If your grandmother laments and tells you that only lazy people have a question “how to wash tulle in a washing machine”, then you can safely tell her that her experience is no longer relevant. Modern cars 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 of the grandmother who warned you! The process of washing tulle in a washing machine - the machine is slightly different from manual.
General guidelines for the care of tulle
Do you know that tulle was invented in the Middle Ages, in France? Then the fabric was available only to wealthy aristocrats in the form of decorations for windows and canopies on the bed. The rest of the people were content with only modest collars and cuffs.
Can you imagine how important an aristocrat you would have been in Paris if tulle dangled in three rooms, and even not quite clean? But, jokes are jokes, but they must be washed.
The cost of good curtains is quite high, therefore, you need to try to maximize their life. So, what needs to be done and how to wash the tulle so that it is white?
- Wash curtains regularly, as textiles that are cleaned once a year will slowly but surely irrevocably turn gray and turn yellow. To bring out this shade later is almost unrealistic.
- If the tulle is hanging in your kitchen, which implies increased settling of fat and soot, then you need to wash at least once a month. In the remaining rooms - once every three months will be enough.
- It is not necessary to vacuum such products, since 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, moreover, the tulle is hung on the windows not in a dry form, but in a wet one.
- It is advisable to slightly starch the linen with each wash, because, as this prevents dirt and dust from being eaten deeply, the gray leaves very quickly when washing, because it did not penetrate the fiber structure.
- Do not use aggressive bleaches containing a large percentage of chlorine, as the fabric will wear too quickly.
- Ironing tulle curtains is not recommended. If they are hopelessly wrinkled, it is better to soak them for a long time, then stretch them and hang them to dry in a wet state. If this did not help, then the ironing mode is the lowest, through the fabric and with steam.Why is it undesirable to iron? Because they turn yellow or gray from exposure to high temperatures.
Here are some simple recommendations. If you follow them, then the thing will serve you not for years, but for decades. And now let's deal with washing, as this is the most important point
See also - Where to put powder in the washing machine?
Preparing for machine wash
- First of all, the curtain needs to be thoroughly dusted off. It is advisable to do this on the balcony, as it will be quite a lot, and it will settle on the walls and other interior items. Soaking a dusty cloth is not good, as the fabric then launders worse.
- Inspect the tulle and check for stains. If they have a place to be, then use special stain removers, and, before you start the main wash.
- Curtains made of such materials are very fond of soaking. Therefore, you can soak them first in a basin 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 the dirt leaves much better and the foaming will be just wonderful.
It is believed that salt has the ability to bleach. But, in fact, this is not at all the case: the clarification 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.
- The 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’s better to use the basin for these purposes, more economically. The soaking process in the machine - the machine also draws electricity, as well as the usual mode.
What temperature to wash the tulle
The main enemy of snow-white curtains is hot water, therefore, remember once and for all that the temperature of washing tulle is from 35 - 40C. Neither above nor below.
If you wash in hot water, you will get the opposite effect, the fabric will turn gray. And, if it’s in a completely cold place, then it simply does not open well.
There are exceptions to the rule: tulle made from natural fabrics, not synthetic. Such curtains will withstand a higher temperature, approximately 60C. But, by and large, there is no difference, 40C or 60C, therefore, for convenience it is better to use one formula.
The correct mode of washing in the machine
Choose any mode for a delicate wash without spin, in any modern machine there are such.
They are called, of course, in a different way. There is just “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 soaking function, since it is better to do this separately and beforehand.
The main thing is the lack of high speed, as this will tear thin tissue. And without spinning, since to make out a tulle with an iron is to inflict unnecessary harm to it by high temperature.
Permissible detergents for washing and what fabrics are
You can wash the tulle in the machine with any detergents 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 the single expression “silk curtains” is simply from the realm of fantasy for the average person.
But the other types of fabrics, of which tulle is usually made, are rather capricious. Organza, kapron, Kisei - can simply dissolve and become covered with micro-holes from chlorine.
Home Whitening Products
How to wash the tulle so that it remains white?
There are a lot of storefronts. All of them are good and quite affordable. But, there are times when there is absolutely no way to get the right chemistry. Suppose your curtains are in a rural house, from where it is quite far from civilization or, today there is not a penny extra, and tomorrow guests will come.
Anything can happen, therefore, it never hurts to have in the arsenal a couple of centuries-old recipes from improvised means. And what substance is trending with grandmothers? Of course soda!
Wow, how they adore her! And her teeth are bleached, and the dishes are cleaned, and her face is scrubbed and her favorite curtains are refreshing. In fairness, the result will not be as noticeable as from the use of special chemistry, but, without fish and cancer, you yourself understand. So…
To bleach soda tulle, it is necessary to soak it in a solution with the proportion:
1 liter water + 1 tablespoon of soda
You need to keep for a long time, at least three to four hours, and preferably all night, then rinse thoroughly.
There is another wonderful remedy that greedy grandmothers use instead of blue, and this is common green. Yes, it’s green, don’t be surprised. Apply it like this:
In a bowl of warm water, 1-2 drops of this miracle remedy are dripped, stirred and the fabric is immersed there. The solution should be slightly, slightly greenish, and if you exceed the proportions, then your tulle will become fun-emerald, but not white. But then, if you do everything right, then a wonderful result awaits you. Curtains, indeed, will look snow-white.
Also, do not discount blue. Of course, you can’t call it an improvised means in any way, because, for starters, this substance still needs to be found. But, if you have it in your household, 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 good enough argument to pay attention to such methods.
How to Starch a Tulle Curtain
As we wrote above, starching tulle is highly recommended, since this saves it for many years in a completely pristine state. But how does this effect come about?
This is because the starch solution, penetrating into the fabric, forms a very thin film on it, which is a protective barrier to the omnipresent 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 starch only a completely clean and rinsed thing, with which the glass is water and it is still wet. That is, you can wash in the car - the machine. Then make such a solution:
2 tbsp starch + 1 cup cold water
Mix thoroughly so that not a single lump remains, and pour this mixture into 0.5 liters of boiling water. Once again, thoroughly mix and dissolve in 10 lira of rinse water.
We lower the curtains there, thoroughly soak them, carefully pull them out and hang them up first so that the water is a little glass (say, on the ropes above the bathtub), and then right on to the ledge.
We have nothing more to say about how to wash the tulle in the washing machine. But, these recommendations are quite enough for a good result, if, of course, you follow them
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