Spring means spring cleaning! We know it can be a hassle, but blinds are something you shouldn’t ignore as you are doing your full home overhaul. To make things easier, our blind experts have a few cleaning tips to keep your window treatments sparkling, fresh and just like new.
Clean Blinds Regularly
Wooden blinds, faux wood blinds, verticals, horizontals, fabric. All blinds pick up dust and fingerprints that make will make you cringe when you look closely.
If you dust a bit here and there throughout the year, your big spring cleaning project will be a bit more manageable. Some recommendations:
- A quick run over the slats of your blinds with a microfibre or feather duster will pick up the worst of the fluffy dust bunnies. Swiffer Sweeper Dry Pad Refills work great for dusting everything, including your blinds. Just give the slats a quick swipe while you are dusting your other furniture.
- Soft, dry sponges (found at hardware and paint stores) will remove dust and residue from both fabric and vinyl blinds. Simply wipe the dry sponge firmly across the blinds. This works best if there isn’t a huge buildup of dust or fingerprints and doesn’t work well for greasy dust that can build up on kitchen blinds.
- When dusting or vacuuming horizontal blinds, brush downward to avoid having the slats becoming unhooked from the top component. Keep the blinds closed. Use the small brush attachment on your vacuum if you have one.
- For spot cleaning, spray an all purpose cleaner & degreaser onto a clean dry cloth and wipe the soiled area of the blind. Never spray the cleaner directly onto the blind.
Spring Cleaning Tips
For the Big Clean, you can remove some blinds to wash them, but not all blind finishes are water friendly, so be careful! Metal and composite blinds are best for submersion washing. Keep your wood or faux wood blinds on the wall as you clean with a damp cloth but don’t soak them.
Fabric Blinds
Fabric blinds are wonderful additions to your home, but they may require some special care to keep them looking new. Fabric blinds and drapes can pick up a lot of dust that can be shaken off if cleaned regularly.
If your fabric blinds become very dirty, you may want to take the fabrics to a specialty dry cleaner or hire a professional to come into your home to clean them without damaging the fabric.
Metal and Vinyl Blinds
One of the great assets to having metal and vinyl blinds is they are easy to clean!
You can take the blinds outside to your patio or driveway and lay them on a small rug or piece of carpet. Put a few drops of dishwashing soap in a bucket of water. Wet a car-washing brush and brush the blinds from side to side, and then turn them over and brush the other side.
Rinse the blinds gently with a garden hose while tilting them so that the water runs off. To prevent water spots from forming, quickly run your finger down the slats a couple of times to remove excess water. When done, drape the blinds over a fence or a couch to dry.
If you have no outdoor space, you can also use your tub to wash blinds using the same technique. Put the blinds in the tub, fill a bucket with water and using a soft cloth or brush, clean each of the slats. You can also put water in the tub and wash the slats – just make sure that you remove excess water to avoid getting spots.
Spring cleaning is a big job but your home feels great when it’s finished. Your window treatments will sparkle and you’ll love the difference!
