How To Clean Vertical Blinds

What to Know Before You Begin

As Reynolds are experts when it comes to blinds, shutters, curtains, awnings and more we thought it would be good to create a guide on how you can take care of your vertical blinds after purchase.

Firstly, before getting your hands on those vertical blinds there is one important thing you need to check, the material your vertical blinds are made from.

If your vertical blinds are made from fabric, then they can be washed by hand or in the washing machine, while wooden blinds shouldn’t be soaked at all. So the best thing to do is read the manufacturer’s instructions, most of the time we don't read these instructions but in this case, it's important to do read them so that you can know whether you can machine wash your blinds or not.

Well let’s focus on easy ways to clean vertical blinds with fabric, how can you clean these?

Vertical Blinds Cleaning Supplies

As much as blinds can take a while to get dirty, fabric blinds can attract dust and dirt easily, but the good news is that they’re also simple to clean. They only require a few things such as water, soap, and some cleaning materials, and your blinds will be as good as new.

Let’s take a look at our cleaning materials that will help answer the question, how to clean vertical blinds:

• Microfibre cloth
• A vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment
• Mild soap
• Bathtub of warm water or washing machine
• Sponge (for scrubbing tough stains)
• Towels

Find a really good place, somewhere flat where you can lay your blinds to dry out. A flat place is ideal so that your vertical blinds do not lose their shape. So finding a place to put them to dry out can be included in your preparation and gathering of material.

How to Clean Your Vertical Blinds?

This is a simple task you’ll have to do every few months, it may take a while being your first time but the second time you'll have to watch them you would have mastered the art. The only thing you'll need is patience as they may take a few hours to dry.

1. Remove Blinds and Clean Headrail

Your cleaning starts here as you remove the headrail and clean it as well, you can kill two birds with one stone here as you can also dust your blinds before soaking them in water.

Now that you have cleaned your headrail and removed dust on your blinds, you can then unhook your blind louvers from the headrail. Remove your louvers down and put them down so that you can take some time and clean your headrail. Remember after this cleaning, it'll take you some months to clean again so make this a good clean. Use your microfibre cloth to clean the dust from the headrail. There are some areas your fibre cloth cannot reach, if you can manage to get a can of compressed air or anything that can blow into the headrail with a lot of force to remove dust or anything that may be stuck there you can use it as well.

2. Dust Your Blinds

Now, to the main cleaning, the reason you thought of cleaning. Take your microfibre cloth to clean your blinds (you can also use any material that will do a better job for this, the goal is to have clean vertical blinds not using the recommended washcloth). Make sure you have reached every area of your blinds, don't leave any spots so take your time.

If you feel like you aren’t removing as much dust as you should, you can use a vacuum cleaner, it can help a lot. A vacuum with a brush attachment can be ideal. Use this to remove all the dust and move around your blinds to make sure they are clean.

3. Wash Blinds in Warm Water

Having removed all of that dust, your blinds must be ready for washing now. For washing, you'll need to use a bathtub or any large basin.

For cleaning your vertical blinds, use lukewarm water. Avoid using hot water because If the water is too hot, it can melt the glue that is found in your blinds the one that keeps everything together and in shape. It’s important to avoid melting this glue because the more it melts the fabric in your blinds can start to shift and move following the heavyweight in a way that its shape may be lost.

Make sure you reach out to every panel in your blind because it will be frustrating to realize you missed a few panels after you are done with your wash.

Use your soft cloth to gently clean each vertical panel. Avoid scrubbing, the more you scrub you can cause threads and scuffs. So put your mild detergent to good use to wipe the stains and dirt down.

Upon having the panels cleaned rinse them with your lukewarm water and mind the amount of water you may use on your blinds. Have a towel with you to help remove excess water in your blinds.

Let your panels dry at the perfect spots you have found where you were getting the materials for washing.

4. Scrub away stains with a sponge

There are times where you will come across stubborn stains on your blinds you can use a sponge and soapy water try to be as gentle as possible you wouldn't want to damage your blinds. Try as much as you can to try and use bleach, this can be bad for your blinds as it can damage your fabric. Stain remover can sometimes work but before using it on your blinds find a spot that is hard to notice and use it on that spot if it seems to work for your blind then you can go ahead. If it seems not to be good for your fabric, then stick to your sponge and soapy water.

5. Lay Blinds Out to Dry

There are many different ways you can go about when it comes to drying your blinds, but which place can be very ideal to lay your blind so that they won’t lose shape or get damaged?

