Laundry and dry clean
Laundry and dry clean
Spring cleaning in Sydney should start with the soft furnishings, not the benchtops. After months of closed windows and humid winter air, the things holding a winter’s worth of dust, damp and allergens are your bedding, curtains, rugs, cushions and the coats in your wardrobe. This checklist works through the home room by room, focused on the textiles a normal wipe-down misses, and flags which jobs to hand over so you do not shrink, warp or water-stain something you love. For a quote, email info@washmate.com.au.
Some jobs you can knock over on a sunny Saturday. Others are safer with a professional. Set aside one bag for those and arrange a single pickup rather than a dozen separate trips.
Sydney winters are mild but damp. Homes stay shut, indoor humidity climbs, and moisture settles into curtains, mattresses and rugs where it feeds mould and dust mites. By late August many homes carry a faint mustiness that lives in the fibres, not on the surfaces. Spring brings lower humidity, so washed items actually dry through, and stronger sun, which is a natural sanitiser for anything you can hang outside.
Your bed is the single biggest fabric collection in the house. Strip it completely and wash sheets and pillowcases on the warmest setting the labels allow. Then tackle the items people forget: pillows, the mattress protector and the doona itself. Pillows absorb sweat, oils and dust mites, and most people never clean them until they yellow. Our pillow cleaning guide covers what is washable. Then do the seasonal doona swap properly: our spring bedding changeover guide explains why the winter doona must be cleaned before it goes into storage. Doonas start from $45.
Vacuum the mattress, spot-treat marks and let it air for a few hours before remaking the bed. If anyone in the house has hay fever, an anti-allergen protector and freshly washed bedding make a real difference. See our hay fever bedding guide.
Curtains and blinds are the worst offenders. They act as giant filters, trapping dust and pollen against the window and releasing it every time the fabric moves. Blockout curtains in particular need specialist handling, because the coated backing cracks in a home wash. Our blockout curtain cleaning guide explains why. Curtains start from $39 per metre.
Cushion covers, throws and sofa blankets can usually be washed at home if you check the labels. Rugs are a different story. A rug holds an astonishing amount of tracked-in winter grime, and household machines push in too much water and cannot extract it, so the rug stays wet for days. Our rug cleaning guide covers wool, silk and synthetic rugs. Woollen rugs start from $60.
Every winter coat, wool jumper and heavy jacket should be clean before it disappears for six months. Body oils, deodorant and food marks you cannot see will oxidise into set stains and attract moths and silverfish. Our winter coat storage guide covers how to pack pieces so they come out crisp next autumn. Coats are dry cleaned from $29.
While the wardrobe is open, pull out the spring and summer pieces boxed away since last season. Linen comes out creased and stale; our linen care guide shows how to revive it. Silk that went away with a faint sweat mark may have yellowed; our silk dry cleaning guide explains what lifts and what does not.
Spring cleaning is also a chance to reset the textiles you stop noticing. Bath towels go grey and rough over winter. Tea towels, table linen, school gear and gym bags accumulate odour a normal cycle only half removes. Working these into the spring reset means the whole house feels fresh, not just the showpiece rooms. Laundry is $9.90 per kilo, weighed on arrival.
When in doubt, check the care label. If it says professional cleaning, believe it. We will also tell you honestly if something is past saving before we start.
Day one: strip and wash all bedding while airing pillows and the mattress in the sun. Day two: curtains, cushions and rugs. Throughout, set aside one bag for everything that needs professional care, and book one pickup. Pickup and delivery runs across Sydney metro seven days, from $15 per order, or drop in at Surry Hills or Leichhardt. Standard turnaround is 3 to 5 business days. If you live in a unit, our apartment pickup guide covers concierge and intercom buildings.
For the soft-furnishings side, most Sydney households land somewhere between a single doona and a full house. As a guide, using WashMate starting prices: doonas from $45, blankets from $45, pillows from $30, curtains from $39 per metre, woollen rugs from $60, coats from $29, and the everyday load at $9.90 per kilo. Pickup and delivery is from $15 per order, one fee for the whole collection. Every price is confirmed after inspection. Send a list or photos to info@washmate.com.au and we will give you an approximate total before you book.
Print this or screenshot it.
Anything from that list that is large, delicate, lined, coated, structured or made of wool, silk or leather goes in the professional bag. The rest is a weekend of washing.
Sydney’s hay fever season runs from roughly September to December, and the soft furnishings are where the pollen lives once it is indoors. Prioritise curtains and blinds in bedrooms, pillows and mattress protectors, and any rug in the room where the sufferer sleeps. Wash bedding weekly through the season on the warmest setting the labels allow. Our hay fever bedding and curtain guide covers the full approach.
Each of these is a job we see arrive after the fact, and several cannot be reversed. Handing them over in the first place is cheaper than the replacement.
Early to mid September is the sweet spot. Demand for doona, curtain and rug cleaning climbs steeply from the second half of September through October as the whole city has the same idea, and turnaround stretches. Booking your collection in the first two weeks means your home is reset before the rush, not during it.
Three categories almost never make it onto a spring cleaning list, and they hold as much winter grime as anything else in the house.
All of these travel in the same pickup as your doonas, curtains and rugs, and are priced after inspection. If it is fabric, ask. Send a photo or a list to info@washmate.com.au and we will quote it.
Early to mid September, once humidity drops and the sun strengthens. Washed items dry through properly and you beat the seasonal rush for professional cleaning.
Bedding. Sheets, pillows, the mattress protector and the winter doona hold the most sweat and dust mites. Then curtains and rugs, then the winter wardrobe before it goes into storage.
Sheers and cushion covers, often yes. Blockout curtains and rugs, no. The coated curtain backing cracks in a home wash and rugs stay wet for days and grow mould.
Doonas from $45, blankets from $45, pillows from $30, curtains from $39 per metre and woollen rugs from $60. All prices are confirmed after inspection.
Yes. Put coats, doonas, curtains, rugs and delicates in one collection. Pickup and delivery runs across Sydney metro seven days, from $15 per order.
One bag, one pickup, and the tricky items are handled by someone who does it for a living. Laundry is $9.90 per kilo, pickup and delivery runs across Sydney metro from $15, and every price is confirmed after inspection. Book online, email info@washmate.com.au or call 0403 861 744.
Follow @washmate.sydney on Instagram for before-and-after garment transformations, care tips and a look behind the scenes at how our Sydney team works.
