Drapery, Blinds, Shades Can Cost As Much As a Car – Proper Maintenance Will Save a Lot of Expense
Many individuals and families fail to realize the importance of proper maintenance, whether it is an automobile, refrigerator, or even blinds and drapery. Unfortunately, when any maintenance is neglected, the home owner may as well have withdrawn and burn the money from their checking account. Proper maintenance will actually save money in the future; even on window treatments.
Stereotypes being what they are, most men would not have a clue how much drapes and blinds can cost. While the average male does not normally pay attention to the aesthetics of the home’s decor, this task usually would fall to the female in the family household, just as many of the finances. Depending upon the quality, material, size, and brand of window treatments such as blinds or drapes the cost for just one set can easily surpass $200 from a department store.
In order to provide enough curtains, drapery, blinds, or shades for the entire house, the average family should expect the total cost to range from $1800 to as much as $3500 or more depending upon the number of windows present. When the individual looks at the investment in this manner, it makes perfect sense to care and provide for proper maintenance of these window treatments.
Most companies that provide dry cleaning and other methods of professional cleaning require the home owner to take the window dressings down and transport it to the cleaning facility. On top of the incredibly frustrating hassle, payment needs to be rendered so that after the process of cleaning has taken place, the home owner can again struggle to transport the window treatments back to the home without getting any dirt on the drapery. In this present day world of rat races and single parents, there just is not enough time or energy.
However, there can be a needle in the haystack. Some professional cleaning companies actually specialize just in properly cleaning and restoring all manner of window treatments and shades on-site. While many home owners will just take a basic feather duster to the blinds or an upholstery tool and vacuum for drapery, it would do a mediocre job at best.
Drapery, shades, blinds, and the tracks and pulls will degrade with the rigors of everyday neglect. Smoking, dust, sunlight, children, and animals can push the limits of what these window treatments were designed to handle. Smoking and sunlight are the worst culprits though. Over a relatively brief span of time, every drape, shade, or blind will become sun bleached or brittle. Smoke from tobacco use will infiltrate the fabrics and create a dingy dull look, not to mention the overwhelming odor of greasy smoke.
Most cleaners on the market available at the local big block home improvement stores are almost always ineffective and therefore a waste of money. The scented plug-ins try to mask the odors, but need to be replaced with alarming frequency. These too, are a waste of money because neither method is eliminating the source of the problem; the fabrics themselves have absorbed the nasty odors that contaminate indoor air quality.
Some professional on-site cleaning companies may also clean and treat the fabrics on sofas or chairs. When an individual or family does contact a qualified professional, make sure the cleaning process and techniques that are used are endorsed by the manufacturer. The last thing any home owner wants to deal with is a no name service company that has not been authorized or trained to clean, thereby maybe causing damage to the home owner’s property.