Cleaning Blinds

Cleaning Blinds

Blind cleaning can be a laborious task. If your metal or vinyl blinds are excessively dirty and difficult to cleanse while they’re mounted on the window, you have two options: either remove them and conduct a thorough cleaning on your own, or enlist a specialist to perform an ultrasonic cleaning (an expert can be located via a Google search for “Window treatments-Cleaning and Repair”). Ultrasonic cleaning can rejuvenate slats, cords, and fabric ladders, making them appear brand new again. Unfortunately, fabric blinds cannot be manually scrubbed, but they can be treated with professional dry ultrasonic methods. As for wood blinds, neither scrubbing nor ultrasonic cleaning methods are suitable as they bear similar finish as wood furniture. Therefore, they should be carefully wiped using a soft, moist cloth.

Ultrasonic machine to clean blinds

Cleaning Plastic Blinds

Wash ’em Clean! Add 3 drops of dish liquid into a bowl or bucket and fill with warm water. Take a microfibre cloth and dunk it in the mixture, wring well to the point of the cloth being damp-dry. Now, twist the blind slats so they lie completely flat, tilting slightly towards you (so that you can slip your hand in)

  • Dusting. To maintain a like-new appearance, dust lightly and regularly with a feather duster.
  • Vacuuming. For deeper cleaning, lightly vacuum with the upholstery attachment of any vacuum cleaner.
  • Spot Cleaning. Spot clean with a soft cloth or sponge, a mild detergent and warm water. Blot gently and allow to dry completely

Plastic blinds after cleaning

Clean Grime from Faux Wood Blinds

 

  • Fill a bucket with warm water and add a teaspoon of mild detergent. …
  • Close the blinds, and starting in the top left corner, run the wet cloth along one slat at a time. …
  • Work your way across and down the blinds until you’ve cleaned every slat

Tips & Tricks:

  1. No microfiber cloths on hand? Use an old (but clean!) sock, preferably acrylic or polyester.
  2. If your vinyl or aluminum blinds are in the kitchen where they are exposed to grease, they may need a deep clean. Take the blinds off the window and place in a bathtub with warm water and dish soap. Let the blinds soak for about an hour. Rise with warm water and wipe away any excess dirt or dust. Let the blinds dry completely before reinstalling.
  3. If your fabric blinds need more than dusting or spot cleaning, you can take them to the dry cleaner for a thorough refresh.
  4. It’s important to start at the top of the blinds when you clean, otherwise, dust will fall on areas you’ve already cleaned.
  5. Vertical blinds can be cleaned using the same method described above. Wipe vertical blinds in a downward motion or they could come unhooked.