Curtain cleaning and washing in Riga

With pick-up or on site: what suits which curtain

With pick-up, curtains are cleaned in a workshop and brought back. This is usually the right option for curtains with stains, smoke smell, lining or pile, and for fabrics whose label does not allow washing in water. On site, the curtains stay on the rail.

If you do not know what suits your curtains, tick “Not sure” in the “Where to clean?” field of the form and add a photo. Before the job, a specialist tells you what to expect. For work without taking the curtains down, see on-site curtain cleaning.

Curtain washing and dry cleaning: what the label decides

The care label, not the look of the fabric, tells you whether curtains may be washed in water. Care symbols are described by the GINETEX system and the standard ISO 3758: a crossed-out symbol means “do not”, a circle with a letter indicates professional cleaning, and bars under a symbol mean a gentler process.

Lined curtains have two fabrics, and each may have its own label. Photograph both. Velvet, silk, jacquard and curtains marked for professional cleaning have their own page: curtain dry cleaning.

Why curtains shrink and change colour

NC State Extension (North Carolina State University), in its guide to textiles after a flood, notes that when fabric gets soaked, its colour often changes, the dye bleeds, the fabric shrinks and water marks stay. The fabric maker Brentano writes that natural fibres react to air humidity, and the length of a curtain can change by up to 3%.

Light dries out fibres and fades colours, so on a sunny window a curtain can fade unevenly. Cleaning does not restore fading. If your curtains have already shrunk after washing at home, read why curtains shrink after washing.

How much curtain cleaning costs

• Thin and day curtains, sheers: from €2.30/m².
• Heavy, night and double curtains: from €3.70/m².
• Roman blinds and roller blinds: the price depends on the situation (size, mechanism and take-down, fabric).
• Curtain take-down and rehanging: the price depends on the situation (length and height of the curtain rail, number and weight of curtains, type of fixing, whether steps or scaffolding are needed).

The price is calculated per square metre of fabric: the width of the curtain times the length, not the size of the window. Example: two heavy curtains, each 1.5 × 2.6 m of fabric, 7.8 m² × €3.70 = €28.86 in total, so you pay €45. The minimum order is €45: if the total is lower, you pay €45. This €45 minimum applies to the cleaning only; the pick-up and return charge and the travel charge are added.

Pick-up and return in Riga costs €10 (both ways together); in the Riga region up to about 15 km from the Riga boundary it is also €10, and further out another €10 is added. When cleaning on site: travel is included in Riga and up to about 15 km outside the Riga boundary; further out it is from €10. All prices: prices.

How to measure curtains for a price

1. Measure the fabric, not the window A curtain on a rail is gathered into folds, so the width of the fabric is greater than the rail. If you can, lay the curtain out and measure it stretched.
2. Each curtain separately Write down the width and length of each curtain in metres. List sheers and night curtains separately, because their prices differ.
3. If you cannot take them down Measure the length and height of the rail from the floor and add a photo. That is enough to get started.

Curtain cleaning for a private house and a flat

In a private house, curtains can hang high: in double-height windows, by stairs or in large living rooms. There, the height of the rail from the floor and a photo from inside the room are useful. If it is not safe to take the curtains down yourself, see curtain take-down, cleaning and rehanging.

In a flat, write in the request which floor the room is on, whether there is a lift and where a car can stop. If both rugs and curtains need cleaning, write them in one request. We clean curtains across Riga, for example in Purvciems, Centrs and Mežaparks, and in the Riga region, for example in Jūrmala.

Mould on curtains

Mould in a porous material often cannot be fully cleaned out. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) writes that mouldy porous materials sometimes have to be thrown away. The Health Inspectorate (Veselības inspekcija) advises putting textiles covered in mould into a closed bag, and leaving mould that covers more than about 9 m² or is in the building structure to specialists.

If the mould is on the walls or in window reveals, cleaning the curtains does not solve the problem. For treating the room, see room treatment for mould and smell. For marks on a curtain, send a photo: a specialist tells you whether cleaning makes sense.

What to write in the request

• the type and number of curtains: sheers, night, lined, blackout, Roman or roller;
• the size of each curtain in metres, or the length and height of the rail;
• photos of the front and the back, the care label, if there is one;
• stains, yellowing, smoke smell or damp marks;
• whether you will take the curtains down yourself, and the type of fixing (hooks, eyelets, tracks);
• floor, lift and where a car can stop.

What usually comes out and what may stay