water, delicate cycle, mild detergent; the maker allows 1 cup of bleach per load on severe mildew | Air dry only. Iron on the synthetic setting if you must; no steam | Rarely needed | Pilling on cheap grades; the most forgiving fiber in the list for mildew and sun. 12 of the 13 acrylic-containing designs in our library carry a washable codeSunbrella cleaning instructions |
| Velvet (cotton, polyester, viscose or silk pile) | Cotton, viscose and silk velvet: no. Some polyester velvets are labeled for a 30 °C gentle wash | If labeled: 30 °C (86 °F), gentle, alone | Never tumble; hang to dry without touching the pile. Never press; steam the back of the fabric to lift a bruise | Professional cleaning, the mill's general advice for all velvets | Crushed pile and pressure marks, water marks on viscose pile. 18 of the 19 velvets in our library are WA-P; 11 are 100% polyesterZepel: how to care for velvets |
| Sheers and voiles (polyester, polyester-linen, polyester-cotton) | Usually yes, unlined; this is the panel that gets washed | Cold water, machine no more than half full, a 5-minute soak, then 2 to 3 minutes on gentle | 2 to 3 minutes on no heat with two terry towels, then back on the rod damp. Iron hems while hanging, or a handheld steamer | Professional when the sheer is pleated with buckram or sewn to a lining | A gray film from salt air and dust, yellowing from smoke, stretching if hung wet by one corner. 144 of the 164 sheer designs in our library carry a washable codeConsumer Reports sheer-washing method |
| Coated blackout (foam or acrylic-coated blackout lining; store-bought blackout curtains) | Only if the maker's sheet says so; most coatings are not made to be washed repeatedly | Maximum 86 °F (30 °C), delicate cycle, mild detergent; no bleach, which damages the coating | No spin, no tumble; open the panel fully and line-dry with the coated faces apart. Low heat on the face side only, never on the coating | Ask first: the Eclipse sheet says do not dry clean. A sewn-in 3-pass lining goes to a drapery cleaner who knows coated goods | Coating that cracks, sticks to itself when left wet, or softens with heat; bleach eats it. Our blackout draperies are sewn with 3-pass liningEclipse blackout care sheet |
| Flame-retardant treated fabric (topical FR for condo common areas, hospitality, offices) | No | Water dissolves most topical treatments | Not applicable | Professional cleaning, then re-test or re-treat; the certificate is good for one year | The rating washes out; inherently FR fibers (Trevira CS and other FR polyesters) keep theirs for life. NFPA 701 is listed on 162 of the 192 all-synthetic drapery designs in our librarySew What? Inc. on FR vs IFR |
Polyester, recycled polyester and the linen-looks
The fiber that made washable curtains ordinary. It does not shrink in cool water, it dries in an hour, it feeds no mildew of its own (mould grows on soiled polyester, not on the fiber) and it takes sun better than any natural fiber: Michigan State's extension table rates its light loss as very gradual with no discoloration. Its two habits are heat and oil. Heat above the low setting sets a crease that nothing lifts, which is why the dryer stays on no heat and the iron on synthetic; and polyester is oleophilic, a fiber with "a strong affinity for oils" that mills counter with soil-release finishes. Hand oil, sunscreen and cooking film are the stains it holds, and the leading edge of a drapery that is grabbed every evening is where they live. Open by the wand. In our Alendel library 178 of the 279 drapery designs (64%) are polyester and nothing else, recycled included; 129 of them read exactly 100% polyester, and 115 of those carry a washable code.
Cotton
Cotton washes beautifully as a sheet and badly as a curtain, because a curtain is long. The Finnish fabric house Pentik tells its customers that cotton can shrink about 8% in the first wash and to allow 3% to 5% when a curtain fabric is pre-washed before sewing; on a 96-inch drapery, 3% is nearly three inches off the floor. Decorator cottons are rarely pre-shrunk, and chintz loses its glaze in water. Cotton also fades and yellows in sun, which is why the cleaning institute lists light damage and yellowing as the two most common drapery complaints. A pre-shrunk, unlined, washable-labeled cotton panel: cold, gentle, hang damp, iron hot on the back while damp. Anything else: the cleaner. Of the 56 cotton-containing designs in our library, 22 are coded P or S.
Linen
Linen's charm and its care problem are the same fiber: it answers the weather. A linen mill puts first-wash shrinkage at 3% to 10%, most of it in the first wash, 1% to 2% afterwards on pre-washed cloth, and names hot water as the biggest culprit. In a room it also grows in humid air and draws up again in dry air, which is why we cut 100% linen to the shortest measurement of the opening and steam the panels in place. Washing an unlined, pre-washed linen panel: cold or lukewarm water, no wringing, hang while wet so its own weight pulls it straight, hot iron on the back while damp, and expect to re-level the hem. A lined linen drapery, which is every linen drapery we make, is a professional clean. Thirty of the 42 linen blends in our library are WA-P; the one 100% linen, Harvest Linen, is coded S.
Silk
Never water. Ohio State's extension fact sheet says it in three lines: water "may set the stain or cause a permanent ring"; "sunlight will fade silk items and turn white silk garments yellow"; and silk "can be weakened by perspiration, deodorants and sunlight," is weaker when wet, and is damaged by chlorine bleach and presoak products. A silk drapery is vacuumed through a screen on the lowest suction, kept behind a sheer or a solar screen on any sun wall, lined and interlined so the lining takes the light, and sent to a cleaner who is told it is silk and asked how they clean it. If it must be pressed, a dry iron on the warm setting, on the back, while the whole panel is evenly damp. The three silks in our library are Shalimar, Shelby and Spago, all coded S.
