Tag Archives: Blackout curtains

To wash or not to wash curtains!

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Washing: Your curtains got dirty from just dust or perhaps someone spilled something on them. Now if they are your favorite, be on the safe side and get them dry cleaned. Often times even if a curtain says machine washable, they really aren’t. Or if they are, make sure they don’t go through the normal cycle. The delicate cycle will always be your best bet even if they are extra dirty. Not 100% sure why a lot of curtains say machine washable just to turn out not to be. You can tell after a washing if the colors have faded or you have small pieces of fabric missing. Very little damage will likely occur if it does but its still best to be careful. Some curtains will however rip and destroy themselves but those almost 99% of the time will say Dry Clean Only.

 

Drying: Then the dryer after cleaning. Make sure to always use just non-heated air especially if you have a thermal backing on the curtains. Soundproof curtains have such a backing and if you put these in the dryer they will likely melt and you’ll have ruined curtains afterwards. After all these backings are usually a type of plastic that melts really quickly. Plus with little room in the dryer there’s a good chance the curtain won’t move around enough to evenly distribute the heat. Instead you’ll have one part heat up a lot more than the others. If something starts to smell, turn off the dryer immediately!

 

After Cleaning: You may notice that after cleaning your curtains that they do not smell like the fabric softener or even the washing liquid you used. Sadly you can’t prepare for this happening besides unless you just do dry cleaning. The best option in this case is just let them hang and wait as the smell will go away. Otherwise a few squirts of febreze will help out greatly!

 

Keep those curtains clean and smelling fresh!

Keep cool during the summer months with curtains!

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Summer heat: The good and the bad.

sun beamsAfter spending a wonderful day outside in the summer sun you’ll want to come home to a nice cool home to rest and relax the night away. Perhaps you just need to take a break for a few minutes to get something to drink. In either case when you get inside you’ll want your home to be perfect and relaxing when you arrive.

The unfortunate thing is though, that the summer heat while nice outside is terrible inside and it’ll find its way in if you don’t have good curtains. A room with no curtains and wide windows can heat up a room to well over 100+ degrees without much effort during the summer time on those cloudless days. Even if you crank on the air conditioning this may not be of much help and you’ll be wasting money trying to keep a room cool that you aren’t currently in. Your own sauna in the house that you don’t wish to be there when you arrive home.

Insulated curtains to the rescue!

What kind of curtains will help you in the summer greatly? Insulated curtains as they are specially made to keep out the summer sun and allow you to keep a room much cooler. This can save you a few dollars a month or even more depending on how much direct sunlight the room gets. This cost will be easily recuperated by the savings on lower cooling costs and will be well worth it before the summer even ends. A great deal of curtains sold on any website will be insulated to help keep that room at the perfect temperature you want!

But sometimes curtains won’t specifically state insulated when you see that perfect curtain you wish to buy but there are ways to tell if they will help at least a little bit. The first way is check to see if the side that faces the window is padded with a white “foam” or layer to help reflect light. The next method is check to see if the curtains are blackout as this will stop any sun from getting in especially if they are 99% blackout. No sunlight will always immediately mean less heat and this is exactly what you’re looking for! Another term to of course look out for is thermal though it’s usually paired with blackout or insulated. Not all sites will list the words together but usually if thermal it’s made to help out during the really warm and really cold seasons. Lastly check to see if a heavy fabric is used as even though they may not be stated for blackout or insulated, a nice heavy fabric curtain can still help keep out hot air coming into the house from a window that doesn’t tightly close.

But what about my awesome silk curtains!

While silk curtains have a nice lovely designs and flow freely in the wind they may not help so much in terms of keeping the room nice especially during the summer. However a insulated blackout curtain with a very heavy fabric in the end is best for your room if you wish to keep it cool during the summer and warm during the winter. It maybe a bit costly up front but the savings made overall will be more than worth it! You can always bring out the silk curtains during the spring and fall seasons when insulated curtains don’t have as much use. 🙂

Do blackout curtains help with soundproofing?

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Blackout curtains and soundproofing

A common question asked is if blackout curtains help with soundproofing at all.

In a sense yes all blackout curtains will Red Curtain Fabricreduce sound in a way but it will vary greatly between the types of curtains and how they were made. A curtain panel being blackout most of the time means that no or less than 1% of sunlight can come through the curtains. This nicely also means that there is far less room for sound to go through the curtains with no resistance. However if the curtains are quite thin it doesn’t matter if they are soundproof or not as the curtain in general can’t stop any sound. There has to be some sort of layer of fabric to stop the sound. If a curtain lists specifics like foam backing and/or several layers of coating then it will provide at least some soundproofing.