OT, cleaning mouldy curtains -best way?

dibble35, Mar 15, 7:01am
I seem to be starting a collection of mould spotted curtains, my father and I have several rentals between us, and recently have replaced the curtains as they were stained/mouldy. Other than the spots they are fine and it seems such a waste to consign them to the rag bin/drop sheet pile. Most are thermal backed, and after washing the mould spots remain. Is there a way of cleaning these at home! TIA

angel404, Mar 15, 7:23am
I biffed all my thermal backed ones for the very same reason. I ended up buying duvets on special from briscoes/spotlight/warehouse etc and sewing some curtain tape up the top and wah lah curtains you can soak and/or put straight into a washing machine.

spacekids, Mar 15, 5:22pm
there is a product called curtain magic sold on trademe that is good for removing mould.

rainrain1, Mar 15, 6:41pm
An impossible task :-(

lilyfield, Mar 15, 6:49pm
Replace with cheapest possible, even second hand , because it will happen again and again in your rentals

dibble35, Mar 15, 7:27pm
lilyfield wrote:
Replace with cheapest possible, even second hand , because it will happen again and again in your rentals[/quote
Yeah I know, I usually buy Warehouse or Briscoes curatins, they quite often come up on special. Few months ago I managed to completely net curtain a house for $60-$70, was great. Nets are even worse, I try not to have them in my rentals as you're lucky to get 2 years out of them.
Anyhow it amazes me how they can get so bad, tenants just dont care. Having said that I remember a place I rented as a teenager and the state I left that place.not good.

elliehen, Mar 15, 9:45pm
dibble35, it is refreshing to find someone without a selective memory who is prepared to remember being once a young, less-than-perfect tenant and to look at things from both sides ;)

dibble35, Mar 16, 1:35am
Well saying that, it was the only place I left in that state, all the others were really tidy when I went. I grew up fast/became sensible and my mum must have taught me right. I'm not a neat freak, far from it, I dont really enjoy cleaning (does anyone) but i'm sensible so know to open the windows after a shower, or when theres a nice day in winter to let in some fresh air and dry things out a bit, so less mould growing on ceilings and curtains. I want someone to invent a mould resistent curtain, or some you can throw in the washing machine with a bit of napisan, wouldnt that be great

dibble35, Mar 16, 1:44am
Just watched their demo video, looks impressive. Have you tried it before! If so can you treat the front of the curtains or just the backs!

lodgelocum, Mar 16, 2:50am
I have used this product on my 90% blackout curtains and it worked well, the mould still hasn't come back and did it over a year ago. (I only did the backs) I bought mine direct for about $29, it was advertised in our local newspaper so thought would try it.

dibble35, Mar 16, 4:28am
Thanks, will have to get some, cheaper than buying new curtains thats for sure. I'm sure there will be plenty more mouldy curatins in the future. LOL

dolphin9, Mar 16, 9:29am
I bought it off here, its excellent, also got mould off my wallpaper

thetrio, Mar 17, 3:50am
If the mould is only on the thermal backing, I do one at a time and spray exit mould onto it and as you see the stains fade rince under cold water quite smelly but works for me but do notspray on pattern side as this will bleach the colour out of it.

pamellie, Mar 17, 6:34pm
It's not only rentals/renters that have this problem. I am always opening windows and wiping windows in the winter and I still get mould on my curtains, I hate to think what they would be like if I was someone who didn't care!
Good to hear from people who have used the mould remover as I have been looking at that too.

pamellie, Mar 17, 6:36pm
What paper was this in!

trah, Mar 17, 10:28pm
I bought this stuff off here too and it is amazing.Just make sure you follow the instructions properly.I have taken down my whole house lot of curtains over summer and done them this way.I would throw them over the pool fence and use a big cardboard box (opened up) to put between the lining and the curtain material so the product did not get onto the curtain itself.Then sprayed and waited as per instructions, and then hosed off with clean water.Occasionally having to do a respray on harder to shift spots.Then left them to dry in the sun.Would be much harder to do while they still were hanging I think, and risk getting product on carpet or flooring, as well as the fumes in the house.A heck of a lot cheaper than dry cleaning!