Your dining room is a space in your house where family members, close friends, and guests gather together, relish good food, and celebrate very intimate and special occasions more often than not. Your dining room seems to be a golden opportunity for creating an area that is slightly more formal than other rooms or areas in your home. Your dining room ambiance should be elegant, unique, and tailored to a certain extent according to Forbes.
Entertaining could prove to be stressful, however, on one count; you may not get unnecessarily stressed out when your table cloths, runners, placemats, and napkins are clean and in perfect condition to be used. A table runner is an important piece of table linen that adds an element of elegance, and a touch of style to the overall aesthetic ambiance of your dining room. It can be kept in pristine condition by washing, proper ironing, and perfect storage.
Today, table runners are available in a plethora of fabrics and designs. They are not limited to linen or cotton only. Silk, satin, or polyester runners are accompanied by a care tag that contains specific washing instructions. Follow them for maintaining the runners in good condition so that they are always ready to use.
How Frequently Should You Wash the Runners for Your Table?
If you are using the runners daily, they could be spot-cleaned whenever stains appear. Moreover, they should be deep-cleaned a minimum once every month. However, heirloom items, used only on formal or special occasions or once in a while, necessitate gentle care for preserving the color and strength of the fibers. If you have no idea about ways to wash vintage lace, brocade, damask, linen, and embellished fabrics that have no labels, it is best to wash them thoroughly by hand using cool water.
- Choose the Water Temperature and Washer Cycle: Runners particularly synthetic ones, may be washed by setting the permanent cycle since it has a cool-down attribute for reducing the wrinkling effect. It is best to wash runners in warm or preferably cold water.
- Remember to Add a Fabric Softener and Detergent: The cotton runners for your table should be washed with heavy-duty detergent for removing hard food stains. However, the silk, satin, or polyester runners could be washed with a regular detergent. Always remember to add a good quality fabric softener during the final rinse for adding a protective coating to the runners so that it helps to prevent spilled foods and liquids from penetrating the core fibers.
- Dry & Iron the Runners Properly: It is best to dry your runners on medium-heat or you could use a permanent press cycle. You may remove the cotton runners while still slightly damp so that they could be ironed to perfection.
Conclusion: Store with Care
A fully dry and nicely ironed table runner could be stored hanging or flat. However, remember that it should be stored in a well-ventilated, cool, and dry place. It is a good idea to wrap your table runner in acid-free tissue paper before storing it flat. Avoid regular tissue paper as they contain acids that may leave behind yellow stains in your runners. It is a good idea to use tissues in between the folds because they can help in softening edges. Remember all sorts of crisp creases could end up weakening the fibers.
