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Helpful Tips on Cleaning Window Blinds
by Rob Buenaventura
Description: Tips for cleaning a variety of styles of window blinds.
While we all want to keep our window blinds clean and well maintained it might not always be the most enjoyable task on our ‘to do’ lists. In all honesty, most people never bother cleaning their window blinds until it reaches the point of being overtaken by dust leaving no choice but to clean them or risk never seeing out again.
Aluminum or Vinyl Blinds
When it comes to the cleaning of either aluminum or vinyl blinds you are in luck as they are each fairly easy to clean. You can use soap and water, a vacuum cleaner (with proper attachments of course), feather duster, dusting cloth, or a Swiffer duster.
Below are some things you may wish to keep in mind when it comes to cleaning your blinds.
- Generally speaking, it is much easier to clean often and regularly using a dusting mitt, dust cloth, or vacuum cleaner with a round brush attachment in order to maintain a nice clean look for your aluminum or vinyl blinds. In fact, taking these steps weekly or twice a month can greatly reduce how often you will need to remove your blinds for more intense cleaning.
- Chemically treated dust cloths are effective at removing dust from in between the slats and from the surface of your blinds.
- If you must perform deeper cleaning that requires removing your blinds and spraying them with water, make sure that the slats are down in order to avoid damage.
- You may wish to lay your blinds in a tub full of warm sudsy water for cleaning. Be sure to lay a towel on the bottom of the tubs surface in order to avoid scratches.
- Using a sponge (either wet or dry) to wipe your blinds is another effective method for cleaning them on a regular basis.
- Avoid using metal materials such as brill-o pads in order to clean your blinds as they may damage the surface.
You should make sure that your windows are clean and free of dust before re-hanging your blinds. You should also make sure that all the nooks and crannies in your blinds are dry, as moisture will act as a dust magnet.
Wood Blinds
Wood blinds pose different problems and require different procedures for cleaning than your average vinyl or aluminum blinds may present. You cannot use water for the cleaning of wood blinds, which means that several of the methods mentioned above simply will not work for wooden blinds.
These tips are better to keep in mind when cleaning wooden blinds.
- Dusting mitts, dust cloths, and vacuum cleaners with round brush attachments are excellent choices for cleaning wood blinds, they may be used while the blinds are hanging or while they blinds are laying flat for cleaning.
- Some wood blinds may be cleaned with a damp (very lightly damp) cloth. Check the manufacturers instructions before doing so and if you can’t find the instructions, avoid using liquid all together.
- Move from left to right or right to left when dusting horizontal blinds and use downward strokes when it comes to dusting vertical blinds.
- If you want to focus on a particular spot pay close attention to the problem area with a dry dusting cloth.
Fabric Blinds
Fabric blinds tend to attract more dust than the other blinds mentioned in this article. As a result they will require more regular cleaning in order to avoid excessive buildups of dust.
- Vacuuming and brushing are the most effective methods of removing dust from blinds made of fabric. Doing so will also prolong the beauty of these particular types of blinds.
- You may clean them by soaking them in water but be wary when doing so as fading and discoloration is a potential problem when doing so. You could elect to take them to the dry cleaners rather than risk damaging them by washing them at home.
One final note: if you wipe down any of your blinds with a sheet of fabric softener once you’ve cleaned them you will find that they are more likely to repel dust for a little while longer than if you do nothing at all.
Learn more about window treatments, window covering ideas and other home improvement tips at HomeImprovementTouch.com.
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