While blinds are the most serviceable window treatments of all, maintaining them the right way can be a legit bummer on the nerves. And even if you’re really considerate when it comes to caring for your blinds, you must still have come across certain major problems in this regard.
Nasty slime, dust clouds, improper cleaning, irreversible damage, and dust allergies in the worst-case scenarios are some of the most common concerns experienced while cleaning the blinds. Besides, excessive time consumption is also one of the major issues, particularly if your entire house features window blinds or, let’s say, you can’t spare a lot of time.
The major pondering that arrives at this point is whether there really is a fast and mess-free way to clean and declutter window blinds. There are surely many of them, and all you need to do is to proceed in a certain manner and avoid a few things in order to not worsen the situation in any way.
Let’s get to see the different scenarios of cleaning window panel blinds with no residues.
Cleaning The Window Blinds Without Taking Them Down
Ahead is an easy and practical way to clean your blinds without taking them off or indulging in way too demanding procedures. You can easily carry out this cleaning method regularly, too.
Things You’ll Need
- Duster (Microfiber cloths work best)
- Gloves
- Vacuum Cleaner (along with all the attachments)
- Dishwashing detergent
- Warm Water
Steps For Cleaning
- Dusting And Clearing: Start by wrapping the micro-fiber cloth around the opened blind to clean up all the loosened build-up. Keep shaking your dusting cloth at a distant spot to avoid the transfer of dirt/dust to clean slats.
- For Horizontal/Venetian Blinds: In the case of horizontal or venetian blinds, you’ll need to proceed from top to bottom by moving your dusting cloth in a left to the right direction. Alternatively, you can also grab the blind slats to collect all the dirt and dust at the sides.
- For Vertical Blinds: Start by wrapping the micro-fiber cloth around the blind slats, followed by cleaning them from top to bottom of vertical blinds.
- Making The Cleaner: Take warm water in a bowl and mix in a couple of drops of any mild dishwashing liquid.
- Cleaning And Buffing: Thoroughly saturate your microfiber cloth into the cleaning solution, wring it well and use it to wipe all the blind slats having stubborn or old stains/grease buildup, etc. Once you’ve got rid of all the staining and buildup, go over the whole slats again with a dry microfiber cloth to clear out any cleaner residue.
- Vacuum Essentials: Get the soft dusting brush attachment on with your vacuum cleaner, followed by turning down the suction capacity to its lowest setting.
- Cleaning With The Vacuum: Take the bottom rail of the blind, to keep it still, followed by horizontally moving the vacuum suction from left to right. Do repeat this in the opposite direction on each slat and also on the reverse side of the slats.
Cleaning Window Blinds By Removing Them
As shown by the name, this method involves taking the blinds down and washing them for deeper cleaning and, of course, improved outcomes. While this can only be carried out occasionally, we recommend cleaning your blinds this way once in a while.
Things You’ll Need
- Bathtub (or any large container for washing)
- Towels
- Warm water
- Dishwashing detergent
- Clean Microfiber Cloth
Steps For Cleaning
- Preparing The Tub: This includes lining your bathtub/container with a couple of towels in order to avoid any damage (scratching, deforming, etc.) to the blind slats. Fill the tub with warm water and add in a suitable amount of dishwashing detergent, followed by giving it a good mix.
- Placing And Soaking The Blinds: Extend your blinds completely and have all the slats wide open, as well. While keeping the top rail outside, carefully place a single blind in the tub. Let them soak for the next 20 minutes, after which you can wipe them thoroughly with the help of a cleaning cloth.
- Rinsing And Drying: Rinse the blinds with clean water after draining all the dirty water from the tub. You can also use a handheld shower for this purpose. Once cleaned thoroughly, wipe off all the blinds with a clean and dry microfiber cloth to get rid of all the moisture residue. Ensure complete drying of the blinds by laying them in an airy space outside.
Factors To Consider While Cleaning The Blinds
Here are some aspects to keep in mind when you’re about to clean your blinds to not end up with any misconduct, blind damage, or messy residues.
- Consider Junk Picking And Dry Cleaning: While this might seem way too obvious, not picking out all the loosened debris or junk can actually worsen the whole cleaning procedure a lot. Doing so not only makes the entire cleaning job easier but also keeps the surrounding space clean since there is no likelihood of dirt or dust getting spread all around. This goes the same for dry cleaning, which will make it much easier to clear out all the dirt instead of cleaning wet blinds.
- Watch Out For Your Cleaning Strategy: Remember to clean only one section, or let’s say one slat of the blind, at a time. One favorable idea in this regard is to clean the concave part in the first place, followed by carrying out the rest of the cleaning in a zigzag manner.
- Look For The Usage Of Water: This particularly needs to be taken care of when you’re dealing with cellular shades, real wood, or even faux wood blinds. Also, keeping your blinds submerged in water for long will simply result in tremendous damage, too, so be careful to use a sparse amount of water and about the time span for which you let your blinds soak in the water.
- Take Your Blind Type Into Account: Consider the manufacturer’s guidelines while cleaning your blinds, since that’s the most foolproof approach. Try using only the recommended cleaner for your blinds, if any.
- Going A Little Beyond: If you’ve got some super sensitive (fancy and delicate or that need to be handled with care) blinds, consider maintaining them in the ways recommended by the manufacturer and don’t rely on DIY cleaning. The most common example in this regard is wood blinds, which need to be cleaned in a specific manner. Besides, if you’re going for the DIY hacks, then that comes with some exceptions too, such as using vinegar or other similar household stuff when you can’t get desired outcomes from the dishwashing liquid only.
- Don’t Forget Post Cleanup: Do vacuum and clean all the equipment and the surrounding space, particularly if you’ve got carpets since they’re the most prone to trapping all the dirt and dust particles. Also, never carry out any blind cleaning procedures in clean spaces; rather try doing it prior to decluttering all the areas.
- Safety First: If your blinds are excessively contaminated, or soiled, do not forget to cover your face properly before you do anything with the blind cleaning. It’s particularly crucial if you’ve got any allergy concerns. Wearing gloves is another good idea to consider during the entire cleanup.
In A Nutshell
How To Clean Window Blinds Fast Without Creating Nasty Slime Or Clouds Of Dust can be a major issue and a demanding job to carry out. However, it doesn’t always have to be displeasing or difficult if you act a little smart and do the entire thing with a little essential prep. With that said, we’ve got pretty high hopes that you’ll find our above-mentioned methods helpful in your next window blind cleanup.
Both work fine under most circumstances, and you can expect really favorable consequences (squeaky clean and shiny blinds!) from these cleanups. Most importantly, the fact that you’ll not end up dealing with dust clouds, nasty slime, or never-ending sneezing.
Hoping things will remain good all along!
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