Wool
Rare at a window in South Florida and worth knowing anyway, because wool is the fiber that cleans itself. The Canadian Wool Council's care sheets describe wool as "naturally soil-resistant" because the fiber sheds liquid and takes in moisture as vapor, which keeps static and lint from building up; its care is brushing, airing and steam. A wool blend labeled hand wash takes lukewarm or cold water, a mild bleach-free soap and no agitation, dries flat away from sun and heat, and is pressed only with steam and a press cloth. Wool shrinks by felting when it is agitated warm, is eaten by moths when stored soiled, and, unlike its behavior in fire, does not resist ultraviolet light. The two wool blends in our library, Spirit and Hypnotize, are wool with lyocell, both WA-P.
Viscose, rayon, bamboo, modal and lyocell
Viscose is rayon, and the drape and lustre that make it a favorite in the books come from a fiber that is weakest when it matters. A fabric-care reference puts rayon's wet strength loss at 30% to 50% and warns that dry-clean-only rayon washed at home "can shrink tremendously"; the textile house James Dunlop says viscose "may lose up to 70% of its strength when wet," can rip during cleaning, water-marks when spot-cleaned with water, and can turn brown if it stays wet with alkaline residue in it. Its advice is a professional dry clean for anything with a high viscose content, and ours is the same, plus a lining. Lyocell and modal are cellulose fibers from the same family with better wet strength; follow the label and treat a blend as the viscose in it. Nine of the 24 viscose blends in our library are WA-P; 13 are P or S.
Solution-dyed acrylic
The outdoor curtain fiber, and the easiest cloth in this guide. Because the color is in the fiber rather than on it, the maker of the best-known brand allows what no other fiber here would take: for mould and mildew, "1 cup of bleach and 1/4 cup mild soap per gallon of water," sprayed on, left 15 minutes, sponged, rinsed and air dried; in a machine, cold water on the delicate cycle with mild detergent, a cup of bleach for severe mildew, and air dry only. Iron on the synthetic setting if you must, never with steam. It pills on cheaper grades and it is not a drapery fabric for a formal room, but on a covered terrace in Fort Lauderdale it is the panel that comes back white. Twelve of the 13 acrylic-containing designs in our library are coded washable.
Velvet
Velvet is a construction, not a fiber: a cut pile standing on a base cloth, and the pile can be cotton, polyester, viscose or silk. The pile is what you protect. The mill Zepel's advice is to hang curtains with the pile facing up for a deeper color, to brush a mark out in the direction of the pile, to lift a bruise by "gently steaming the back side of the fabric," never the face, and that "all velvets are dry cleaned," with the single exception of a polyester velvet rated for a 30 °C wash and natural drying. Never press velvet face down and never fold it damp; a crushed pile is permanent. Eleven of the 19 velvets in our library are 100% polyester, and 18 of the 19 carry WA-P, which is the mill rating the cloth, not the pile's opinion of your dryer. Hang a washed polyester velvet to dry without touching the pile and steam it from behind.
Sheers and voiles
The one drapery that is washed at home as a matter of course, because it is unlined, it is nearly always polyester, and it shows soil first: on the coast a sheer in an open slider goes gray with salt and dust in a season. Consumer Reports' method is the right one. Fill the machine no more than half full, soak five minutes in cold water, run two to three minutes on gentle with mild detergent and an oxygen whitener if the panel has yellowed, then two to three minutes in the dryer on no heat with a couple of terry towels, and hang the panel while still damp, pulling it gently into shape. Iron the hems while they hang, or run a handheld steamer down the panel. Never wring a voile and never hang it wet from one corner. Pleated sheers on buckram and sheers sewn to a lining go to the cleaner; our sheers are made to hang back to the same length after professional cleaning, and we re-hem any panel that comes back short. One hundred forty-four of the 164 sheer designs in our library are coded washable.
Blackout and lined bedroom draperies
The face fabric is rarely the problem; the blackout layer is. Coated blackout is a cloth with two or three passes of foam or acrylic, and the coating is hydrophilic: wet, it turns heavy and soft, and two coated faces left touching stick to each other. The care sheet for one widely used blackout lining is the clearest published statement of how far such a coating can go: delicate cycle, water no hotter than 86 °F (30 °C), mild detergent only, no bleach, no spin, no tumble, open the panel fully and line-dry it with the coated faces apart, iron the face side only at low heat, and do not dry clean. The same sheet says the finish is not designed to be durable to washing. Our blackout draperies are sewn with a 3-pass lining behind a decorative face; they are cleaned by a drapery specialist who handles coated goods. The 19 "decorative blackout" weaves in our Alendel library are different: densely woven polyester and polyacrylic with no coating at all, and all 19 carry WA or WA-P. Which blackout you own is on your quote; the layers are explained in the drapery lining guide.
