Removed, washed, reinstalled curtains and bed covers

[pauloh]

I've seen other questions about cleaning curtains and bed covers, so here's my experience. Our recently-purchased TM 2004 3124KB has blue curtains, which were quite dusty from previous owner's travels, so one of my first projects was to take them out in order to wash them. Washing the bed covers seemed like a good plan also.

Brought the foam beds into the house. I used a bungee cord around the doubled-over king-size bed to make it more portable. In the house, unzipped the bed covers, pulled out the foam (ours was still in good condition or I would have replaced it), by gradually "peeling" the cover off, sort of turning it inside out as we went. With some trepidation, put the covers in our large-capacity front-loading washer...one cover at a time. Cold water, easy on the soap, low spin cycle. I took them out, turned them around a bit while soaking wet, and ran rinse cycle one more time. The plastic back of the foam covers traps some of the soapy water in the washer so this was to ensure a good rinse.

Dried them on a nice sunny winter day on the clothesline. With DW help, we were able to wrestle the covers back on the foam pads in about 15 minutes per bed. I thought it would be much more difficult, especially the king-size which nearly touches our ceiling when upright. Start by bending the foam not quite in half and sticking it in the cover as far as possible (maybe a foot or two). As DW said, pretend you're putting on nylons (not that I'd know about that!) and pull the cover up gradually part way from the floor. Turn the whole thing over and pull down. Work one side then the other. Seemed like turning it over a time or two also helped. At some point, you can grab the cover like an open sack, and sort of bounce and push the foam into it some more. May have to reach in and push a corner or two into place. Definitely a 2 person job, 3 might make it easier yet on the king-size cover. Once its nearly in, it'll be sort of bow-shaped due to perhaps SLIGHT shrinkage, have your kid jump and roll on it to push the foam into the proper corners at last. Have someone pull the zipper sides together as you close the zipper, to avoid too much pressure on the closing zipper.

I don't think the bed cover shrank, but possibly a small amount. It stretched out again, in any case. While I had the cover washing, I vacuumed the foam rubber too.

For the curtains, I used my cordless drill with the square bit which made removal go faster, though I also needed a hand-screwdriver with the square bit for some of the screws in corners here and there.

Most of the TM window curtains have a screw at the upper and lower outer corner of each of the 2 curtains per window (4 screws total)...these keep the curtain (and curtain tape attached to the back) from sliding out of the curtain-tape channels at each end. Sometimes the screw is hidden behind a fold of the curtain fabric in the corner. There's another screw in each of the velcro curtain hold-backs or ties; these are easy to remove (note position of the velcro before removing, or take a photo!) Our TM has an plywood/upholstered valance around the top of the curtain above the front bed/front of TM...this one was the most challenging curtain to remove. Had to partially disassemble the valance (screws on each end of it) and kind of bend it down to reach in and unscrew the upper corner screws. Didn't want to take it off completely.

I also took down the privacy curtains to wash them (and the shower curtains, washed separately).

I used a permanent marker to write on the back of each curtain (on the plastic curtain tape), where it came from...made a little map of the TM with a number for each window, also noting L or R...this did speed up re-installing them and the screw holes were already in the right places.

I have read here and there about dry-cleaning the curtains but, as with the bed covers, decided to throw caution to the winds and just use our regular front-loading washing machine. I used cold water and not much soap, and also kept the spin-dry cycle at low so we wouldn't wrinkle things too much. They did not fade any further in the wash. My wife ran an iron over the damp curtains afterward, stacked them flat half-folded in a pile, and I hung them again while they were still damp, hoping to avoid potential shrinkage problems mentioned elsewhere. I did have to stretch the curtains a little to get the upper and lower curtain tapes into their channels, but it was not hard (while damp). Starting at one end, do a little of the upper curtain tape, then stretch and insert a little of the lower tape, gradually working the curtain back onto the upper and lower channel. A couple pieces of channel looked like they may have been factory-installed with the channel bent in at the ends, to keep the tape in. I pried the channel open a bit at the end (screwdriver) to get the curtain tape back in after finally realizing why it was so difficult to re-insert a couple of the curtains.

Some of the curtains are a little sun-faded, and we debated dying them darker again, but decided to go with them as they are for the coming season.

I ran the furnace and a fan in the camper for a day or two and the curtains are now dry. A few wrinkles, we can live with that and maybe they'll stretch out. Oh yeah, clean your windows while the curtains are OFF! On to the upholstery and carpets...

Thanks for the suggestion and results.

fwiw, while I was using a Rug Doctor to clean some outdoor cushions this summer, I tried using it on the TM bathroom curtain, with no soap, just hot water, and it clearly removed some of the dirt.

