# How often do you change your curtains? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 8, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498 "2012-06-08T13:56:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/1 "2012-06-08T13:56:17Z")
When we moved into our house 4 years ago, I bought new curtains for every window that did not have blinds. It’s past time to change them out. Only to do so will cost quite a pretty penny. Perhaps I can do it one or two panels at a time. So, how often do you change your curtains? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/2 "2012-06-08T14:34:55Z")
It’s been 6.5 years since I got here. Never changed anything. I hated shopping for window treatments for my new house. I hate having to shop with my mom for window treatments for her house. It’s like she does it every 3 weeks. Ugh. They’re so expensive and never exactly what you want! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/3 "2012-06-08T15:02:06Z")
I have been schlepping the same off-white, double-layer lace curtains with me from apt. to apt. since the 1980s. Take 'em down and launder them twice a year but other than that, I like them just as they are! ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/4 "2012-06-08T15:05:57Z")
My house still has the old-lady beige nylon sheers that were there when we moved in ten years ago. My mother is about to forcibly change them. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/5 "2012-06-08T15:13:04Z")
One of my very favorite parts of my house is that it needs no curtains. We’re on 11 acres, and you’d have to be perched in a tree to see into most of our windows. The only two windows that even have coverings are the guest bathroom, which faces the front of the house and if someone is standing on the porch they could look into it. It’s not visible from the street (none of the house is.) We also have blinds on our bedroom windows, which are only used for mornings we want to sleep in without the sun waking us up. I hate curtains. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/6 "2012-06-08T15:41:51Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > One of my very favorite parts of my house is that it needs no curtains. We’re on 11 acres, and you’d have to be perched in a tree to see into most of our windows. The only two windows that even have coverings are the guest bathroom, which faces the front of the house and if someone is standing on the porch they could look into it. It’s not visible from the street (none of the house is.) > > We also have blinds on our bedroom windows, which are only used for mornings we want to sleep in without the sun waking us up. > > I hate curtains. not needed for privacy though they do help to conserve heat during heating season at night. regular curtains help some, insulated ones help more, actual window quilt system even better. also south facing ones can keep house cooler in summer. not always the nicest though in your biggest windows or when not in the room does help. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/7 "2012-06-09T02:21:27Z")
Very rarely. All of our windows have blinds, but some also have curtains. The only ones I’ve changed since I moved in are the scarf curtains in the living room; I changed them once when I changed the color scheme in there. The rest of them are the same ones they’ve always been. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/8 "2012-06-09T03:50:46Z")
I buy pretty plain, standard curtains, so maybe every 15 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/9 "2012-06-09T04:01:42Z")
You’re supposed to change your curtains? I haven’t even washed my windows. ---
**Author:** ![Dano83860](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Dano83860](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dano83860)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/10 "2012-06-09T04:24:24Z")
We have blinds but my mom never changed the ones in her house in 30 years. They were custom made and about the thickness of a quilt with a thin batting. The inside matched the wallpaper and the outside was plain off white. She did have the cleaned every four or five years. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/11 "2012-06-09T04:24:49Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > You’re supposed to change your curtains? > > I haven’t even washed my windows. I’ve washed my windows, but didn’t know I was supposed to change my curtains. This reminds me of people who talk about buying new dishes “because it’s time”. Why? Did you break all your dishes at once somehow? ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/12 "2012-06-09T04:25:44Z")
Maybe if I was redoing a room’s look completely? That’s the only time I’ve done it in the five years I’ve been in my house (although we kept the old curtains in case they end up working in another room after my husband decides on yet another decor change). We also added new curtains - switched from blinds to curtains when we converted an office into a nursery. That’s about it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/13 "2012-06-09T04:37:34Z")
We only change our curtains if we are redoing a room and the curtains are matched to the old room. For the kids that is every couple of years (will slow down as they approach teenage) and need redecorating less often. For most of the house we now buy white cotton (maybe linen?) curtains from ikea and just get them dry cleaned every year or so. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/14 "2012-06-09T04:41:27Z")
We’ve moved fairly regularly. I bought a pair on eBay for my room in this apartment. The others all hung in previous places. The ones that are currently in our dining room were in the eat-in kitchen in our last place and I’ve never liked them in that room. I bought the fabric to make a new valance a while ago. Just before logging in I was working on my list of goals for this summer. Finishing the dining room (I want to recover the chair seats, too) is at the top, That doesn’t really answer your question, does it? I change curtains when I want to change the look of a room. I did work with a woman who kept multiple sets for each room and changed them seasonally, and also bedding. When the rest of us acted surprised she explained that she did it because her mother did it. She thought everyone did. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/15 "2012-06-09T04:50:57Z")
I change curtains when the old ones stop working. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/16 "2012-06-09T04:54:32Z")
Is there a /r/straightdope/pinterest thing out there? To answer the question from the OP, People change their curtains? How does that make the top ten of things to waste money on? ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/17 "2012-06-09T05:11:01Z")
We really only change ours if we are changing the color scheme of the room. We do take them down and have them cleaned about once a year, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/18 "2012-06-09T05:41:31Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I’ve washed my windows, but didn’t know I was supposed to change my curtains. This reminds me of people who talk about buying new dishes “because it’s time”. Why? Did you break all your dishes at once somehow? Threw them into a quarry. I’m not sure how often I would change my curtains but I guess it’s measured in decades, not years. Unless they are faded, holey or clash with the rest of the room, I’d probably keep them indefinitely. I’ve never lived in any house longer than 6 years in my adult life so it hasn’t come up. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/19 "2012-06-09T05:52:42Z")
I really hate curtains. They are dust-catchers, and I can’t think of any advantages over what I’ve mostly got, which is vertical blinds in some rooms and shoji in others. I have some curtains I made, a very laborious process, about 20 years ago, in my son’s room, and I wash them a couple of times a year but I don’t change 'em. For the shoji, we redo the paper part as necessary. (Cats, occasional dog nose.) Every couple of years. Right now we have a couple of flower-shaped patches, but we’ll need to completely change the paper soon. For the vertical blinds, dusting and an occasional wipe-down. E-Z. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498/20 "2012-06-09T05:55:12Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I’ve washed my windows, but didn’t know I was supposed to change my curtains. This reminds me of people who talk about buying new dishes “because it’s time”. Why? Did you break all your dishes at once somehow? “It’s time” when we can’t feed all family members plus one guest with plates that match (or at least coordinate). We didn’t break them all at once, at least, not this latest time, but a lot of them did break, because this was once a 12-piece set and we now only have three permanent family members. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-change-your-curtains/624498.md?page=2)