Alan and Fellow Listers,

I have successully washed the curtains in my 1987 Syncro Westfalia on a
number of occasions.  After we've been camping for a couple of weeks
steady, the entire bus smells of campfire and I cannot stand it.
Carefully remove the curtains from the bus and inspect them.  If the
material appears brittle, I would take them to a tailor or upholstery shop
and have a new set of curtains made, using the old ones as a pattern.  If
yours are in good condition, put them in your washer and wash them on
gentle cycle in cold water.  I would strongly recommend air-drying them;
putting them in the dryer is liable to make them shrink.

Upholstery:  I have an old Bissell carpet machine with an upholstery
attachment.  I use it to to all of the upholstery and carpte in the van,
usually once a year.  You will not believe what a difference cleaning the
upholstery makes.  If you don't have a machine, or have a sudden spill or
stain you can try this trick:

1)  Get a bottle of Bissel carpet shampoo, about $8 from WalMart.  Get the
stuff in the blue bottle.

2)  Dilute it to about 5-to-1 with warm water, and fill a spray bottle
with this mixture.

3)  Spray the offending stain, them promptly suck out the solution with a
wet-dry vacuum.

Regards,
Jon Kanas