Flame-retardant treated fabric
If your building, hotel or office required an NFPA 701 certificate, ask which kind of flame retardancy you bought before anything is cleaned. A topically treated fabric was dipped in a water-soluble chemical after weaving; a drapery maker that certifies such goods says the treatment wears down over time, that repeated cleaning dissolves it sooner, that FR certification is issued for one year, and that FR draperies "should be re-tested periodically for flame retardancy, as retreatment may be required." An inherently flame-retardant fiber, such as Trevira CS or the FR polyesters, has the retardancy built into the polymer and keeps it through every cleaning. In our library NFPA 701 is listed on 162 of the 192 all-synthetic drapery designs and on 1 of the 87 with a natural fiber; the fiber guide explains inherent against treated.
Blends
Follow the most delicate fiber in the content line. A 64% polyester, 36% viscose velvet is a viscose for cleaning purposes; a 52% linen, 31% recycled polyester, 17% organic cotton weave is a linen; a polyester voile with 10% linen slub washes like a polyester and shrinks like a linen, so it is hung damp and re-leveled. The FTC requires the fibers to be listed by weight in descending order, so the first word on the label is the one that governs the color and the hand, and the smallest percentage is often the one that governs the wash.
Washable codes across the Alendel drapery library on this site #
Alendel is the Toronto and Buffalo distributor whose drapery and sheer range fills our main fabric library. We read the care code on every design page on this site and sorted them. The pattern is the whole guide in one table: the synthetics are washable on the bolt, the natural fibers are not, and the silks never are.
Swipe sideways to see every column.
| Group | Designs | Washable code (WA or WA-P) | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| All drapery designs | 279 | 226 (81%) | WA-P 162, WA 61, P 23, S 16, W 6, WS 4, no code 4, mixed 3 |
| Sheers | 164 | 144 (88%) | WA-P 94, WA 47, S 8, W 6, P 2, WS 1, no code 3, mixed 3 |
| Drapery weights, not sheer | 115 | 82 (71%) | WA-P 68, WA 14, P 21, S 8, WS 3, no code 1 |
| All-synthetic designs | 192 | 175 (91%) | Polyester, recycled polyester, polyacrylic |
| Designs with cotton, linen, viscose, silk or wool | 87 | 51 (59%) | P 17, S 14 among them: the natural fibers are where the professional-only codes live |
| 100% polyester drapery | 129 | 115 (89%) | The safest fiber to own if you intend to wash |
| Velvets | 19 | 19 (100%) | 18 WA-P, 1 WA; 11 are 100% polyester pile |
| Silks | 3 | 0 | Shalimar, Shelby and Spago are S: dry clean or solvent spot clean |
How to read a WA-P face on a lined drapery. The code says the mill tested the cloth for washing and for dry cleaning and it passed both. The lining was not in the test, nor the buckram, the thread, the hem weights or the hand pressing. A WA-P face on a cotton sateen lining is a professional clean because of the sateen; the same face as an unlined ripplefold panel on snap tape can be washed cold and hung back on the track to dry. Every Alendel pattern page shows the code, the content and the width, and the fabric finder will identify a fabric from a photo if you no longer have the quote.
Washing a washable panel at home #
For an unlined panel in a fiber from the washable column, with a washable label or code. If any one of those three is missing, skip to the professional steps below.
- Confirm the three conditions. Unlined, no buckram in the heading, and a fiber that washes, with a label or code that says so. Blends follow their most delicate fiber. When one condition fails, the washing machine is the wrong tool whatever the internet says.
- Measure and photograph. Width and length of each panel, the heading, the hem and where the hooks sit. Consumer Reports' advice is to measure before washing "so you can stretch them back into shape"; the photograph is how you rehang the pleats where they were.
- Strip the hardware. Hooks, rings, clips and hem weights out; pleat tapes loosened flat; grommets and snap tape stay. A hook left in a panel tears the next panel in the drum.
- Dust first. Shake outdoors, then vacuum both sides with the upholstery brush on the lowest suction, through a mesh or an old nylon stocking over the nozzle on anything fine. Dust that goes into the wash comes out as a gray tide line at the hem.
- Pre-treat, gently. Mild detergent and cool water on the leading edge and any spot, blotted with a white cloth. No chlorine bleach on silk, wool, viscose or a coated blackout; an oxygen whitener for a yellowed polyester sheer.
- Load light. Half a drum for sheers, one wide panel per load for anything heavier. A curtain is much heavier wet than dry, and an overloaded drum sets creases and strains the seams.
- Cold, gentle, mild, short. Cold or cool water, the gentle cycle, a mild detergent at the normal dose. For a coated blackout rated for washing, no spin at all; for a voile, the shortest spin.
- Out of the drum the moment it stops. A panel left sitting wet creases, and a coated panel left folded sticks to itself. Open it fully in your arms, not over a wooden chair, which can stain it.
- Dry it hanging. Back on the rod damp with the weights in, or over two parallel lines so no wet surface touches another, or in the dryer only on no heat or delicate for a few minutes. The weight of a hanging panel is the best iron a curtain has.
- Finish and dress. Press on the back, along the length, while the whole panel is still evenly damp; iron hems while they hang, or run a handheld steamer top to bottom. Reinsert the hooks from the photograph, pull the tape to its width, run your fingers down each fold from heading to hem and leave the panel closed for a day or two so the folds settle.
Having a drapery professionally cleaned
For everything lined, interlined, pleated, silk, viscose, wool, coated or flame-retardant treated. We do not run a cleaning plant; this is how we tell our own clients to go about it.
