One of the things that tends to discourage people from installing blinds instead of curtains is that they worry about keeping them clean. It just seems to be too fiddly and time-consuming to clean each individual slat of a Venetian blind!
It doesn’t have to be, though, and if you maintain a regular cleaning schedule than your blinds from www.makemyblinds.co.uk will never become so grubby and dusty that you feel all efforts are useless. Your blinds will always look clean and bright and they’ll always function smoothly.
Here’s how to look after your blinds
How you clean your blinds will depend largely on the material they’re made from – wood, plastic, metal or fabric – and the style. The basic cleaning advice is the same whatever style and fabric your blinds are, but there are some more specific tips for each type that you should follow if you want the best results.
How to clean your blinds
Close the blinds and tie back any soft or material curtains.
You should close the blinds and make sure that any curtains or other fabric nearby is tied up and out of the way. Start off with the brush attachment of your vacuum cleaner and vacuum away any dust from the slats, as well as underneath each slat and also behind the blinds.
Once the dust is gone, you can slightly dampen a soft, clean cloth – plain water or water with a small amount of gentle detergent is ideal – and use it to clean any particularly stubborn stains or deposits. Open the window so that the blinds can dry rapidly.
If you have timber or fabric blinds
If your blinds are fabric then spot-clean only, without soap or water; you may need to buy a dry-cleaning spray.
If your blinds are timber or bamboo you should avoid any harsh chemicals. Remove dust with your vacuum and only if there’s any residues left behind use a small amount of soapy water. It’s important to dry the timber immediately so it doesn’t warp.
If you have metal or vinyl blinds
You can make light work of cleaning these blinds by donning rubber gloves with cotton ones over them. Using around 5-6ml of household ammonia to one litre of water, dip your hands in the solution and clean each slat by running your thumb and finger along it.
Cleaning shutters
Shutters also come in lots of styles, materials and finishes, so make sure you know what you’re dealing with first.
They’re also easy to look after, but if your shutters are made from timber, then you need to keep water and detergents to a minimum and make sure you dry them off immediately.
If your shutters are made from polywood or metal then you can use more water and cleaning products, but do aim to minimise them.
How to do it
Remove as much dust and debris as you can with the brush attachment on your vacuum cleaner, then use a soft, clean dusting cloth to clean between each shutter. Then you can dampen the cloth slightly to work over any residues or stains.
Remember, remove as much water as possible after you’ve cleaned your shutters so there’s no chance of rust, mildew or warped timber.
