Welcome To Cottage Lace Curtains!
"The Prettiest Lace Curtains on the Web!"
Your finest resource for Victorian, Art Deco, and Arts & Crafts Lace Curtain Panels!

Many people are under the impression that they need to launder their lace curtains frequently, when in fact the opposite is true. Unless one resides in a very dusty locale, one only needs to clean their lace curtains once or perhaps twice a year. Often, simply shaking or vacuuming any dust off of them is a sufficient interim procedure.

While our mill recommends dry-cleaning Madras lace curtains, we at Cooper's Cottage Lace have found that washing them in cold water with a mild detergent, either by hand or on the delicate cycle, works quite well. We use a high-efficiency, front-loading washer, and this leaves the curtains barely damp upon completion of the cycle.

Drying one's lace panels is the most important consideration; never put these 100% cotton lace curtains in a tumble dryer! We've found that the best method is to simply hang them back up on the rod, if just slightly damp, or drape them over a shower rod. Don't hang lace panels on a line, as the curved deflection of the rope, as it sags under the panel's weight, may distort the shape of the lace. Should you find that they are wrinkled when dry, simply touch them up with an iron. Another straightening method is to lightly spritz them with water while they are hanging, and to gently tug the wrinkles out; this is what we do at trade shows, rather than iron 20 lace curtain samples!

Because they are cotton, Madras lace may shrink slightly after they've been washed, but you can often iron them back into shape if they are still damp. Typically, you may lose half an inch, but this can be mitigated by lowering the curtain rod or hanging the curtain through the header instead of the lower rod pocket.