Any suggestions on getting VERY dirty blinds clean? Ours are much dirtier than I'd like to admit. I am slowly getting started on some spring cleaning in preparation for our little boys arrival in approximately 8 weeks!! Today I used wet paper towels to individually wipe each blind clean. I have tried dried dusting in the past and sticking them in the tub, but they are so bad that I still had to wipe each one clean. I gave up after doing just one. It didn't make it any easier and if anything it added more work. I don't think they had been cleaned often before we moved into our house so it has had all that build up of dust plus (I REALLY hate to admit this) well over a year's worth of dust from us. It is pretty much caked on so that it has to have pressure to be wiped clean. I was hoping there might be a less tedious way of doing it. I have only cleaned one so far, but it took 1.5 hours to do it. It was easy but very time consuming.
Also, for future reference, about how often should I dust/wipe down our blinds in the future to keep from having to do a major project like this again? I'm pretty good about keeping our house clean and free of buildup, but I always overlook the blinds. I'd like not to make this mistake again! ^_^ Thanks!
Unless these are expensive, custom blinds...here's what I do: Carefully take them down, find the nearest trash can and JAM them in there! Now go to Lowes, Home Depot or Target and buy nice ones and while you hang them, solemnly vow to dust them every week with O. of those spiffy blind-dusters that they sell. Repeat as necessary!
I know this sounds crazy, but it worked. When we moved out of our last house we had metal & vinyl blinds with caked on dust from the 3 years we lived there and from the previous owner. I asked various professional cleaners and they all said the same thing... wash them in the tub with dish soap and a scrubby (we used a Dobie). My husband took down all of the blinds and would shower with 1 or 2 sets of blinds each day and then we'd dry them off as best we could with old towels and then hang out in the sun to dry. Worked like a charm.
As a result, in our next house we purchased 2-inch wood blinds and they dust great and don't seem to get the icky build up. We usually dust them every other week with reusable/washable OXO duster.
I use a feather duster or blind scrubber for dusting, but dunk them in the bathub for a real deal cleaning. I put a little bleach in with the white ones. I just let them soak a while and push them around in the water a bit then rinse them. Doesnt require any real scrubbing. I agitate them in the water the way a washing machine does.
If you have a place to hang them either in your shower or outside, you can spray soapy water on them, let it sit and then hose if off. You might have to hand scrub the stubborn spots. Let them hang to air dry or wipe them off with a soft towel. If that is too much of a headache then you can just replace them at walmart for about 5 bucks a blind and and be done with it. Either way, after they are clean or replaced, dry dust them every few weeks depending on how dusty your home gets. I use the soft brush on my vacuum cleaner about once a month on the blinds at my house and that seems to help. Or you can use one of those swifter dusting sticks too. I'll take clrox wipes and spot clean them as necessary.
Good luck!
S.
i bought this blind cleaner at walmart. it was hanging at one of the isles. it was under $4. maybe even $1..not sure what it was called
I take my blinds down, lput them in the shower, spray them with 409, or whatever all purpose cleaner u wish, then turn on the water, shake the excess water off then let them dry b4 hanging them back up. A caretaker showed me that trick.
I hang my blinds on the clothes line, spritz with window cleaner or orange cleaner if I have any since it is great at cutting through that stuck on dust and use the hose to rinse it off. Sometimes, the dust can stain the blinds but at least they are cleaner. We use the vacuum every couple of weeks on the blonds to get the loose dust off. The kithcen blinds get more one on one treatment since the humidyt of cooking makes the dust stick more. I let my husband deal with that part.
Yuck, ours are the same way! The ppl before us NEVER cleaned them and then I dreaded it so a year later, like you, I have only cleaned the downstairs ones. Bad. I took a wet towel or ppr towels and wiped each slat and it took me forever too. What a pain! If you can afford it, I would hire a company to come in and do ceiling fans, baseboards, and blinds one time then you keep up with them. if you cannot, keep doing what you did, turn them all one way and try wiping straight across and working downward how they are turned. It might be a bit quicker than doing each single one. Then, once you get them clean, take the attachment brush on your vacuum cleaner and run it over them so the brush knocks the dust clean and sucks it in at the same time. Then, take a dryer sheet and wipe them down. That is supposed to prevent dust in the future. It repels the dust with its static electricity. I plan to read your answers and learn how to delve into my upstairs ones! I hate cleaning blinds and baseboards! :o)
Do you have a fence outside? I use to take mine outside and hang them and use the hose on them. Squirt some dishsoap on them and scrus with a brush or even a broom and then rinse with water. Works like a charm. You can even just lay them on the driveway, but sometimes you end up with a little dirt from the earth on them.
Try taking the blinds outside, spray them down with Windex Outdoor spray that you connect to your garden hose. Leave it own them for however long it says for windows. (this is as long as your blinds are plastic or aluminum.) Then spray them down with rinse water. Lay them in the grass to dry. The grass will hold them up, open, so the water will run off and not leave water spots. Let them dry and hang them up. TaDa! Clean blinds. For future, dust them regularly with a swiffer duster, close them and dust down, then open them all the way until they're close that way and dust up. If they are in a kitchen, use a Mr. Clean sponge on them to remove the grease build-up. Cleaning them by closing them the same way as above. Good luck.
I use baby wipes or clorox wipes and clean each wood slat individually about once every 6 months unless I am very productive and it is needed before that.
Time consuming, yes... but worth it, yes.
We just take ours down once a year and spray them down with the hose and let them air dry. Pick a hot sunny day and just lay them out on the driveway. The pressure from the jet setting on the hose dislodges any dust and other junk. We can usually have most of our blinds done in an hour or two.
