Hanging Matters: A Winter Curtain Wash for Deptford Flats

Curtains are the quiet workhorses of a Deptford flat. They soften the rumble of the high street, keep the worst of the streetlight out of the front room, and — in a winter of steamed-up windows — quietly collect everything the flat throws at them. Condensation, cooking steam, toast smoke, the occasional bit of market grit: it all settles in the folds. By the time the days are short and the windows are running with water, a curtain that looked perfectly fine in October can smell faintly of last night's dinner.

The temptation is to haul every panel down and wash the lot. Please don't. In a small flat, curtain washing is less about brute force and more about choosing your battles. Some curtains need a full wash. Some need a spot-clean and a good air. Some need a professional hand. And almost all of them need more drying space than you think.

Start with the label, not the laundry basket

Before anything goes near water, find the care label. If it has gone missing, treat the curtain as delicate until proved otherwise. Cotton and linen are often washable, but they can shrink. Polyester mixes are usually forgiving. Blackout curtains have a coated backing that dislikes heat. Lined curtains are the tricky ones: the face fabric and the lining can behave like two different people on a first date, and one of them may shrink.

Take the curtains down slowly. Count the hooks, release the pleats, and label left and right with a bit of masking tape. If you have a header tape, tie it loosely so it does not tangle. Give each panel a good shake outside — over the bin, not over the neighbour's doorstep — and vacuum both sides with a brush attachment. This removes the loose dust that turns into muddy soup in the wash.

The sniff test, the sunlight test and the spot-clean shortlist

Not every curtain earns a full wash. Hold the hem near your nose. If it smells of cooking, damp or the inside of a cupboard, that is a signal. Hold it up to the window: greyness at the leading edge usually means grime from the street. Look at the bottom hem, where condensation and dust collect, and at the sides where hands brush past.

For small marks, spot-cleaning is often enough. Mix a little mild detergent in cool water, dab with a white cloth, and work from the outside of the stain inwards. Blot, do not rub. Rinse with a clean damp cloth and let it air. Test any solution on a hidden corner first, especially on coloured or lined fabric. If the mark is old, greasy or spread across a whole panel, a full wash is probably the kinder option.

What actually goes in the machine

Wash curtains on a delicate or hand-wash cycle, low spin, cool water. Use a mild detergent and skip the fabric softener, which can leave a film on the fibres. Do not cram the drum. One or two panels at a time is plenty. Nets are best popped inside a pillowcase or a mesh laundry bag, tied closed, so they do not snag on the drum.

If the curtains are lined, oversized, velvet, wool or labelled dry clean only, do not force it. A service wash or a wash-and-fold drop-off is usually cheaper than replacing a ruined pair. At Deptford Laundrette we would rather take the weight than watch you wrestle a six-foot lined panel into a two-foot drum.

Drying without blocking every radiator

This is where winter curtain washing is won or lost. A wet curtain is heavy, and a small flat has very few places to put one. Do not drape it over a hot radiator: the heat can set creases, damage blackout backing and leave the room feeling like a sauna. Instead, hang the panel over the bath or shower rail with a towel underneath to catch drips. If you have a curtain pole in a room with a window, rehang the curtain while it is still slightly damp and open the window a crack. The weight of the fabric will pull out some creases as it dries.

An airer near a window works well if you leave a gap for air to move. A dehumidifier in the same room can speed things up without turning the flat into a steam room. If you are drying more than one panel, leave space between them. Curtains need air circulation more than they need heat.

While the curtains are down, give the window a clean. Condensation marks and cooking film build up on glass and frames, and there is no point putting fresh curtains back over a grimy window. A little warm water with a drop of washing-up liquid, then a dry squeegee or cloth, is enough.

When to hand it over

If the curtains are large, lined, delicate, or you simply cannot face the drying rigmarole, a service wash is the sensible call. That is especially true for nets, which tear easily, and for winter curtains that need to go back up before the room gets cold. Bag them up, tell us what they are, and let someone else deal with the drum, the drying and the folding.

Curtain washing does not have to be a whole-weekend event. Check the label, spot-clean what you can, wash only what needs it, and give the panels room to dry. Your windows will look brighter, your front room will smell less like a chip shop, and your radiators can get back to doing their actual job.