Alan and Fellow Listers, I have successully washed the curtains in my 1987 Syncro Westfalia on a number of occasions. After we've been camping for a couple of weeks steady, the entire bus smells of campfire and I cannot stand it. Carefully remove the curtains from the bus and inspect them. If the material appears brittle, I would take them to a tailor or upholstery shop and have a new set of curtains made, using the old ones as a pattern. If yours are in good condition, put them in your washer and wash them on gentle cycle in cold water. I would strongly recommend air-drying them; putting them in the dryer is liable to make them shrink. Upholstery: I have an old Bissell carpet machine with an upholstery attachment. I use it to to all of the upholstery and carpte in the van, usually once a year. You will not believe what a difference cleaning the upholstery makes. If you don't have a machine, or have a sudden spill or stain you can try this trick: 1) Get a bottle of Bissel carpet shampoo, about $8 from WalMart. Get the stuff in the blue bottle. 2) Dilute it to about 5-to-1 with warm water, and fill a spray bottle with this mixture. 3) Spray the offending stain, them promptly suck out the solution with a wet-dry vacuum. Regards, Jon Kanas |
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