Window blinds are a great and convenient way to decorate your window spaces, while controlling the amount of light in a room. But, like everything else in your home, they will need to be cleaned at some point. The traditional method of doing this involves taking down the blinds, putting them in the bath, scrubbing them clean and then putting them back up, but this is time-consuming and fiddly. Unless your blinds are made from fabric or are particularly dirty, you won’t need to do this.
For blinds made of plastic, aluminium or wood, there is a much simpler way of cleaning that involves a cloth, washing liquid, water and a bucket. This method works just as well with vertical as with horizontal slatted blinds.
Preparation:
Before you start the cleaning, it’s a good idea to get rid of as much dust as you can, either using a duster, or, if you’ve got a brush attachment, a vacuum cleaner. If you’re cleaning a horizontal blind, you can work from top to bottom, while for vertical blinds, it’s best to work from left to right, beginning at the top of each slat and moving to the bottom. For hand brushing, a microfibre cloth or traditional duster will work fine. Remember to dust gently, in order to avoid slats coming loose – you don’t want to have to spend time re-attaching them.
Cleaning:
The next stage is the cleaning part. Add a few drops of washing liquid to a bucket and tip in warm water. Dunk a microfibre cloth into the bucket and wring it out. Twist the slats of the blind so that they are flat and tilting towards you. With your cloth, starting at the top or the left (for vertical and horizontal blinds respectively) wrap the cloth around the slat and slide it from one end to the other. Rinse your cloth each time. With horizontal blind slats, as an alternative, you can start in the centre and work your way to each edge in turn.
If you find an area of a blind is particularly dirty, you can apply a little baking soda to the warm water to give your cloth more cleaning power. Once the cleaning is done, the blinds will dry as they hang, making this a much more efficient method than taking them all down.
If you have fabric blinds, you may still have to take them down and clean them from time if they become discoloured. This is best done in the bath, using warm soapy water and a wrung-out sponge, and then leaving them to dry for a day or two. But this can be avoided by taking the time to vacuum or dust them regularly. This will help to avoid the build up of the dust and dirt that leads to discolouration and will be more efficient in the long-run.
