How To Clean All Types Of Blinds With Amazing Results!
Looking to have your blinds cleaned, but don’t want to spend lots of money hiring a professional? Here is the first complete guide that goes into detail on the best DIY methods and solutions for all kinds of blinds and curtain cleaning.
I have ranked each blind type 1 to 10, in no particular order, with multiple cleaning methods for most types of blinds, which I will go into greater detail, including removing and rehanging blinds if this is required.
FYI at Real Blinds, we offer ranges of block-out and screen blinds that are superior for cleaning, making them look newer over time and last longer. If you are interested in quality new custom blinds, feel free to contact us below or call 1300 215 388.
If you don’t want the hassle of cleaning your blinds and want to modernise your rooms, why not speak to me about getting brand new blinds that are easy to maintain, so cleaning won’t be an issue.
Contents
1 - Roller Blinds
2 - Timber Venetians
3 - Aluminum Venetians
4 - PVC Venetians
5 - Vertical Blinds
6 - Panel Glides
7 - Roman
8 - Plantation Shutter
9 - Sheer Curtain
10 - Black Out Curtain
1. How To Clean Roller Blinds
1st Method
How To Clean Blinds While They Are Hanging
This method involves cleaning the blind with a vacuum and wiping it down. Firstly, roll your blinds down to the full extent.
Firstly, the best technique to remove dust from a roller blind is by using the brush head attachment of your vacuum cleaner. Move the vacuum along the grain of the blind fabric, or horizontally. Then gently vacuum against the grain of the blind or vertically and pick out any larger hairs yourself to assist the vacuum.
After you have made sure your blind is free of dust, for mold or larger marks firstly check if your blind material has a vinyl layer or an acrylic coating. Pretty much your blind should have a plastic-like feel and shine to them. If so, your blinds are likely waterproof, if not you have to be careful adding moisture to the material.
Also, if you are not careful with some stains rubbing them with water can smudge this into the material making the issue worse.
Water Absorbing Material -If your blinds have more of a cotton feel to them or feel like they will absorb water, try using a dry cloth or microfibre cloth before moving to the next step. If this isn’t enough to get out the marks, using a light amount of warm soapy water, wipe along the grain at the marks.
You must take cation that some marks can smudge into the material when water is added to them, so this step is at your own risk.
You want just enough water to penetrate the surface of the material and not soak into the material as if water penetrates this kind of material there can be a risk that you could get mold.
Once you have wiped with the soapy water, using a damp cloth wipe off the soapy residue. Put the window down and give the blinds extra time to dry. With the blind rolled down, you should give them 6-8 hours of dry time with the window or door open.
Waterproof Material – use a generous amount of warm soapy water and a cloth to wipe the markdown. Don’t press too firmly as it's possible to wipe the acrylic layer off the blind. Once this has been wiped down use a wet cloth to wipe off the residue. Put the window down, open the door and allow the blinds 4 hours to dry while they are kept rolled down.
2nd Method
How To Clean Blinds In A Bathtub
Firstly, make sure the blind is free of dust and hairs, before commencing this step.
This method involves cleaning the blinds in a bathtub, wiping, rinsing, and hanging them out to dry
Roller the blind up, then remove the blind from the bracketing. This can usually be done with a flat head screwdriver, winding the pin side mechanism, or talking to the company who installed them regarding pulling the blinds off.
Remove the mechanisms from the blind headrail. Most of the time these will just slide out, however sometimes, in rare cases, these will need to have the screws removed. Make sure you keep each set of mechanisms for each blind to avoid any issue when blinds are hung back up with how the blinds have been set.
Fill the bathtub with warm water and add a generous amount of liquid laundry detergent. Additionally, you can add half a cup of baking soda. Laundry detergent is formulated to be friendlier to fabrics, so this will be safer than using soap or dishwashing liquid, which may risk damaging the material.
Allow the blinds 1 hour to soak in the bathtub.
After one hour pull the blinds out one at a time and lay the blind on the bathroom floor. Using a cloth carefully wipe over the blind. Once you have wiped the entire blind, flip the blind over and wipe the backside also. Whilst doing this regularly rinse your cloth in the bathtub and keep plenty of warm soapy water on the cloth.
