Ignoring curtain cleaning in a city like Dubai can be more damaging because of the climate. Experts also suggest the fact that the curtain cleaning frequency depends on many factors, like the fabric, the location of your house, how frequently you open windows, etc. However, all experts agree on the fact that regular cleaning should be done more frequently than any homeowner realises.
In Dubai, the high humidity, intense heat, and frequent dust in the air cause curtains to accumulate more dust, allergens, and odours.
Frequency of Curtain Cleaning: Expert Guidelines
Curtains are not just fabrics for decoration; rather, they filter and gather everything that passes through the indoor air of your house. These include moisture, allergens, pollutants, dust, cooking odours, pollen, and smoke etc. Curtains not only become dirty due to all these factors, but also affect the indoor air quality of your home and directly affect health. However, regular cleaning can help prevent all these issues.
- Light Cleaning: Every 1-2 Weeks
Light cleaning includes the weekly or bi-weekly dusting or vacuuming you do to prevent dust, sand, and allergens from settling deep into the curtain fabric. It is a very good practice to help keep the curtains fresh for longer periods and prevent frequent deep cleaning.
Light cleaning includes the following:
- Vacuuming the Curtains
A vacuum cleaner with a soft brush attachment should be used. Start vacuuming the curtains from top to bottom to remove sand, pollen, pet hair, and dust particles. In a city like Dubai, where AC vents gather all the outside dust, vacuuming regularly is essential.
- Shaking the Curtains
This simply involves pulling the curtains and gently shaking them to remove surface dust. This also helps to prevent buildup that causes allergies and dullness of the fabric.
- Wiping Curtain Rod & Rings
The rods, hooks, rings, and other attachments of curtains also gather dust, and after some time, these areas start transferring dust onto the curtains.
- Spot Cleaning
Mixing a mild detergent with water and spraying it onto tiny spots can help extract and remove without leaving stains. Spot cleaning is helpful as it prevents the splashes from becoming stubborn stains.
- Deep Cleaning: Every 3-4 Months
Deep cleaning involves a thorough, full-scale cleaning process that helps to remove stains, dust, and odours, leaving your curtains fresh and bright. Light cleaning only cleans the surface, while deep cleaning extracts dust deep down from the fibres.
Deep Cleaning includes the following:
- Full washing of the Curtains
In this process, the curtains are removed from the rods and washed using either the machine wash or hand wash methods.
- Steam Cleaning
For curtains that are heavy, very long, or cannot be washed due to sensitive fabric, they are cleaned using the steam method. Steam cleaning penetrates the fabric and removes dust mites, allergens, bacteria, loosens dirt and stains, and eliminates odours. It is specifically helpful in Dubai to kill mould spores caused by high humidity.
- Professional Dry Cleaning
Some fabrics, like silk, velvet, and linen, cannot be washed with water at all. In this situation, dry cleaning is recommended by experts to prevent fading of colour or shrinking and damaging of the sensitive fabric.
- Removal of Stubborn Stains
Deep cleaning also includes the removal of stubborn stains. These stains could be cooking oil stains, pet stains, sticky residue, water marks, mould spots, etc. These stains do not clean with simple cleaning; they need deep cleaning for complete removal without discoloration.
- Odor Removal
Curtains trap smells from cooking, dust, humidity, AC units, smoking, and pets. However, the deep cleaning methods make sure to remove all the odours to help keep your home smelling fresh and clean.
- Professional Cleaning: Every 6-12 Months
Professionally trained technicians use advanced equipment and specialised cleaning solutions to perform a thorough deep cleaning of curtains, referred to as professional cleaning. Delicate, expensive, and heavy fabrics cannot be cleaned through home washing or steam cleaning techniques. They are suggested to be cleaned by professionals in order to prevent damage and complete removal of dust, bacteria, and odours.
Experts mostly recommend curtain cleaning every 6-12 months, especially in a climate like Dubai, where humidity and dusty winds cause more dust accumulation as compared to other places.
Professional Cleaning includes the following:
- Fabric Inspection
Professionals first inspect the fabric, lining, backing, and the damage. This inspection helps to find out if the fabric needs dry cleaning or some other method. Moreover, they decide about the right cleaning solution and temperature for the fabric. This also helps to decide how to prevent fading and shrinkage.
- Industry Dry Cleaning
Industrial dry cleaning is the method that is best suitable for curtains that can not be washed with water, for example, delicate embroidered curtains, velvet curtains, silk, or blackout curtains with foam backing. Specialised solvents are used in the process to remove dust and deep buildup without fading or shrinkage.
- Specialised Steam or Hot Water ExtractionÂ
High-pressure steam and extraction machines are used for cleaning washable fabrics. This method helps to remove sand and dust, along with killing bacteria and dust mites. This also helps to remove odours and restores the freshness of the fabric. These are professional machines that are much stronger than compared to home steamers.
- Stain & Odour Removal
Professional cleaners have stain removal solutions that are not available in common home stores. They are used to treat deep and stubborn stains like grease marks, pet stains, mould patches, etc. These solutions make sure that the curtains come back looking fresh and smelling clean.
Dubai-Specific Curtain Cleaning Challenges
Some of the cleaning challenges that every homeowner in Dubai has to face are listed below.
- High Levels of Airborne Dust
Even if you keep your windows closed, still, much dust still enters through small gaps, balconies, and AC vents.
- Summer Humidity Levels
Humidity is the main culprit for mould growth in Dubai. Therefore, thick curtains in rooms with less ventilation are most likely to develop mould.
- 24/7 Air Conditioning
Due to the hot weather, air conditioning is compulsory. However, AC blows the dust towards the curtains and causes the accumulation of dust and buildup in the fabric fibres.
Conclusion
Maintaining a healthy and comfortable home is possible only when your curtains are kept clean, as they tend to collect dust and allergens that can affect indoor air quality. In a city like Dubai, where dust builds up quickly, following a regular cleaning schedule or hiring a reliable house cleaning company can be very effective in keeping your curtains clean and fresh for longer. Proper cleaning also helps extend the lifespan of your curtains and supports a healthier indoor environment.