- Know the fabric and the lining. Both are named on our quote, and every fabric in our libraries has its care code on its page. A cleaner who knows the fiber, the lining and whether there is a coated blackout inside can choose the process; one who does not will choose the safest, which is the least cleaning.
- Choose a drapery cleaner, not a dry cleaner who takes draperies. The cleaning institute's one piece of advice on the choice is to use "a cleaner who is experienced in the cleaning of drapes." Ask whether panels are cleaned flat, whether they wet-clean or solvent-clean, how they handle coated blackout, silk and viscose, and whether they measure each panel before and after.
- Measure and photograph before they leave. Length from the top of the heading to the hem at both ends and the center, width across the heading, and the hook positions. A good cleaner does this too; your record is what settles any difference afterwards.
- Expect cleaning to reveal, not cause. Light damage, yellowing from soil, water marks and abrasion are usually attributed to how the drapes were used, and they show up when the dirt comes off: a sun-rotted lining tears in cleaning because the sun rotted it. The institute's fair-claims life expectancies are 5 years for lined draperies, 4 for unlined and 3 for sheers; a well-made drapery on a shaded window outlives them, but the number is the cleaner's defense when a twelve-year-old lining fails.
- Rehang and dress. Hooks back in the same carriers, the leading edge first, then the folds finger-pressed from heading to hem and the panel left in the closed position for a few days. If the length changed or the pleats are not what they were, call us: re-hemming, re-pleating and re-lining a panel we made is our workroom's job, and we will say honestly whether a stained or sun-damaged fabric is worth cleaning again or should be replaced, with the price of each.
The routine that keeps a drapery out of the machine #
Most drapery cleaning is prevention. Sun, dust, humidity and salt air are the four things a South Florida curtain lives with, and each one is answered by a habit rather than a product.
Swipe sideways to see every column.
| When | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Every time you use them | Open and close by the wand, the baton or the motor, never by the leading edge. Keep sunscreen, hand cream and wet dogs off the edge you would otherwise grab. | Hand oils are the soil polyester holds hardest, and the leading edge is where every drapery goes gray first. |
| Weekly, on the coast | Shake out sheers that stand in an open slider. Close the glass before a sea breeze blows through them. | Salt air and sand settle in a voile faster than anything else in the house; a shaken sheer stays white for months longer. |
| Monthly on the coast, every one to three months inland | Vacuum the panels top to bottom with the upholstery brush on the lowest suction, both sides where you can reach, through a mesh or an old stocking on fragile cloth. Glance at the hem for condensation marks and at the heading for dust. | Dust is not inert: conservators note that sharp silica in household dust cuts fibers, and that at Florida temperatures and humidity it cements itself to the cloth within a short period. A monthly pass is what keeps the annual clean from becoming a restoration. |
| Every season | Vacuum along the track channel and over the rod. Check that hooks sit in their carriers and that a motorized track moves without laboring. Air a washable panel outdoors on a dry day, or tumble it on no heat for ten minutes. | A stiff carrier is a five-minute fix; a motor that strains against one is not. Airing lifts the smell of a closed house without water. |
| Once a year | Have lined draperies, pleated sheers and anything silk, viscose or interlined cleaned by a drapery cleaner. Rotate panels between windows of the same size so one pair does not take all the western sun. Re-test flame-retardant treated draperies. | The Drycleaning & Laundry Institute asks for a cleaning at least once a year to stop soil yellowing the cloth; in a dusted, air-conditioned South Florida home, sheers that look gray and draperies every year or two is what we see work. |
| Storm season, June 1 to November 30 | Keep draperies and sheers off any glass that may leak or sweat. If a panel gets wet, take it down and dry it fully open within a day, then clean it. | Conservators put the mould threshold at a relative humidity of 65% and up; at 90% it starts in days. A panel left damp against a window after a storm mildews before the power is back. |
Sun
Light damage is cumulative and irreversible
That is the conservators' sentence, and it is the reason a lining exists. Exposure is lux multiplied by hours: a west window in the afternoon does in a summer what a north window takes years to do. Every drapery we sew is lined so the lining takes the ultraviolet load; silk and linen on a sun wall get a sheer or a solar screen in front of the glass as well. Ultraviolet-absorbing film on the glass cuts the UV without dimming the room, which is why impact glass is kinder to fabric than the single pane it replaced.
Humidity
Keep the room under 60%, and the panel dry
Mould on textiles is unlikely below 60% relative humidity with air moving, and probable from 65% up; cotton, linen and rayon are the most vulnerable, silk and wool can be affected, and even polyester grows it when it is soiled. An air-conditioned house holds the line; a house closed up for the summer with the thermostat at 82 does not. A drapery that touches a sweating slider in August is wet at the hem every morning: fix the condensation or shorten the panel.
Salt air and dust
Shake, vacuum, close the glass
Sheers against an open slider collect salt and sand faster than anything else in the house, which is why polyester voiles are what we specify on the ocean side: they wash. Close the glass when a sea breeze is blowing through them, shake them weekly, vacuum monthly, and wash them when they look gray rather than when they are filthy; the cleaning institute's point about soil is that it yellows a cloth if it stays, and a yellowed cotton rarely comes back.
Mildew, water marks, smoke, oils, allergens #
What the extension services, the conservators and the mills publish, by problem. Test any agent on the return edge first, and on a lined drapery spot-treat only and tell the cleaner where you worked.
