Jim I know that you have used the Muslin beckgrounds that come from B&H Photo. Have you ever washed one? I have an all white one that needs to be and just wondered what is the best way to clean them. Thanks Jim R

I've not yet had to wash one. Supposedly the ones I have (BOTERO brand) are machine-washable, if you have a washing machine large enough to hold one.

What I'd probably do is use a mild detergent (to avoid damage to the paint/ink), cool/cold water (to avoid the material shrinking), gentle cycle (to avoid tearing the fabric), and no bleach (to avoid fading the colors). But for a white BG, probably use some bleach; maybe a no-chlorine bleach like Clorox 2 to avoid deteriorating the fabric or sewing.

Here's what I've done with my Botero brand of 10 x 12 textured, double-sided, muslin backgrounds to get the fold lines and large creases out. This would also probably work for drying after washing.

Unfold and toss into dryer set to low heat. Get two or three large white bath towels (white so the towel's color doesn't transfer to the BG) thoroughly wet (but not dripping wet) and toss into the dryer along with the BG.

After the towels are dry (sometimes two cycles in the dryer), then I loosely crumple the textured BGs and stuff them into a duffel/large lanudry bag for storage and transportation. This puts lots of smallish random creases in the material. You can adjust the distance from subject to BG and the DoF to sharpen or blur the creases, and head-on or angled background lighting to alter emphasis and shadows.

For solid backgrounds instead of textured, probably don't want creases all over it, so the only thing I can think of is to roll it onto a suitable form, perhaps the "tube" that is the core of a roll of floor carpet. Now the problem is transporting a 10-foot long "spool" of background.

It is an all white 10X12 one that I am worried about cleaning I will give it a try. The other one that I have is one of the two sided ones that does not show much soiling. What I did with both of them when I got them new was take them out of the bag and then unfold them and wad them back up and stuff them back into the bag. I then remove them the next day and wad them up again and do the same thing again. I do that for about 4 days and by then you can't see the folds much. I will never get another 10X12, but will get 10X24 If I need another one. I use them mostly for glamor shots and these are just a little short for me to not get the bottom edge and part of the carpet in the shots. I am also not toofond of one side of my two colored one.

The ever-so-popular "edge of the world" problem where the camera catches part of the lighting equipment, or cables, or beyond the side or top or front/bottom of the backdrop... Been there, got that, didn't bother with the T-shirt.