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Curtain careThe short answer
Blackout linings carry an acrylic or foam coating that cracks with heat and folding, so they are vacuumed, steamed with a moving head, and never washed or pressed.
A blackout curtain is two or three materials bonded or hung together. The face fabric, the lining and often an interlining all behave differently, and the coating on the lining is the fragile part.
How it is done
- Vacuum both faces, including the lining, with low suction
- Steam only with a moving head; never hold heat on a coated lining
- Never iron a blackout lining, and never fold it for storage
- Check the lining for cracking or flaking, which cannot be repaired
Why it matters
Once a blackout coating cracks it sheds, and the light leaks in fine lines. Nothing in cleaning reverses it, so the whole aim with these curtains is to avoid causing it.
questions
Asked about this
Usually heat or repeated sharp folding. Once it starts, replacement of the lining is the only real fix, and it is a curtain-maker's job rather than a cleaner's.
Yes, and they generally should be. Interlining absorbs a great deal of water, which is exactly why laundering them goes wrong.