Shall I put my curtains through the washing machine or ...?

[nailslikeknives]

Will that wreck them forever?

They're John Lewis, 65% polyester and 35% cottons & lines.

Has anyone else done this? I don't want to pay for dry cleaning but am I taking frugality too far?

I did and they were fine. The lining however shredded, but they are very old

I would

Meh - I took mine to a dry cleaner and they shrunk them by 3 inches. I wish I had saved my money and shrunk them myself.

I washed my big patio door curtains and they survived , even the embroidered bits.
I did a 20 degree wash on a wool cycle.

Thank you for the replies. You've convinced me it's worth a go.

I shall try it with a cool wash and report back in a couple of hours!

Well?

Went for a 30deg wash (haven't got a 20 option), v gentle spin and they've survived!
Lining and main fabric all ok, no shrinkage, hurrah!
I rate that a Mumsnet success.
Thank you everyone

I followed the washing instructions to the letter on mine and they shrunk by about an inch. I'm going to have to get the bastards relined because it would be too much to ask for them to shrink at the same rate!

I'm glad yours turned out ok though!

If you haven’t already done do hang them back up on the curtain rail now. Curtains dry best straight out the machine and back on the rail.

I also rehang straight away - makes the room smell fresh as well

Rehung and they do smell nice.

The instructions on mine said to dry clean but they were so filthy it was worth a go.

I'm going to do some different ones tomorrow - with hopefully the same result!

Thanks for the advice everyone