How to properly wash tulle in a washing machine

Content:

General recommendations for the care of tulle
Preparing to machine wash
At what temperature to wash tulle
The correct washing mode in the machine
Acceptable detergents and what fabrics are
Whitening products at home
How to starch a tulle curtain

If your grandmother laments and tells you that only lazy women have a question “how to wash tulle in a washing machine”, then you can safely declare to her that her experience is no longer relevant. Modern machines wash any delicate fabrics: silk, wool, and even high-tech membrane ones.

But, no matter how smart the cars are now, there are still some nuances and you need to know about them in advance, so that as a result you would not be ashamed in front of your grandmother who warned you! The process of washing tulle in a washing machine is a slightly different machine from a manual one.

General recommendations for the care of tulle

Did you know that tulle was invented back in the Middle Ages, in France? Then the fabric was available only to wealthy aristocrats in the form of decoration for windows and canopies on the bed. The rest of the people were content with only modest collars and cuffs.

Can you imagine what an important aristocrat you would then be known for in Paris, if you have tulle hanging in three rooms, and even not quite clean? But, jokes are jokes, but they must be erased.

The cost of good curtains is quite high, therefore, you need to try to prolong their life as much as possible. So what do you need to do and how to wash the tulle to make it white?

Wash your curtains regularly, as textiles that are cleaned once a year slowly but surely irrevocably turn gray and yellow. It is almost impossible to withdraw this shade later.
If the tulle is hanging in your kitchen, which implies an increased settling of fat and soot, then you need to wash it at least once a month. In other rooms, once every three months will be enough.
You should not vacuum such products, as there is a high probability of leaving a clue. And they are very visible on transparent fabric and hopelessly spoil the overall picture.
It is better to choose plastic hooks for cornices, since metal ones tend to rust, especially since tulle is hung on windows not in a dry state, but in a wet one.
It is advisable to lightly starch the linen with each wash, because this does not allow dirt and dust to be eaten deeply, during washing, the grayness leaves very quickly, because it has not penetrated into the structure of the fibers.
Do not use aggressive bleaches containing a high percentage of chlorine, as the wear of the fabric will be too fast.
Ironing curtains is not recommended. If they are hopelessly crumpled, it is better to soak them for a long time, then wash them and hang them wet to dry. If this does not help, then the ironing mode is the lowest, through the fabric and with steam. Why is ironing undesirable? Because they turn yellow or gray from exposure to high temperatures.

These are some simple recommendations. If you follow them, then the thing will serve you not for years, but for decades. Now let's deal with the washing, since this is the most important point

Preparing to machine wash

First of all, the curtain must be thoroughly shaken off from the dust.It is advisable to do this on the balcony, since there will be a lot of it, and it will settle on the walls and other interior items. And soaking a dusty cloth is not good, since the cloth is washed off then worse.
Inspect the tulle and check for stains. If they have a place to be, then use special stain removers, moreover, before starting the main wash.
Curtains made of such materials are very fond of soaking. Therefore, you can pre-soak them in a bowl with a small amount of detergent and salt, in the proportion:

1 liter water - 1 teaspoon of salt + 1 teaspoon of powder

Salt is needed in order to soften the water, and in soft water dirt leaves much better and the foaming will be just wonderful.

Salt is believed to have a bleaching property. But, in reality, this is not at all the case: the lightening effect occurs due to the fact that in soft water softened with salt, the powder acts much better and penetrates deeper into the fibers of the fabric.

Pre-soaking time is from an hour, but the dirtier the tulle, the longer it needs to be kept in water before washing. Therefore, it is better to use a basin for these purposes, more economically. The process of soaking in a typewriter - the machine also draws electricity, like the usual mode.

At what temperature to wash tulle

The main enemy of a snow-white curtain is hot water, therefore, remember once and for all that the washing temperature for tulle is from 35 - 40C. Neither higher nor lower.

If you wash in hot water, you will get the opposite effect, the fabric will turn gray. And, if in very cold, then it simply does not wash well.

There are exceptions to the rule: tulle made from natural fabrics, not synthetic. These curtains will withstand higher temperatures, around 60C. But, by and large, there is no difference, 40C or 60C, therefore, for convenience, it is better to use one formula.

