Free HIQA Curtain Hygiene Checklist for Nursing Homes

The most common gap we see in Irish nursing homes is not dirty curtains. It is that on the day of an inspection, nobody can say when the curtains were last cleaned. The cleaning may well have happened — but if it is not written down, dated and attributable, it did not happen as far as the evidence file is concerned.

This checklist is free to use and free to copy. Nothing on this page is gated and nothing requires you to contact us. Every figure is linked to the document it comes from, so you can check it yourself — and so can your inspector.

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1. What Regulation 27 Actually Says

It is worth being precise, because a lot of supplier marketing is not. HIQA regulates the designated centre, not its contractors. No curtain cleaning company can be “HIQA approved” or “HIQA certified” — no such scheme exists. What matters is the evidence your centre holds.

The relevant provision is Regulation 27 (Infection control) of the Health Act 2007 (Care and Welfare of Residents in Designated Centres for Older People) Regulations 2013 — S.I. No. 415/2013. It is a single sentence:

The registered provider shall ensure that procedures, consistent with the standards for the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections published by the Authority are implemented by staff.

Regulation 27, S.I. No. 415/2013

Three things follow from that wording, and they shape everything else on this page:

• It says nothing about curtains, soft furnishings, cleaning or frequency. Neither do HIQA’s National Standards for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections (2017) or the National Standards for Infection Prevention and Control in Community Services (2018) — the word “curtain” does not appear in either.
• The operative test is implementation, not the existence of a policy document. Procedures must be “implemented by staff.”
• It cross-refers to HIQA’s published standards, which in turn point to national IPC guidance — which is where the frequencies live.

Note also Regulation 9 (Residents’ rights). Privacy curtains that are absent — for example because they have gone away for laundering with no spare set hung — have been recorded as a finding under Regulation 9, separately from any hygiene question. See the inspection reports in section 8.

2. The Current National Frequency Guidance

The current Irish source is Infection Prevention and Control — National Clinical Guideline No. 30, Department of Health / National Clinical Effectiveness Committee, May 2023, Volume 2, §7.1, Tables 39 and 40. Guideline landing page · Volume 2 (PDF).

The guideline states that its frequency table sets “recommended minimum frequencies” and “is applicable to all settings”. Crucially, it also instructs that “facilities should develop and implement a local cleaning schedule and policy that suits their environment.” That instruction is the reason a documented local schedule is the thing to have.

Which band is a nursing home?

Table 39 defines the bands by setting. Long-term care is named explicitly in the low risk band.

Risk rating	Settings (verbatim from Table 39)
Very high risk	Outbreak in high-risk area
High risk	Intensive care unit, high dependency unit, burns unit, renal units, operating suite, emergency departments
Significant risk	General wards
Low risk	Rehabilitation, long-term care, primary care, office-based, homecare services

What the guideline sets for curtains

Risk rating	Curtains and blinds (verbatim from Table 40)
Very high risk	Bed curtains — change or clean weekly and upon discharge. Patient with MDRO or other infectious disease — change bed curtains or clean upon discharge.
High risk	Bed curtains — change or clean monthly. Patient with MDRO change bed curtains or clean upon discharge.
Significant risk	Bed curtains — change or clean biannually. Patient with MDRO change bed curtains or clean upon discharge.
Low risk — long-term care	Bed curtains — change or clean biannually. Patient with MDRO change bed curtains or clean upon discharge.

So for a nursing home, the national minimum is: bed curtains changed or cleaned twice yearly, plus on discharge of any resident with an MDRO or other infectious disease.

And the guideline expressly provides for escalation. Its note to Table 39 reads: “there may be a requirement for increase in intensity and frequency of cleaning in any setting in the context of an outbreak. For example the IPC team or outbreak control team may advise escalation from the Low risk schedule to the significant risk schedule or higher.” Your policy should say how that escalation is triggered and by whom.

Two honest caveats

• “Biannually” is ambiguous in the source. Standard healthcare usage means twice a year, and that reading is consistent with the equivalent NHS England standard. But NCG 30 itself uses “6-monthly” elsewhere in the same table for other items, so the vocabulary is not perfectly consistent. If the distinction matters for your policy, write it as “twice a year (NCG 30 states ‘biannually’)” or ask your IPC lead or HSE AMRIC to confirm.
• The stated method is “replace with laundered curtains.” The frequency column says “change or clean“, so cleaning in place satisfies the interval — but be aware the method column reflects the conventional take-down-and-launder approach, and an IPC lead may raise it. There is published evidence that cleaning curtains in place measurably reduces contamination (see section 9), which is the answer to that question.

3. Where “Every Three Months” Comes From

You will hear “curtains must be cleaned at least every three months” stated as a flat fact, sometimes by people who advise on compliance for a living. It is worth knowing exactly what they are citing, because it is real — and because it does not apply to a nursing home.

The figure comes from the HSE National Cleaning Standards Manual — Appendices (September 2006), Appendix 5, Element 40. The HSE has since moved the file; an archived copy is available here. That table sets, for its “Very High Risk” band: “Clean, change or replace yearly, bed curtains quarterly and in accordance with isolation policy.”