Hanging them is a bad idea, one of the best ways is to find a space where you can lay them on a flat surface. A flat place will allow your vertical blinds to dry perfectly after a couple of hours though.

However, there are always shortcuts for people who just can't be patient enough. Well, another way to help your vertical blinds dry faster is by using a blower or a hairdryer. This will help them dry faster and save you time as well. And talk about dryers as tempting as they may sound keep away from the tumble dryer, it can damage your blinds.

6. Rehang Blinds on the Headrail

Finally, your blinds are dry and they look perfect, hanging them back on the headrail should be done with the same care, mind the clips as you put them back into their place just the same way you did when removing them.

One important thing is to keep up with cleaning them as often as you can so that it shouldn’t be as hard the next time you will have to wash. Plus, a little dusting once in a while will maintain its nice look.

Maybe, you don't have blinds. Want to know the best methods on how to clean shutters and avoid common mistakes.

How Often Should You Clean Blinds?

Your blinds are just like any other thing in your house, therefore they also need cleaning and proper care. The last thing you want is to have dust building up in your blinds. Having said that, a weekly cleaning up can be very good or you can make it monthly if you don't get that much free time.

The moment you notice a stain try to clean it as soon as possible and remember after a few months you’ll need to wash your blinds because the more you leave them without cleaning the dirt can build up so much that even washing will be very hard to remove some of the stain and your blinds will not look as good.

How Do You Remove Mould and Mildew from Vertical Blinds?

Firstly, the moment you see mould on your fabric vertical blinds it is best that you should remove it immediately. Don’t let it build up because it is easier to remove the slats from the blind when dealing with mould. Have some natural cleaning solutions that help remove Mildew and Mould from vertical blinds, natural cleaning solutions that have lemon are really good for this. Upon using or adding this natural cleaning solution you can use a soft brush to remove this mould and then use a vacuum to remove it.

Sometimes they may not go as easy so you just need to spray the cleaning solution on the mould or you can also use a homemade cleaner made from materials such as distilled white vinegar, lemon juice, essential oil, and water. To make a cleaning solution so all you need to do is to let this soak in upon spraying then later use a soft cloth or anything you can manage to get even a blind cleaning tool can be very good here to wipe the fabric slats.

Lastly, use a dry towel to suck in any water that may be there and then put them back on the rail.

What is the best way to clean blinds without taking them down?

You can start by dusting them from top to bottom if you don't have that much time then a vacuum cleaner can come in handy as it helps remove dust quickly. After that, get your mild detergent solution and clean your fabric blinds to make sure you leave no spots. You can then leave your blinds open, all that is left now is for them to dry.

Can You Steam Clean Vertical Blinds?

This can work if you have a handheld steam cleaner as this can be a time saver and a great way to quickly wash your blinds. However, handling the heating making sure it doesn’t get too hot can be a bit tricky. Too much heat can damage your blinds.

Can You Steam Clean Fabric Vertical Blinds?

A handheld steam cleaner must be used for this type of cleaning, but it may require a person to pay too much attention as heat may damage the blinds.

Can you use bleach on vertical blinds?

Bleach can damage your vertical blinds, so if you want to give it a try and clean a spot that is giving you a tough time. You need to try on a spot that cannot be noticed easily if it happens to work then you can give it a try with your vertical blinds.

Can you machine wash vertical blinds?

Firstly, start with removing the chains and weights on the bottom of the louvers, then you need to unhook the louvers from the headrail and there are hangers on the tops of each louver remove them as well.

Your louvers must be rolled into a neat cylinder, once in a washing machine, they can be all over the place, and to avoid that put your louvers pillowcase. This is important because it will help to protect them in the washing machine.

Having put them in the washing machine wash at 30 degrees Celsius, make sure you are washing at this temperature and you have chosen not to choose spin-drying.

When all is done, use the towel to dry or if they are too wet lay them down so that they can dry naturally. Make sure they are not hanging they should be in a place that is flat hanging them may cause them to stretch which will make them lose shape.

What is the fastest way to clean vertical blinds?

Cleaning your vertical blinds without removing them is the fastest way, however, doing an actual wash whereby you remove them and wash them by hand or with a washing machine can be very effective.

How to clean greasy vertical blinds?

When it comes to greasy stuff natural cleaning solutions can do the trick, though greasy stuff is hard to clean. The best thing is to avoid your blinds to reach a point where they all greasy.

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