Cleaning curtain hooks

[News]

Took down some curtains yesterday, and noticed the plastic hooks were a little grubby, as were the plastic brackets attaching the rail to the wall. Removed the lot and cleaned the real, but the hooks and brackets I dumped in the cutlery thingy, in the dishwasher. Came up just like new! [2]

At the same time, I put the lid of our telephone junction box (connection box) [1] in the dishwasher, which removed most of the paint applied over the last fifty years! I will leave that in for another wash.

[1] BT35A clearly marked GPO, so been there for a while. Incoming cable has 7 wires, but only two are connected. A few more inches of cable connect the BT35A to the master socket. Most odd. [2] The dishwasher and washing machine are also excellent for cleaning grubby Lego. Does not do the sticky labels many favours though :-)

[Dave Liquorice]

Nothing odd at all. I guess that your phone line arrives overhead and is thus Dropwire No.10. The wires will be three yellow ones and two pairs (orange/white & green/black). The three yellow ones are brassed steel strainer cores, the telephone service being provided over one of the pairs.

[Brian Gaff]

I'd have thought that paint in a sdishwasher was a quick way to clog it up though. My main gripe with curtain fittings is that most these days are plastic and hence tend to go brittle when you want to remove the curtains. Down the shop for another lot, sorry sir, those are no longer made, you will need a new rail and mounting hardwaree. Brian

[News]

Yes, the line is overhead, as is electricity. The phone cable is 7 wires, all single colour. Green and black are connected to the master socket, the five remaining being 1 x orange, 1 x white and 3 x red.

[dennis]

It would be more sensible to put them in a laundry bag and wash them with some clothes in the washing machine. This is what you do with lego.

As for stuff going brittle, it depends on quality. I have some hooks that are at least 20 years old and are fine but others have gone brittle after a few years.

[meow2222]

Go somewhere that sells the parts then. Wilko does some.

NT

[Brian Gaff]

So how do you tell at purchase time which ones they are, or is it just the brittle ones have in fact been held in stock for longer so failure is closer.

They all seem to come in those little bags made out of that crackly plastic stuff, so its hard to tell. Brian

[Gazz]

Didn't you have room in the dishwasher for the toilet seats as well then?

[News]

In message , Gazz writes

Toilet seats are wood. Best not get them too wet - see the kitchen thread :-)

[PeterC]

About 4 years ago I bought some track and fittings in Wilko's 'own' system. A week later I needed another part, not in stock. Never has been since and now only a prprietary brand, so not that reliable. Fortunately I was able to do a functional bodge to solve the problem.

[DerbyBorn]

I guess that after going through a dishwaher they might need a spray of Mr Sheen to help them run smoothly.

[News]

In message , DerbyBorn writes

I usually put a tiny dab of Vaseline on the track.

[newshound]

WD40 also works (spray on to a cloth and wipe on); perfectionists use the silicone spray as used for pushfit waste pipes. I'd always assumed that Mr Sheen contains a wax or similar but I have never actually checked.

[polygonum]

As I have a can of silicone spray in the shed, I use that. As used in the textile industry. If I didn't have that, I certainly would consider WD40. This one: WD-40 Specialist Silicone Lubricant 400ml. But being a cheapskate I'd probably buy another cheap silicone spray. I wouldn't use ordinary WD40 or Mr Sheen or any other wax-containing product.

[newshound]

I bet the contents are the same as the "cheap" sprays; I think you are paying here for the name, but also for the smart straw which could be convenient for some applications.

[alan_m]

In my experience any plastic curtain hook removed from a curtain that has been fitted for 4+ years becomes brittle and will break when attempting to re-hang the the curtain. You may have got them squeaky clean but they may already have degraded due to UV from sunlight.

[alan_m]

You can usually find a Ebay supplier charging premium prices but at a cost a _lot_ less than replacing the whole infrastructure.

[News]

In message , alan_m writes

In my experience, you're correct - sometimes. Yesterday, I rehung the curtains and all hooks and brackets were absolutely fine. True, though, that sometimes they are brittle, and usually break when removing, so saving the trouble of cleaning.

[polygonum]

It is indeed difficult to think what else it could be than the same basic product!

Funny how WD40 has wormed from being one universal product (pushed as if it could do anything well) to a string of separate products which are what many of the competitors have been offering.

[DerbyBorn]

polygonum wrote in news:c7cu42FojbhU1 @mid.individual.net:

Amazing how many curtains get damaged due to the runners being sticky and the additional pulling soon wrecks the curtain or pulls the rail down. (Often seen in hotels)