The correct washing mode in the machine

Choose any mode for a delicate wash without spinning, any modern machine has such.

They are called, of course, in different ways. There is simply “for hand washing”, there is “for tulle”, there is for wool and silk. Any of them will do. At the same time, remember that you do not need to select the "soak" function, as it is better to do this separately and beforehand.

The main thing is the absence of high revs, as this will tear the thin fabric. And without spinning, since looking at the tulle with an iron means inflicting unnecessary harm on it with a high temperature.

Acceptable detergents and what fabrics are

You can machine wash tulle with any detergent without a high chlorine content, but still, pay attention to the fabric. Tulle is more or less delicate, depending on the composition.

The most stress-resistant are curtains made of natural threads: linen, cotton, even with the addition of synthetics. Silk curtains are more susceptible to destruction by chemistry, but they are so expensive that one expression "silk curtains" is simply from the realm of fantasy for an ordinary person.

But other types of fabrics from which tulle are usually made are rather capricious. Organza, nylon, muslin - can simply dissolve and become covered with micro-holes from chlorine.

Whitening products at home

How to wash tulle so that it remains white?

There are a lot of store products. They are all good and reasonably priced. But, there are times when there is absolutely no way to acquire the necessary chemistry. Let's say your curtains are in a rural house, from where it is quite far from civilization, or today there is not a single penny superfluous, and tomorrow guests will come.

Anything can happen, therefore, it never hurts to have in your arsenal a couple of recipes proven over the centuries from improvised means. What is the trend for grandmothers? Soda, of course!

Wow, how they adore her! And they whiten her teeth, and clean the dishes, and scrub her face and refresh her favorite curtains. For the sake of fairness, the result will not be as noticeable as from the use of special chemistry, but, in the absence of fish and cancer, fish, you understand. So…

To bleach the tulle with soda, you need to soak it in a solution with a proportion:

1 liter water + 1 tablespoon of baking soda

You need to keep it for a long time, at least three to four hours, and preferably all night, then rinse thoroughly.

There is one more wonderful tool that greedy grandmothers use instead of blue and this is ordinary greenery. Yes, exactly green stuff, don't be surprised. They use it like this:

1-2 drops of this miracle remedy are dripped into a bowl of warm water, stirred and immersed in the cloth. The solution should be slightly greenish, and if you exceed the proportions, then your tulle will become cheerful emerald, but not white. But on the other hand, if you do everything right, then a wonderful result awaits you. The curtains will really look white.

Also, don't discount the blues. Of course, you can't call it an improvised remedy, since, first, you still need to try to find this substance. But, if you have it on your farm, then be sure to use it, based on the instructions. And the general proportion for tinting with blue is such that it is exactly white:

0.5 teaspoon per 10 liters of water

All these recipes are good because they not only save money, but are also safe for allergy sufferers and very young children. And in our polluted world, this is a strong enough argument to pay attention to such methods.

How to starch a tulle curtain

As we already wrote above, it is highly recommended to starch the tulle, as this keeps it completely intact for many years. How is this effect obtained?

This is because the starch solution, penetrating into the fabric, forms the thinnest film on it, which is a protective barrier against the ubiquitous dust and soot. That is, all these nasty things settle directly on the starch, and not on the fabric itself. Therefore, if you are an economical housewife, then by all means use this method, it is really effective!

You can only starch a completely clean and rinsed thing, from which there is water and it is still wet. That is, you can wash in a car - an automatic machine. Then you make a solution like this:

2 tablespoons of starch + 1 glass of cold water

Mix thoroughly so that not a single lump remains, and pour this mixture into 0.5 liters of boiling water. Mix thoroughly again and dissolve in 10 lire of rinse water.

We lower the curtains there, soak it thoroughly, carefully pull it out and hang it up first so that the water has a little glass (for example, on the ropes above the bathroom), and then directly on the cornice.

We have nothing more to say about how to properly wash tulle in a washing machine. But, these recommendations are quite enough for a good result, if, of course, you follow them.

See also: