Cleaning wide slat blinds?

Question

What are some effective and easy ways, if there is an easy one, to clean slat blinds that are faux wood white wide. Oh, with the blinds hanging in place.

Janet Pizaro · Answer

If it is just dust use the swifter duster.Otherwise you will have to take them down as there is know way to actually get the grime off.

MN Mom · Answer

I do a basic dusting each week and use a Swiffer dry cloth and go slat by slat about once a month to get them totally clean. It's worth the time so that grime doesn't build up and cause you a cleaning headache!

Debi53 · Answer

If you have a vacuum with a long hose, use your dusting attachment, close the blinds one way and vacuum and then close them the other way and repeat. After that if you need to, wipe them down with a damp cloth again closing one way and then the other. Then use a dry cloth to swipe them dry.

Paula Brock · Answer

My neighbor takes her down, lays them across her picnic table and sprays them with 409 or something similar, then rinses them with her garden hose. She has done this for years, and they still look great. She lets them dry outside in the sun, which doesn't take very long.

Gabrielle Falk · Answer

Depends where you have them. I have 5 in the little TV room, 1 long one in the dining room and 2 little (short ones) in the kitchen. The kitchen ones get grimy very quickly, and its best to wipe them down with some sort of detergent on a damp cloth every couple of days. Takes a nano second. The dining room and TV room don't get so dirty but I've found the best way is just dust them (or wipe over with a slightly damp cloth) every week or so. Only takes about 15 minutes. Saves me taking them down, lugging them out the back, lying them on a plastic sheet over the pavers, washing, then hosing, then hanging off the swimming pool fence to dry. Also avoids a cranky husband who hates taking them down, and putting them up.

Christine Millership · Answer

I suppose the treatment does depend on the state of them.  I have real wood Venetian slats in 4 windows in my kitchen/family room, and they got dust stuck on top of grease from cooking before I realised what was happening.......really bad, and now I clean them regularly to stop it building up.  I can't take them down as one is 6 feet high and the rest are 7 feet wide, so I tried every spray known to man......nothing did it.  And then I turned to old fashioned methods, which, surprise surprise, worked a treat!  I took a bottle of neat ammonia and applied a little to one slat and the grime just slid off! One wipe!  I then washed it thoroughly and dried it.  I then waited a week to see if there were any unwanted results, and everything was fine.

Before I go ahead and tell you how I completed the job, DO NOT USE AMMONIA WITHOUT OPENING ALL WINDOWS AND DOORS and DO NOT SMELL IT FROM THE BOTTLE!!  Keep everyone out, and make sure you take fresh air breaks.

So to complete the job, I laid out an old towel underneath the blinds to soak up water spills and opened every door and window, and one by one wiped each slat with a piece of cotton wool dipped in a little ammonia, first one side, then turned them and did the reverse.  I then wiped them with a wet cloth using warm water with a cup of bicarbonate of sodaand then I sprayed with clear water to rinse, finally drying using another old towel.  They were squeaky clean!  I now dust and wipe them every week during my normal kitchen clean, as I wont be using that method twice. Yes, you have to be methodical and very careful, and don't forget to do a test, but it works for someone who can't physically scrub due to a back injury.

Jeanette S · Answer

I wash mine in warm water and Dawn dishwashing liquid in the bathtub, scrubbing with a broom so I don't have to bend over! (I have also added some bleach if they need it) I use my hand held shower head to make sure they get rinsed really well. Stand them up to drain, then wipe dry...then stand them up to make sure they drain well before re-hanging at the end of the day. (For privacy, do the most needed ones first and you can usually get them back up first...just make sure they are not dripping water...put a small towel in the window seal!)

Martha Anne Horning · Answer

I bought an attachment for my vacuum cleaner that has a long brush like end at Bed, Bath and beyond. You attach to hose, open blinds halfway, then insert brush end between slats. It works well for dust but kitchen blinds with grease would not clean well with it. Still have to take those down and clean with degreaser and rinse.

Gwen Barham Loftus · Answer

Try using a dryer sheet. It should pick up dust easily and you don't need to take the blinds down.