Swipe sideways to see every column.
| Problem | What to do | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mildew, washable fabric | Brush the growth off outdoors. Work detergent into the spot and launder. If the mark stays, soak 10 to 15 minutes in 1/4 cup chlorine bleach, if the fabric allows it, or an oxygen bleach such as sodium perborate, in 3/4 cup water; rinse and launder. The bleach-free route is salt and lemon juice, dried in direct sun. | University of Georgia Extension |
| Mildew, non-washable fabric | Brush it off outdoors, wearing a mask. Sponge with diluted hand dishwashing detergent and white vinegar, blot, flush with water, let dry; or send it to the cleaner. Mildew weakens fibers, so work gently and expect some staining to be permanent. | University of Georgia Extension |
| Mildew on outdoor acrylic | 1 cup of bleach and 1/4 cup mild soap per gallon of water; spray the whole panel, wait 15 minutes, sponge, rinse thoroughly, air dry. Machine washable panels: cold, delicate, mild detergent, 1 cup of bleach for severe growth, then air dry. | Sunbrella |
| A room that smells of mould after a storm | Dry everything fast. Vacuum the panels slowly with a HEPA vacuum, the nozzle held just off the cloth, twice, the second pass at right angles to the first, outdoors on a dry day if you can. Then wash or clean. People with asthma or allergies should not do this job. | CCI Notes 13/15 |
| Water marks and rings | On silk and viscose, nothing at home: water set the ring, and more water sets a bigger one; take it to the cleaner. On a washable panel, re-wet the entire panel evenly, then dry it hanging, so the tide line has nowhere to form. | Ohio StateConsumer Reports |
| Smoke and cooking film | Yellowing from airborne soil is the reason the cleaning institute wants draperies cleaned at least yearly. Keep draperies away from the range, the fireplace and candles; a yellowed polyester sheer usually comes back with a wash and an oxygen whitener, a yellowed cotton often does not. | Drycleaning & Laundry Institute |
| Hand and sunscreen oils on the leading edge | Polyester has a strong affinity for oils, which is why mills finish it with soil-release chemistry. Blot fresh oil, work a drop of dish detergent into the spot with cool water, blot again; do not let it age in the sun. On a lined drapery, spot-treat only and tell the cleaner where it is. | Cotton Incorporated encyclopedia |
| Dust mites and allergens | Mites die at a wash of 130 °F (54 °C) or 15 minutes in a dryer above that, which almost no curtain fabric tolerates. The bedroom routine is a HEPA vacuum on the panels, a washable unlined sheer where the window allows it, and indoor humidity under 50%. | Mayo Clinic |
| Pet hair and lint | Brush attachment on low suction with the pile, then a lint roller. Velvet: brush with the pile, then steam the back if the nap is bruised. | Zepel |
Professional drapery cleaning prices, and what we charge for #
Published national figures
Angi, updated 15 July 2026
Average drapery cleaning job $190, with prices from $60 to $400 and a typical range of $100 to $250 per set; by measurement $2 to $7 per foot or $1 to $5 per pleat; dry cleaning $150 to $400 against steam cleaning $75 to $150; on-site cleaning about $50 more than taking the panels to the plant yourself. These are a national cost guide's figures, not ours. Interlined silk sits at the top of any cleaner's range and unlined polyester sheers at the bottom, and a cleaner who measures, cleans flat and rehangs is worth the difference on anything we made.
Exotic Shades & Draperies
We sew, repair and replace; we do not clean
What our workroom does after a cleaning: re-hemming, re-lining and re-pleating of draperies we made, fabric replacement, and an honest opinion on whether a faded or stained panel is worth cleaning again, with the price of a new one beside it. What we tell you for free: what your fabric and lining can take, from the quote and the mill's sheet, before you call a cleaner. For motorized tracks the service page covers motors, batteries and reprogramming, and the pricing page covers everything new.
Replace rather than clean when: the lining tears when you fold it (sun rot, and the face is next), a cotton or linen has yellowed through rather than on the surface, a viscose has water-marked, a coated blackout has cracked or stuck to itself, or the panel is a budget polyester whose replacement costs less than two cleanings. Clean when the fabric is sound and the soil is on it, not in it. Our draperies page and the instant price tool put a number on the replacement.
Washing and caring for curtains: questions
Can I machine wash lined curtains? #
No. The lining and the face fabric shrink at different rates, so a washed lined drapery comes out with a lining that hangs below the hem or a face that bags, and the hand-pressed hem and any pleats are gone with it. Consumer Reports makes the same point: even a washable face has linings and seams that can shrink in the wash. Lined draperies are vacuumed at home and cleaned flat by a drapery cleaner. Every drapery we sew is lined, so every drapery we sew is a professional clean.
How do I know if my curtains are machine washable? #
Three conditions, all of them: the panel is unlined with nothing stiff in the heading; the fiber is one that washes (polyester, solution-dyed acrylic, a pre-shrunk cotton or linen, most sheers and voiles); and the label or the mill's code says washable. On our fabric pages the Alendel codes WA and WA-P mean the cloth itself was rated for washing. If the panel has no care label, that is normal: the FTC's Care Labeling Rule covers apparel, not curtains. Fall back on the fiber content label, which is required, and on the construction.