Not a great job but at least an improvement.

I did not see any indication of shrinking. Perhaps because I never detached the curtains from the wall.

Originally Posted by pauloh

I ran the furnace and a fan in the camper for a day or two and the curtains are now dry. A few wrinkles, we can live with that and maybe they'll stretch out. Oh yeah, clean your windows while the curtains are OFF! On to the upholstery and carpets...

Just a thought, you probably could use one of the hand steamers to get rid of the wrinkles... I love the one I got for clothes, have used it on my house curtains that just bought rather than risking the iron, worked like a charm...

Because too many people have reported shrinkage when removing the curtains for cleaning I have, on one occasion as a test, cleaned the curtains in place.

I was using a Rug Doctor cleaner with the upholstery attachment to clean the cushion for the back yard. So, while I had it, I experimented cleaning the bathroom curtain.

The curtain is much cleaner, but not as clean as running it through the washer. But, for those of us that always camping in the dirt, this is more than adequate.

Next time I will wash them all in place.

BTW, I only used water, no soap.

Just a suggestion for putting the foam mattress back into the cover. Get a dry cleaner plastic bag, slit open on one side and slip this over the corner of the foam. Hold in place on the foam as you stick the mattress corner back into the corner of the cover. It will help get the corner back into place. Afterwards, the plastic can be torn off. The plastic will keep the foam from sticking to the fabric and making it difficult to get fully into the corner of the cover.

Originally Posted by klv5920

Just a suggestion for putting the foam mattress back into the cover. Get a dry cleaner plastic bag, slit open on one side and slip this over the corner of the foam. Hold in place on the foam as you stick the mattress corner back into the corner of the cover. It will help get the corner back into place. Afterwards, the plastic can be torn off. The plastic will keep the foam from sticking to the fabric and making it difficult to get fully into the corner of the cover.

That sounds interesting to me, but I am having trouble visualizing it.

I think you mean that after the foam is in place to reach inside all the way to both of the back corners to remove the plastic. I don't think I can reach the back corners of my queen mattress.

Were you able to remove all of the plastic or did some of it stay in there?

This is a trick that upholsterers use to get covers back on foam cushions. If you can't reach all the way back, start pulling the plastic off once you get the foam into the corner of the cover. You don't have to pull it of if you don't want. It doesn't hurt to leave it on but some people don't like hearing the plastic when they lay on it! And since the plastic is thin, it will come off in pieces. Foam is very grabby and it just makes it easier to pull the cover on especially in corners.

One of my colleagues is very cleaver/knowledgeable on any number of do-it-yourself projects.

I asked him how he would wash curtains mounted in an RV (he has an RV).

He suggested using either 99 percent rubbing alcohol (not 75 percent) or dry cleaning fluid. 99 percent may be hard to find, but he has found it at Walgreen's. Then use a Rug Doctor with the upholstery tool as a suction machine only (not as a spray cleaner).

I asked if a shop vac would work. He said it should because it has even more suction than the Rug Doctor.

He also said that at Bed, Bath and Beyond they sell a small upholstery tool (about 4 inches wide) intended for a home vacuum cleaner, but they also sell a set of attachments that would increase the size so it could be used on a shop vac. If you go down this path ne mention that the tool should be washed first, because their may be some residue on it from the manufacturing process.

I have not tried this technique, Yet.

I can see using the alcohol but the dry cleaning fluid is highly flammable. And the lingering odor might not be desirable. Am wondering also about just using a clothes steamer. Other than being dusty, how dirty can the curtains get? And steam would freshen up the fabric a bit. Not sure what I will do. But, then, I am one to change things so I may not even keep the curtains as they are. I would like something brighter. But since they hug the windows, good for keeping out the cold and heat, yes?

Originally Posted by klv5920

I can see using the alcohol but the dry cleaning fluid is highly flammable. And the lingering odor might not be desirable. Am wondering also about just using a clothes steamer. Other than being dusty, how dirty can the curtains get? And steam would freshen up the fabric a bit. Not sure what I will do. But, then, I am one to change things so I may not even keep the curtains as they are. I would like something brighter. But since they hug the windows, good for keeping out the cold and heat, yes?

The dry cleaning products that you can purchase today, from places such as Amazon, are non-flammable.

A steamer by itself will not do a very good job. You need an agent to separate the dirt from the fabric. The choices that I know of are detergent/soap, alcohol, dry cleaning fluid.

I'm not sure about the lingering odor. My wife will get 15 blouses, 12 slacks, 4 sweaters all dry cleaned, take them home, and hang them in a single walk in closet. There is no noticeable residual odor.

Water, or water based products, will always cause shrinkage. So what is needed is something that will not cause shrinkage.