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You should wash your curtains and other window treatments every three to six months. If you wait much longer, your curtains may become heavy with dust, pet hair, pollen, and more, which can cause lots of sneezing and wheezing for you and your family members. Remember that curtains get dustier than most items in your home since they're closest to your windows, so regular maintenance is necessary to keep them sanitary and looking great.

While you don't have to clean your windows and curtains simultaneously, many people choose to do so to help their homes look as clean and fresh as possible. Cleaning your curtains and windows at the same time can also help you remember to care for both of them since you'll be up close with any dust or dirt left behind. The cost to clean windows professionally is around $150 to $300.

You can hand-wash thermal curtains, but avoid washing them in a washing machine. To clean your thermal curtains, hand-wash them gently in warm water in the sink or bathtub and then hang them to dry. And always defer to the instructions on their cleaning tag when cleaning your curtains to avoid unsightly stains, discolorations, and shrinkage.

You can hand-wash blackout curtains rather than place them in the washing machine. Machine washing can ruin blackout curtains because they're generally made of several layers of fabric that can easily become clumped or wrinkled.

Whether you should wash or dry-clean your curtains depends on the type of fabric they're made of and the instructions on your care tag. You can hand-wash or dry-clean curtains with a tag indicating they can be machine-washed or dry-cleaned. And for curtains with a care tag indicating they should be dry-cleaned only, avoid putting them in the washing machine and let a pro take care of the work for you.