How often should curtains be washed or cleaned? #
Vacuum on low suction every month on the coast and every one to three months inland, and shake out coastal sheers weekly. The Drycleaning and Laundry Institute asks for a professional cleaning at least once a year so that soil does not yellow the cloth. In a dusted, air-conditioned South Florida home, sheers when they look gray and lined draperies every year or two is what we see work; sooner next to a kitchen, a fireplace, a smoker or an open slider on the ocean.
Can curtains go in the dryer? #
Only on no heat or the delicate setting, for a few minutes, and only a washable unlined panel. Heat sets permanent creases in polyester, shrinks cotton and linen, softens the coating on a blackout and felts wool. The better dryer is the rod: hang the panel while damp with the weights in and let its own weight pull it straight. Consumer Reports' sheer method is two to three minutes on no heat with a couple of terry towels, then rehang damp.
How do I wash sheer curtains without wrinkling or shrinking them? #
Fill the machine no more than half full, soak five minutes in cold water, run two to three minutes on the gentle cycle with mild detergent and, if the voile has yellowed, an oxygen whitener. Dry two to three minutes on no heat with two terry towels and hang the panels while still damp, pulling them gently into shape; iron the hems while they hang or use a handheld steamer. Never wring a voile. Pleated sheers on buckram and sheers sewn to a lining go to the cleaner; ours are made to hang back to the same length, and we re-hem any panel that comes back short.
Can you wash blackout curtains? #
Only if the maker says so, and then gently. The care sheet for one widely used coated blackout lining allows a delicate wash at no more than 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 Celsius) with mild detergent, no bleach, no spin and no tumble, line-dried fully open with the coated faces apart, and it forbids dry cleaning; the same sheet says the finish is not designed to be durable to washing. A sewn-in 3-pass blackout lining, which is how our blackout draperies are made, goes to a drapery cleaner who handles coated goods. The woven decorative blackout fabrics in our Alendel library have no coating and all carry a washable code.
How do I wash linen curtains without shrinking them? #
If the panel is unlined and pre-washed: cold or lukewarm water, the gentle cycle or a hand wash, no wringing, hung while wet so its own weight straightens it, and a hot iron on the back while still damp. Expect to re-level the hem: a linen mill puts first-wash shrinkage at 3 to 10 percent and names hot water as the biggest cause. Linen also lengthens in humid air and shortens in dry air, which is why we cut 100 percent linen to the shortest point of the opening and steam it in place. A lined linen drapery is a professional clean.
Can polyester curtains be machine washed? #
Unlined polyester panels, yes, and they are the safest curtain to wash: cold or cool water, gentle cycle, mild detergent, no chlorine bleach unless the label allows it, no heat in the dryer, and back on the rod while damp. Iron, if at all, on the synthetic setting on the back. Polyester's weakness is oil, not water: hand and sunscreen oils on the leading edge are the stains it holds, so pre-treat them with a drop of dish detergent. In our Alendel library, 115 of the 129 designs that are 100 percent polyester carry a washable code.
How do I clean silk curtains? #
Never with water. Water sets a stain and leaves a permanent ring, chlorine bleach and presoaks damage the fiber, and sunlight fades and weakens it. Vacuum silk through a screen on the lowest suction, keep it lined, interlined and behind a sheer or a solar screen on any sun wall, and send it to a cleaner who is told it is silk and asked how they clean it. If it needs pressing afterwards, a dry iron on the warm setting, on the back, while the whole panel is evenly damp. All three silks in our library are coded S, dry clean.
How do I clean velvet curtains? #
Brush marks out in the direction of the pile, lift a bruise by steaming the back of the fabric, never the face, and never press it face down or fold it damp. The mill's general advice is that all velvets are dry cleaned; some 100 percent polyester velvets are rated for a 30 degree Celsius gentle wash alone, hung to dry without touching the pile. Cotton, viscose and silk velvets go to the cleaner. Eighteen of the 19 velvets in our library are WA-P, a rating of the cloth; the pile still wants a cool wash and no dryer.
What do the codes WA, WA-P, P, S and W mean on your fabric pages? #
They are the mill's cleaning codes for the cloth as it comes off the bolt. WA is washable, P is professional dry clean, WA-P is either, S is dry clean or a solvent spot clean, W is a water spot clean, WS is either kind of spot clean and O means read the instructions. They rate the fabric, not the drapery: a WA-P face sewn to a cotton lining is still a professional clean, and an unlined WA sheer on snap tape can be washed cold and hung back on the track.
How do I get mildew out of curtains? #
Brush the growth off outdoors with a mask on. On a washable fabric, work detergent into the spot and launder; if the mark stays, soak 10 to 15 minutes in a quarter cup of chlorine bleach, where the fabric allows it, or an oxygen bleach, in three quarters of a cup of water, then rinse and launder; salt and lemon juice dried in the sun is the bleach-free route. On a non-washable fabric, sponge with diluted dish detergent and white vinegar, blot and flush, or send it to the cleaner. On outdoor acrylic, one cup of bleach and a quarter cup of mild soap per gallon of water, 15 minutes, sponge, rinse. Mildew weakens fibers and some staining is permanent; the cure is a room under 60 percent humidity.
Can I steam my curtains to remove wrinkles? #
On drapery fabrics, yes: a handheld steamer run top to bottom on a hanging panel is how we finish our linen panels in place, and it is the safest way to release creases in polyester, linen and cotton. Steam velvet from the back only, never the face. Keep steam away from silk that water-marks, from a coated blackout, and from every shade fabric: solar screens, honeycomb and roller blackouts are dusted and wiped, never steamed.
