First Post here - Thanks in advance for your help.
We just purchased a 2008 Fleetwood Westlake. It;s in excellent condition, but we'd like to go through it and make sure all is in good order. The books and manuals are very good on most things mechanical, but not on some others.
For instance - What's the preferred method of detaching the curtains/valences? The little "C" shaped plastic slides are a bit difficult to just pop off the rails. I could remove the screws at the ends of the rails, but around the doors the sliders won't go all the way to the end of the rail.
We'd like to wash the curtains & valences once we have them off. Any suggestions for washing?
Thanks again, we appreciate your help. Suggestions on any other topics welcome too.
As for washing, it's going to depend on your fabric. Mine was a rayon/acetate. They had a few holes and I decided to throw them in the washer (front loader) and see what happened. If I screwed them up, I was going to replace them with new fabric. Low and behold, they did ok. I did not dry them. I ironed them as they came out of the washer. They did shrink a little. But I was going to put a mesh panel in the top anyway so it didn't matter to me.
If in doubt, try a small valence first, even tie it in a pillow case if you are worried about stretching it out or something.
Good post! It's interesting to hear that you all have something blocking your curtains, mine just slide right off with nothing blocking them, I thought that was the norm. My dad created wedges out of erasers to stick into the ends to keep the curtains on.
My curtains are ugly, stained, and the lining is coming off the inside. If I replace them do I need special fabric, or will anything work?
[quote author=MariskaHargitay link=topic=1575.msg12792#msg12792 date=1335225768]
... My curtains are ugly, stained, and the lining is coming off the inside. If I replace them do I need special fabric, or will anything work?
You'd want fabric with a blackout lining, I would imagine 😉 You can buy blackout lining material that varies from 100% on down, but adding that to the actual curtain material will make it stiffer and somewhat heavier than the stock curtains. If you Google RV drapery fabric there are some companies than sell fabric, 100% blackout or translucent so you get some light coming through without creating shadows. That should be a little lighter weight and easier to work with. You can also buy the track clips individually or already sewn onto a strip of fabric. The RV-specific material is also fire rated.
John
Thanks, all for the ideas!!
First, the fore and aft valences don't have any roof ribs between them, so removing the small stop screw ant the end of the track allows the valence to be easily slid off.
For the ones on the side, it's a bit different... I discovered that the tracks are made from pvc, and although they don't bend very easily (to allow the clips to be "popped" off, they do cut easily. I used an pair of "mini end nippers" - horizontal wire cutters used for cutting the wire in jewelry making (about $8). I located an area on each section of track that is between the clips when they are "at rest". Take a 1mm "nip" from the lower edge of the track at that point, allowing the clips to be easily removed and replaced, without compromising the integrity of the track, or providing a place for the clips to slip off.
Hope this helps.....
-Brian
Mariska: If you are thinking of replacing the curtains, think about using flat bed sheets. You could arrange them so the finished edges are showing and the unfinished is at the top covered by the valance. You could even staple the clips onto the fabric so you didn't have to sew them on. And you could get darker colors to block light. (But your reflectix in the windows does a good job of that, too)
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