861650 · Answer

You can wash them without taking them down. Use white vinegar and water in a spray bottle, 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water. If really dirty, just use the vinegar. You will need a step stool or a small ladder. Use a white sock and place over your hand. Start at top of blinds and begin wiping. Do just a few at a time. rinse as you go. Before you begin, place a couple of towels right under the window depending how large and thick they are.

Danielle · Answer

As long as it's just dust I close them, vaccuum with the dusting brush attachment, close them in the opposite direction and vaccuum again to get the other side. Damp cloth with dawn and water and wipe down for light soil that doesn't vac off, but eventually they'll have to come down for a deep clean, and that's what jacuzzi tubs are amazing for! Warm water, a teaspoon of dawn dish soap, a cup of baking soda and 2 quarts vinegar, fill the tub, pile in the blinds, turn the jets on and let them do the work for you. Keep a close eye out and make sure you didn't overdo on the Dawn, you will get suds but you don't want them pursuing you out of the bathroom! Great thing is, this is double duty because it helps clean your jets too! After you let the jets run for 10 or so minutes just drain, rinse them really well and stand them on end for a few hours to drip off before hanging up again.

Judy Riley · Answer

you could take them outside spray them with dish liquid and turn he hose on them. do one side then flip them over to do the other

Heather Pauley · Answer

For heavy or greasy dirt, I just put a good floor cleaner in my bathtub, fill with water and dunk them up and down until good and saturated. Then you can use any kind of rag, which I think works better than a brush, and a quick wipe down should do it. Put the slats one way and then the other and wipe. Do both sides that way and Bob's you Uncle! All clean. Set them outside to dry on a sunny day and when you rehang them the whole house smells fresh too.

Marilyn · Answer

Call Shine-a-blind.

SG · Answer

I like the tub method but I always vacuum or give them a quick dust on both sides first

Marilyn Zaruba · Answer

I agree with the tub method although those above the kitchen sink are so tall and so far away due to a huge plant *sill* that I do them with a yard stick padded with old toweling. It is tedious and time consuming, but at my age I can't be climbing up on countertops.

Judy · Answer

Good luck keeping them in place and cleaning them. We take our blinds down and soak them in the bathtub with mean green

Jennie Lee · Answer

I'm not familiar with the faux wood, but if it is plastic, and the color goes all the way through, use Magic Erasers and vinegar or ammonia mixed with water. If the color is only a coating, use microfiber cloth and dish detergent.

Glennis · Answer

I do mine on the patio using dish detergent on my car brush, which is attached to the garden hose.

Lou · Answer

I have simple hooks on our deck roof frame that hold up the blinds.  Then spraying them with cleaner, cleaning with a broom the finishing is effective yet laborious.  The many ideas for cleaning while still in place seems easiest but getting cleaner and water on our wood floors is a big problem.  Using a bathtub is out due to the tubs being upstairs.  You folks are really helping.

Jennie Lee · Answer

First, let me say I'd recommend the heavy duty erasers--they are tougher, last longer, and should be less likely to get cut up by the slats. erasers or microfiber cloth with water alone, wrung out well, would work fine IF you don't have kitchen grease or tobacco smoke on your blinds, just dust. If there's grease or smoke, use either ammonia or vinegar. If you mix with water and it's not cleaning well enough, add more; they're cheap. A fan blowing on you is good. Have a bucket of clean water to rinse the eraser/cloth out as needed. If you are using a cleaning solution, have a separate bucket of it. Soak in cleaner/wring/wipe/rinse/wring/repeat. I hope this is helpful.

Brenda Downing · Answer

I dust mine every time I clean. Magic erasers work on everything.

Lou · Answer

Great tips that helped me solve my problem.

D fuhrman · Answer

i wipe mine down with swifter wands. it does a pretty good job of cleaning them.

Lana Carpenter Houk · Answer

great tips! I think the tub method is what I need. Mine are the white faux wood slats An they get so dirty. I've used various cleaners An removed the grim from slats but the verticals cords that hold them together needs cleaning. Now I just have to figure out how to take them down!

Chas' Crazy Creations · Answer

Here's a post that might help you https://chascrazycreations.com/dusting-hacks/

Cleaning wide slat blinds?

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