Do dry cleaners shrink curtains? #
Sometimes, and more often cleaning reveals a change the sun and the room had already made. The cleaning institute lists shrinkage among the complaints and attributes light damage, yellowing and water marks to how the drapes were used; a sun-rotted lining tears in cleaning because the sun rotted it. Measure and photograph each panel before it leaves, use a cleaner experienced with draperies who cleans flat and measures too, and if a panel we made comes back short or without its pleats, bring it to us: re-hemming and re-pleating is our workroom's job.
How do I clean curtains without taking them down? #
Vacuum them on the rod, top to bottom, with the upholstery brush on the lowest suction, through a mesh or an old nylon stocking on anything fine; spot-clean the face with a white cloth, cool water and a drop of mild detergent, blotting rather than rubbing; run a handheld steamer down a creased panel. Angi's 2026 figures put on-site professional cleaning about 50 dollars above plant cleaning. What cannot be done on the rod is a real clean of a lined drapery or a yellowed sheer; those come down once a year or two.
Will washing remove the flame-retardant rating on my draperies? #
If the fabric was topically treated, yes: the treatment is water soluble, it dissolves sooner with repeated cleaning, the certificate is issued for one year, and the draperies should be re-tested and re-treated as needed. If the fiber is inherently flame retardant, such as Trevira CS or an FR polyester, the rating is in the polymer and survives every cleaning. Ask which you bought before a building manager asks for the certificate; in our library NFPA 701 is listed on 162 of the 192 all-synthetic drapery designs.
Where the numbers come from #
Mill care sheets, extension services, the cleaning trade's institute, the FTC's rules and the conservation notes accessed 18 October 2026; the practice statements about our own draperies are the ones already published on this site, linked in the last entry. Makers revise their sheets, and we will update the page when a fact changes.
- Consumer Reports, "Curtain cleaning tips": gentle cycle, cool or lukewarm water, measure before washing, remove hooks and weights, the half-full sheer method, dry over two lines, dry-clean anything with stitched-in pleats, "the linings and seams could shrink in the wash". consumerreports.org
- Drycleaning & Laundry Institute, "Making Draperies Last": light damage, yellowing, water marks and abrasion attributed to use; clean at least once a year; use a cleaner experienced with drapes; rotate drapes; ANSI fair-claims life expectancies (lined 5 years, unlined 4, sheer 3). dlionline.org
- Federal Trade Commission, 16 CFR Part 423, Care Labeling of Textile Wearing Apparel and Certain Piece Goods (eCFR): scope, definition of "dryclean", the "cannot be cleaned" statement. www.ecfr.gov
- FTC business guidance, "Clothes Captioning: Complying with the Care Labeling Rule": what the rule covers, "Dryclean" (any solvent, moisture to 75% RH, tumble to 160 °F, steam), "Professionally dryclean" with the modification stated, the reasonable-basis requirement. www.ftc.gov
- FTC business guidance, "Threading Your Way Through the Labeling Requirements Under the Textile and Wool Acts": curtains, casements and draperies are covered products; fibers listed by percentage in descending order. www.ftc.gov
- GINETEX, care labelling brochure: the washtub, triangle, square, iron and circle symbols, bars for mild and very mild processes, the St. Andrew's cross. www.ginetex.net
- Canadian Conservation Institute, CCI Notes 13/1 "Textiles and the Environment": light damage cumulative and irreversible, exposure as lux times hours, UV guidance, damp above 70% RH, dust cutting and cementing to fibres. www.canada.ca
- Canadian Conservation Institute, CCI Notes 13/15 "Mould Growth on Textiles": growth promoted at 65% to 100% RH and unlikely below 60%, cellulosic fibres most vulnerable, HEPA vacuuming twice at right angles, respirator and allergy precautions. www.canada.ca
- University of Georgia Extension, "Remove Stains From Mildew, Mold": brush outdoors, detergent and launder, 1/4 cup chlorine or oxygen bleach in 3/4 cup water for 10 to 15 minutes, salt and lemon juice in sun, the non-washable procedure, "mildew weakens fibers". site.extension.uga.edu
- Ohio State University Extension fact sheet HYG-5500-86, Silk: water may set a stain or cause a permanent ring; sunlight fades and yellows silk; perspiration, deodorants and alkaline detergents weaken it; no presoaks or chlorine bleach; warm dry iron on the wrong side. www.apparelsearch.com
- FabricLink, Rayon: loses 30% to 50% of its strength when wet; dry-clean-only rayon can shrink tremendously if washed; hand wash cool and drip dry when labeled washable. www.fabriclink.com
- James Dunlop Textiles, "An insight into viscose": may lose up to 70% of its strength when wet, water marks, browning when left wet with alkaline residue, professional dry clean for high viscose content, a quality lining for drapery. jamesdunloptextiles.com
- Zepel Fabrics, "How to care for velvets": hang curtains pile up, brush marks out, steam the back of the fabric, all velvets dry cleaned, the 30 °C exception for a polyester velvet. manufacturer.zepelfabrics.com
- Sunbrella, "How to clean Sunbrella upholstery": 1/4 cup mild soap per gallon of lukewarm water; mould and mildew 1 cup bleach and 1/4 cup mild soap per gallon, 15 minutes; machine wash cold, delicate, mild detergent, 1 cup bleach for severe mildew; air dry only; iron on synthetic, no steam. global.sunbrella.com
