Curtain and drape cleaning in DubaiLifted off the rail, finished by hand, home to your windows

Which curtains we take, by window

A Dubai home has curtains doing very different jobs: blocking a western sun, darkening a bedroom for a night-shift sleeper, softening the view across the Marina or Downtown. Tap any one for how it's handled and the check worth making before you unhook it.

Tower glass and wide spans · Full-drop drapes

Curtains from ceiling to floor

Where a tower flat has glass from floor to ceiling, the drapes in front of it can be three metres long or more. The weight hangs from the heading, and that's where we look first for strained stitching.

Measure from the hook line to the very bottom, not to the window sill. A drop that's a few centimetres out on a wide pair changes the total more than you'd guess.

• Heading stitching checked
• Measured to the floor
• Charged on the full area

Tower glass and wide spans · Wave-heading panels

Ripple-fold and S-fold curtains

Those smooth, even waves come from snaps or tape along the top that clip to a special track. Unclip each panel rather than pulling, or the snap tape can tear away.

Leave the gliders and the track on the wall. The curtain travels on its own, and the waves return once it's clipped back on.

• Unclipped, not pulled
• Track stays up
• Waves reform on rehanging

Tower glass and wide spans · Corner-window sets

Curtains that wrap round a corner

Corner units in a tower often have two or three panels that meet at an angle. Once they're down, it's easy to lose track of which goes where.

Put a safety pin with a paper tag on each top corner: 'left of corner', 'right of corner'. It makes rehanging a five-minute job instead of a puzzle.

• Panels tagged by position
• Each one measured
• Same rate per metre

Tower glass and wide spans · Motorised-track curtains

Fabric from an electric track

If your curtains open with a remote, the motor and the rail stay where they are; only the cloth comes to us.

Switch the track off at the wall before you unclip anything, then lift each glider out in turn. Write down which end the master carrier sits at.

• Power off first
• Only the fabric travels
• Note the master carrier

Villa salons and the majlis · Interlined drapes

Three layers stitched together

Interlining is a soft, thick middle layer between the face and the lining, and it gives a drape that full, padded look. It also holds dust like a filter.

Three fabrics means three ways to shrink, so these are always assessed by hand and never soaked.

• Middle layer considered
• Never soaked
• Checked layer by layer

Villa salons and the majlis · Pinch-pleat pairs

Classic pleated headings

Pinch pleats are sewn in, so they hold their shape well, but the stiff tape behind them can go limp if it's treated badly. Our hand finishing sets the pleats back in line.

Count the hooks as you take them out and drop them in a labelled sandwich bag. You'll need the same number when they go back up.

• Heading tape protected
• Pleats finished by hand
• Hooks counted and kept

Villa salons and the majlis · Majlis drapes

Curtains in the guest sitting room

The majlis is where visitors are received, so its curtains are often the grandest in the house, with long drops, weighty fabric and decorative borders.

They also live alongside incense smoke and coffee for months on end. Point out any trim that's coming loose when you book, so it's seen to before cleaning rather than discovered after.

• Long and heavy
• Loose trim flagged first
• Photo if heavily decorated

Villa salons and the majlis · Fringed and tasselled curtains

Fringes, braids and tassels

Decorative fringing is usually stitched on by machine and can be a different colour and fibre from the curtain. That's the bit most likely to bleed.

Tell us about it and send a close-up. Where a fringe looks fragile, we'll say so before collecting.

• Trim fibre checked
• Close-up photo please
• Fragile trim flagged honestly

Bedrooms and nurseries · Blackout pairs

Bedroom blackout curtains

In June the sun is up very early, so a bedroom blackout earns its keep. The coating on the back is the working part, and a careless clean can make it crack.

Before you book, hold one up to a bright window. If you see a scatter of tiny light points, the coating has started to wear and we'd like to know.

• Coating inspected first
• Light test at home
• Method suited to the back

Bedrooms and nurseries · Thermal-lined curtains

Curtains with an insulating lining

Thermal linings are thicker than a plain cotton lining, often with a brushed or foam-backed side that helps keep the heat out.

That backing behaves differently from the face cloth, which is why each one is identified before we decide how to clean it.

