adding a touch of elegance to your room

What the Experts Say 

To help ensure that you have a successful cleaning campaign every time, here are some tips from cleaning professionals, including “at-home professionals” who have mastered the art of DIY cleaning for window blinds and shutters. As you’ll note, cleaning recommendations vary from professional to professional:

• Dust or vacuum them every time you clean the house
• Dust window coverings once a month
• Give a thorough cleaning once a season (summer, fall, winter, spring)
• Twice a year do a deep clean (i.e., spring cleaning and just before the holidays)

Factors like weather, smokers, allergy sufferers, sticky little fingers, and pets contribute to the challenge of keeping window treatments clean. Ultimately, you are the determining factor in how often to clean your blinds, shades, shutters, or drapes.

Blinds and Shutters–Aluminum, Vinyl, Painted Wood, and Faux Wood

Dusting by hand, three popular methods:

• For blinds, extend as far as they will go; close blinds and shutters as flat as possible. Use a feather duster or soft dust cloth start at the top, and work your way across each slat to the bottom. Rotate slats and repeat the process.
• Place a sock on your hand, slightly open the slats and run your hand back and forth, over and under each slat. When clean, do another “once over” with a dryer sheet to repel dust.
• Use specialty tools to clean louvers, which allow you to swipe several slats clean simultaneously on both sides.

Vacuuming makes quick work of dusting.

• Use a brush attachment and go over the slats, side to side, starting at the top and working your way down.
• Rotate the slats and start again.
• Finish by wiping slats with a dryer sheet or spraying with an anti-static dust product.

TIP: Treat the duster with a non-silicone, anti-static spray to attract dust and leave the blind’s surface dust-resistant, making it easier to clean next time around.

Washing Grimy Blinds–Aluminum or Vinyl

If dusting or vacuuming isn’t enough to clean soiled blinds, you can bath aluminium and vinyl blinds! (This necessitates taking them down from the windows.)

• Lay blinds flat in the bathtub with just enough water to cover them; mix in two to three cups of white vinegar and a squirt of dishwashing soap.
• Let blinds soak for five to ten minutes on each side, then wipe both sides of the slats with a sponge.
• For crevices, use an old toothbrush or a small paintbrush to deep-clean
• Rinse blinds in clean water and place on a towel rack or hook to dry, or lay flat on the floor
• Wipe dry with a clean cloth or chamois

If the weather permits, you can wash blinds outside with soapy water, a sponge and a garden hose. Hang blinds on a clothesline or lay flat on the driveway or patio. Then it’s the same process as the bathtub—spray with soapy water to dampen, let soak, wipe clean, rinse with garden hose and dry.

TIP: For non-submersible blinds and shutters, sponge with a mild detergent and warm water solution; blot dry.

Real Wood Blinds and Shutters

• Never get real wood blinds or shutters “wet.” Use furniture polish or lemon oil to help protect the wood and restore its beauty.
• Lightly spray a soft cloth with furniture polish and dust each slat’s top, bottom and side while the blind is mounted.

Use a mild detergent in tepid water and a clean cotton cloth for badly soiled wood. Clean the area and rinse with clear water; immediately dry with a cotton cloth.