- Eclipse blackout drapery care sheet (Wolf-Gordon): delicate cycle at no more than 86 °F / 30 °C, mild detergents only, no bleach, no spin or tumble, line-dry fully open with coated faces apart, iron the face side only below 110 °C, do not dry clean, finish not designed to be durable to washing. cdn2.wolfgordon.com
- Hollingsworth & Vose, drapery buckram: keeps pleats looking new after laundering or dry cleaning, 59% of original stiffness and less than 3% shrinkage after laundering, heat-tackable versions. www.hollingsworth-vose.com
- Sew What? Inc., "Facts about flame retardancy": topical FR treatment wears down and dissolves with repeated cleaning, certified for one year, re-test and re-treat; inherently and permanently FR fabrics do not lose their rating; NFPA 701 test conditions. sewwhatinc.com
- Canadian Wool Council, wool care fact sheets: naturally soil-resistant, brush and air, lukewarm or cold hand wash with bleach-free soap, dry away from sunlight and direct heat, always steam when pressing, cold storage against moths. www.wool.ca
- Cotton Incorporated, CottonWorks textile encyclopedia, Polyester: "oleophilic (having a strong affinity for oils)", treated with soil-release chemistry. cottonworks.com
- Mayo Clinic News Network, dust mite allergies: wash at 130 °F (54.4 °C) or dry 15 minutes above that to kill mites; keep indoor humidity below 50%; nonwashable curtains named among dust-collecting furnishings. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org
- Angi, "How much does drapery cleaning cost?", updated 15 July 2026: average $190, $60 to $400, $100 to $250 per set, $2 to $7 per foot, $1 to $5 per pleat, dry cleaning $150 to $400, steam cleaning $75 to $150, on-site about $50 more. angi.com
- Linoto, "Does linen shrink?": 3% to 10% in the first wash, 1% to 2% afterwards on pre-washed linen, hot water the biggest culprit, cold or lukewarm water and low heat. linoto.com
- Pentik, fabric buying guide: cotton can shrink about 8% in the first wash, linen 8% to 10%, allow 3% to 5% for a pre-washed curtain fabric; curtain hem allowances. en.pentik.com
- Michigan State University Extension bulletin E-1772, fibers and sunlight: polyester very gradual loss with no discoloration; cotton gradual loss and yellowing; rayon and silk worse than cotton. sanweb.lib.msu.edu
- Exotic Shades & Draperies: the Alendel drapery library (438 designs on this site, 279 marked Drapery, care codes counted 18 October 2026), how to clean shades and drapery, the drapery lining guide, the linen drapery guide and curtain fabric types compared for the practice statements on this page.
Discerning homeowners, designers, and developers across South Florida trust Exotic with their most important spaces.
“I’m absolutely blown away and in love with my ripple food curtains !! Everything about them from the install to the fabric and quality . My house feels so much more like a home I couldn’t have asked for anything better . I recommend to everybody !”
“I couldn’t believe how much of a change these new drapes could make! This company upgraded my apartment overlooking the water and it now has a fresh, art deco’ish vibe I can only picture in my head. The space feels modern and elegant without losing its at home feeling. From start to finish top notch work. I highly recommend them if you want your place to look like something out of a magazine.”
“I’m really happy with my new curtains! The team from Exotic Shades came to my place helped me choose the right fabric, and guided me through the whole process. Everything happened exactly as it was supposed to. Great service and beautiful results. Highly recommend A+”
Exotic Shades & Draperies, Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach
Exotic Shades & Draperies is a South Florida window-treatment company that designs, sews and installs its own work: Lutron and Somfy motorized shades, custom draperies sewn in our Fort Lauderdale workroom by five in-house seamstresses, plantation shutters and blinds. Established in South Florida in 2024, backed by more than 20 years of window-treatment manufacturing and installation experience. Lutron certified dealer, Somfy Expert, Crestron and Control4 integration. The same in-house team measures, installs and programs every project; when shading has to integrate with another control system, we bring in our smart-home partner Adom Smart Home.
Fort Lauderdale workroom and showroom
4539 Powerline Rd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 · 954-881-9331
Miami Beach showroom
500 South Pointe Dr #150, Miami Beach, FL 33139 · 954-872-9007
Where we install
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties: Miami Beach, Sunny Isles and Aventura through Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach to Boca Raton, Delray Beach and West Palm Beach, with projects in the Caribbean and New York.
How a project runs
Free in-home measurement, a written quote from the same engine as our published prices, fabrication in our own workroom, installation and programming by our own team, and service on the systems we install.
Draperies made to be cared for, from Miami to Palm Beach
Lined so the lining takes the sun, cut to the shortest point of the opening, steamed in place, and named fabric by fabric on your quote so a cleaner knows what they are holding. The same in-house team that sewed and installed your draperies re-hems, re-lines and re-pleats them, from Miami Beach to West Palm Beach.
Not sure what your draperies can take?
Call the workroom before you call a cleaner, or before anything goes in a machine. The advice is free, it takes five minutes with your quote in hand, and it is faster than a repair. New draperies, measured and sewn here, start with a complimentary consultation.