Four things narrow it almost to vanishing point for a care setting:

• It applies to bed and cubicle curtains only. Window curtains are yearly in every band except low risk.
• “Very High Risk” in that document means one thing: “Control of Infection Wards & areas cohorting infectious patients.” That is the whole category. Even ICU, theatres and A&E sit a band below, at twice a year.
• The manual is scoped to acute hospitals. Its title page reads “Cleaning Manual — Acute Hospitals”, and it was written to support hospital hygiene assessment.
• It is from 2006 and has been superseded by NCG 30 (2023) for frequency purposes.

Worth knowing if the conversation gets detailed: the same 2006 document contains a second, different figure. Its A–Z decontamination table says curtains “should be laundered at least 6 monthly and when visibly soiled.” So the manual gives both a quarterly and a six-monthly figure depending on which table you open — which is a good reason not to build a policy on it.

None of this means quarterly cleaning is wrong. Many homes clean more often than the national minimum, for good reasons — and NCG 30 explicitly contemplates local schedules and outbreak escalation. The point is simply that quarterly is a local decision to be justified, not a national rule to be cited. If you set a more frequent interval, record why.

4. Mapping Your Home to the Risk Bands

NCG 30 bands by setting rather than by room, which leaves some judgement to you. A workable mapping for a typical nursing home is below. Your IPC lead should confirm it — this is a starting point for that conversation, not a substitute for it.

Area	Band	Bed curtains	Notes
Resident bedrooms, day rooms, dining and activity spaces	Low risk	Twice yearly	The default for long-term care under Table 39
Room of any resident with an MDRO or other infectious disease	—	On discharge	Applies in every band; this is the trigger most often missed
During a confirmed outbreak	Escalated	As IPC or outbreak control team directs	NCG 30 expressly permits escalation “to the significant risk schedule or higher”
Treatment room, clinical room, GP consulting room	Local judgement	More frequent than twice yearly is reasonable	Not named in Table 39; justify by local risk assessment
Offices, meeting rooms, staff areas	Low risk	Twice yearly	Window dressings only in most cases

5. The Checklist

Work through these in order. Any item you cannot answer with a document is a gap in your evidence file, regardless of how clean the curtains actually are.

Policy

• Is there a written curtain and soft-furnishing cleaning schedule — separate from the general environmental cleaning policy, or clearly identified within it?
• Does it state its frequencies and say what they are based on? Naming NCG 30 is the strongest answer.
• Does it cover both window curtains and bed or privacy curtains? These are treated differently in every guidance document and are frequently conflated.
• Does it include the on-discharge trigger for residents with an MDRO or other infectious disease? This is a distinct requirement and the one most often absent.
• Does it say how outbreak escalation is triggered, and who decides?
• Does it name a person responsible for the schedule being followed?
• Does it have a review date, and has the review actually happened?

Records — this is where most homes fall down

• Can you produce a dated record for every area showing when its curtains were last changed or cleaned?
• Does each record state which method was used and who carried it out — named in-house staff or a named contractor?
• Are records held for at least the current and previous cycle, so a pattern is visible rather than a single event?
• Is there a record of unscheduled cleans — visible soiling, spillage, post-infection — as well as scheduled ones?
• Are the records in the IPC file, or somewhere you could produce them without a search?
• Does your evidence show the procedure was implemented, not just written? That is the actual wording of Regulation 27.

The fabric itself

• Do you know whether your curtains are inherently fire-retardant or topically treated? It matters: topical treatments are progressively removed by repeated laundering and dry cleaning, while inherently FR fabric does not lose its performance.
• Is the FR specification recorded in your fire safety file? Note that Regulation 28(1)(a) of S.I. 415/2013 requires providers to supply “suitable bedding and furnishings” as a fire precaution — that, rather than Regulation 27, is the fire hook for curtains.
• Do you have a spare set, or a method that does not remove the curtain, so privacy is never absent? Missing privacy curtains have been recorded as a Regulation 9 finding (section 8).
• Are curtains that are beyond cleaning — torn, permanently stained, sun-degraded — identified and on a replacement plan rather than re-cleaned indefinitely?

6. Signs Curtains Need Attention Before the Next Scheduled Clean

• Visible marking at hand height on privacy curtains — the leading edge where they are pulled is handled far more than any other part of the fabric and soils first.
• A musty smell when the heating comes on. Warm air moving through fabric holding trapped dust and moisture releases odour; a reliable early indicator.
• Watermarking or tidemarks at the hem, usually condensation running from the glass onto the fabric.
• Dust along the top of the heading or the rail when you look up at it.
• Any spillage, body fluid or food contact — an immediate trigger, not a scheduled one.
• Discharge of a resident with an MDRO or other infectious disease — a national requirement in every risk band, not a judgement call.

7. Questions to Ask Any Curtain Cleaning Contractor

These are worth asking whoever you use. We have included ones we would rather not be asked, because a checklist containing only questions the author answers well is not a checklist.