• Lining type identified
• Backing handled carefully
• Charged like any curtain

Bedrooms and nurseries · Baby's room panels

Curtains in a child's room

Low edges collect sticky fingerprints, and the floor below holds toy dust. Our detergents are biodegradable and hypoallergenic, which matters in a room where a baby sleeps.

Check the lower half for felt-tip or food marks and tell us where they are. Knowing about a mark in advance helps.

• Low-allergy detergent
• Lower half checked
• Marks noted at booking

Bedrooms and nurseries · Guest room curtains

The room that waits for visitors

Guest rooms tend to sit closed for months, and their curtains gather a fine layer of dust nobody notices until the visit is a week away.

Book them a little before your guests are due, rather than the day before. It gives you a calm margin.

• Dust from a closed room
• Book ahead of visitors
• Same pickup as the rest

See-through layers · Linen-look sheers

Textured sheers by the glass

These hang closest to the window, so they catch whatever drifts through the frame and take the full force of the light. A white one can turn ivory, then grey.

Their slubby weave hides snags well but also hides grit. Give each one a gentle shake out of the window before folding.

• Closest to the glass
• Washed softly, no wringing
• Shaken before folding

See-through layers · Embroidered voiles

Voiles with stitched patterns

Embroidery adds weight to a fabric that's otherwise almost nothing, and the thread can be a different fibre. We look at both before choosing how to clean.

Fold them with the embroidered side in, so the raised stitching doesn't rub against anything on the way.

• Thread and base both checked
• Folded pattern inward
• Light hands throughout

See-through layers · Café and half nets

Short sheers on lower windows

Some kitchens and ground-floor villa windows have a short net across the lower half for privacy. They're small but often the greyest piece in the house.

Take the rod out of the channel before bagging. A curtain rod in a bag can tear fine fabric in transit.

• Rod taken out
• Measured like the rest
• Often the dustiest

Garden doors, stairs and kitchen · Garden slider curtains

Curtains by a terrace or pool door

Every time the slider opens, a little sand comes in at floor level, and the curtain beside it is the first thing it meets. Hands push it aside dozens of times a day too.

Look along the bottom edge before bagging. That's where the grit sits, so shake it out on the terrace first.

• Bottom edge shaken out
• Hand marks expected
• Charged on area

Garden doors, stairs and kitchen · Stairwell curtains

Very long drops on a stair window

A villa stairwell can need a curtain far longer than anything else in the house, and getting it down safely is half the job.

If you can't reach without a ladder, don't. Ask us to take it down and send a photo of the stairwell with the booking.

• Long drop, measured fully
• Removal on request
• Photo of the stairwell

Garden doors, stairs and kitchen · Curtains by the cooker

Curtains near the hob

Cooking leaves a thin film of grease on nearby fabric, and dust then clings to it. The colour dulls faster than anywhere else in the home.

Bag them separately and write 'kitchen' on the tag. It changes what we look for first.

• Grease as well as dust
• Bagged and labelled apart
• Small panel, small bill

Fabrics that need extra care · Silk drapes

Silk curtains in strong light

Silk is the fabric that suffers most from sunlight. Years behind bright glass can leave it weak and streaked along the folds, even if it looks fine from across the room.

Photograph the side that faces outward and send it with the booking. If the fibres are already splitting, you'll hear it from us straight away.

• Looked at by hand
• Outward face photographed
• Told if it's too far gone

Fabrics that need extra care · Velvet and chenille

Velvet and other pile fabrics

Pile crushes under pressure and leaves a shiny patch that shows from the side. That's why velvet is never folded tight or stacked under anything heavy.

Roll each curtain loosely, pile facing out, and lay it on top in the bag.

• No crushing of the pile
• Rolled loosely
• Packed on top

Fabrics that need extra care · Jacquard and brocade

Woven-pattern curtains

Jacquard and brocade carry their pattern in the weave, often with metallic or contrasting threads. Those threads can react differently from the base cloth.

A close-up photo of the pattern helps us confirm the method. Heavier brocades may be best quoted from that picture first.

• Threads checked
• Close-up photo first
• Quote confirmed in advance