• What exactly does your method do, and how wet does the fabric get? “Steam”, “dry clean” and “low moisture” are very different processes with different drying times and different risks to linings.
• How long until the room is usable again? Get a number, and get it in writing.
• What documentation do I get after every visit? Ask to see a sample certificate before you book. If a supplier cannot show you the artefact they are selling, that is informative.
• Are your technicians Garda vetted, and can you evidence it today? Two things to know here. Vetting is granted to a specific organisation and is not transferable — vetting obtained at a previous employer does not carry over. And a contractor whose work is not mainly contact with residents may not be legally required to vet at all under the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012. Most homes require it contractually regardless. Ask for current status, not history, and treat “we’re compliant with the Vetting Act” as a phrase worth probing.
• What training do your technicians hold, and is it in-house or externally certified? Both are legitimate; you should know which you are getting.
• What insurance do you carry, and to what limit? Ask for the certificate and the public liability limit — that is what procurement asks for.
• If you make a disinfection claim, what product is used and what is its registration? Products making biocidal claims in Ireland are regulated and carry a registration number. A supplier claiming virucidal or bactericidal action should be able to name the product and number without hesitating.
• Will you preserve fire-retardancy, and how do you know? Ask whether the answer rests on test data or on the absence of aggressive laundering. The second is a reasonable answer; presenting it as the first is not.
• Will residents’ privacy curtains ever be absent while you work? If so, what is the spare-set arrangement?
• What happens if a stain does not come out? Any honest supplier will tell you some will not.
• Can you give me a reference from a nursing home I can actually call?

8. What HIQA Inspectors Have Actually Recorded

These are real, published HIQA inspection reports in which curtains appear in the findings. They are the best guide available to what actually gets written down — and note that in every case the accepted remedy is a documented cleaning schedule, never a particular interval.

• Under Regulation 27 (Infection control), an unannounced inspection in December 2023 recorded that “toilet cabinets were heavily soiled, curtains were heavily stained.” The provider’s compliance plan response was that “an enhanced cleaning schedule, including the cleaning of curtains…was introduced.” Report (PDF)
• Under Regulation 27, an unannounced inspection in January 2026 recorded that “curtains in a shared room were visibly dirty.” The provider responded that “a formal curtain cleaning schedule is in place, and curtains identified as unclean have been removed, cleaned or replaced as required.” Report (PDF)
• Under Regulation 9 (Residents’ rights) — a different point worth noting — an inspection in July 2025 found that “two twin bedrooms did not have appropriate privacy curtains in place.” The cause was curtains going for washing without spares being hung. Report (PDF) This is why the spare-set question in section 7 matters: a gap in privacy is a finding in its own right, independent of hygiene.

9. Why the Interval Matters — the Published Evidence

If you are deciding whether the national minimum is enough for your home, three peer-reviewed studies are worth knowing. Summarised plainly, each linked to the original.

• Contamination is common in nursing homes specifically. A prospective study across six nursing homes sampled 1,521 privacy curtains: 22% carried multidrug-resistant organisms, and 40% of residents had a contaminated privacy curtain at some point. Genetic matching showed the organism on the curtain was frequently the resident’s own strain. Gibson K et al., Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 2021. Read it. Most research in this area is hospital-based; this one is not, which is why it is the most relevant to a care setting.
• Freshly laundered curtains do not stay clean for long. Ten newly laundered curtains were tracked over 21 days. By day 14, 87.5% tested positive for MRSA, with contamination rising sharply between days 10 and 14. Shek K et al., American Journal of Infection Control, 2018. Read it. This is the finding that argues for a schedule rather than an occasional deep clean.
• Cleaning curtains in place measurably works — and the benefit decays. A randomised controlled trial found cleaning curtains without removing them reduced MRSA contamination from 64% to 5–10%, but bacterial burden climbed again over the following three to four days. Cadogan K et al., Scientific Reports, 2021. Read it. Note this trial used hydrogen-peroxide spray and wipes, not our process — it supports the principle that in-place cleaning reduces bioburden, and is not evidence about any particular commercial method.

Read together these point in one direction: the interval, not the intensity, determines whether curtains are clean most of the time.

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Take This Away

A printable version of this checklist, formatted for your IPC file, is available here — no form, no email address required.

You are welcome to copy this into your own policy documents, with or without attribution. It is more use to us being used than locked behind a form.

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Want This Filled In for Your Home?

Working through the checklist usually surfaces the same thing: the cleaning is broadly happening, but the inventory and the dated records are not there to prove it.

We will do a free curtain hygiene audit of one wing and give you the completed document. It records what curtains you have, their fabric and condition, the risk band of each area, and a proposed schedule referenced to NCG 30. It goes in your IPC file whether or not you ever become a customer, and there is no obligation attached to it.

If you have an inspection coming up, say so when you contact us and we will prioritise it.

Related reading: nursing home curtain cleaning · what a compliance certificate should contain · in-situ versus off-site cleaning

Last reviewed: August 2026. Every figure on this page is linked to its source document. If you believe anything here is inaccurate, please tell us and we will correct it — CustomerSupport@CurtainCare.ie. This page is general guidance, not legal or clinical advice; your IPC lead should set your schedule.