Once you have wiped the blind down, wash the blind down in the shower to remove any soapy residue.
Then take the blind to a dry rack, a clothesline, or the railing of a balcony and hang the blind out to dry. For Acrylic coated blinds or waterproof blinds, give them 3 hours. For material that absorbs water, these will need 6-8 hours of drying time to make sure they are all 100% free of any moisture, as moisture can lead to mold.
Note you will have to wash down and mop your bathroom floor after going through this.
3rd Method
How to whiten yellowed blinds
Make sure before doing this method your blind is completely free of dust and hairs and completely clean. This may involve doing the 1st and 2nd methods before attempting this. This method is not recommended for all materials and is at your own risk.
Blinds that get lots of sun exposure and are hit with lots of UV rays, especially screen blinds can yellow over long periods of 7 years or more.
Remove the blinds and fill the bathtub to about 1 foot (30cm) high, then add 3 cups of bleach (750ml). For safety make sure you are wearing gloves. Also, be careful of any bleach spillage as it will ruin clothes if you get drips on them.
Make sure the entire blind is submerged and then leave the blinds to soak for 10 minutes.
After this drain the tub, then refill the tub with cold water, which is used to rinse off the bleach from the blind.
Hang the blind to dry for 4 hours. Make sure the blind is 100% dry before rehanging. If done correctly this will whiten your blind giving you a fresh new look to your blind.
2. How To Clean Timber Venetians - How To Clean Wood Blinds
Do not let timber Venetian slats get exposed to water or moisture as this can cause flaking or bowing. Go over any stain with a paper towel or soft cloth. If this isn’t enough you should get a wood cleaning product, which here is a link
Apply the required amount of wood cleaner and wipe off the stain. Once this is completed you can finish these blinds off by wiping them over with a cloth or feather duster to remove any dust. Read on for additional tips for Venetian blind cleaning.
3. How To Clean Aluminium Venetians
Start cleaning these with a feather duster or microfibre cloth to remove any excess dust.
Then using soapy water and a cloth wipe the stains. Aluminum slats are very thin, so they are lightweight and easy to lift, but this means that they can be flimsy and are easy to break and dent. To avoid this, you must take care when wiping these blinds down.
Close the slats one way and wipe horizontally. Then close the slats in the opposite direction and again wipe horizontally.
For the rest of the blind wipe slat by slat and section by section. This can be a very time-consuming process as aluminum blinds usually have a lot of slats.
For more stubborn stains you can use a mixture in a bowl of 50% water and 50% white vinegar, wipe this into the stain with a cloth. Make sure you wipe off any residue afterward.
For rust, these blinds are not worth the time, cost of the product, risk of handling, etc to fix any rust issues. If your aluminum Venetians have bad rust, it's time for new blinds.
4. How To Clean Faux Wood & PVC Venetians
Firstly, to remove dust you can use a feather duster or brush head on a vacuum cleaner. Tilt the slats so they are closed, then once you have dusted the entire blind you can tilt the blinds in the opposite direction and do the same.
PVC and Faux wood blinds are the easiest Venetians for cleaning, and they usually come in a large 63mm or 50mm slat so there isn’t as much surface to clean. Using warm soapy water wipe down each slat. For extra dirty blinds, try not to wipe the strings as this will rub debris into the strings.
You can use a spray and wipe to clean some more stubborn stains from these blinds as well or use a combination of 50% water and 50% white vinegar. Make sure you wipe down with a wet cloth any residue.
Simple Venetian Cleaning Hack - Most Venetian blind cleaning products are just modified brushes that you will pay way too much money for. A Simple hack is to use a pair of tongs and two socks. This will allow you to clamp down on each slat as you wipe, effectively removing all the dust and saving you lots of time.
Deep Cleaning Venetian Blinds - Fill a bathtub with warm water and add a good amount of liquid laundry detergent. Remove the Venetian blind while it is hanging down. submerge the Venetian blind into the bathtub, except don't let the headrail get wet or submerged as this may affect some of the moving parts or remove some of the lubricants. Leave the blind to soak for 1 hour, then remove the blind and wash down any excess soapy water with cold water. Put the blind back up and allow 6 hours to dry with the window down, and you can put a towel underneath to catch any dripping water.
5. How To Clean Vertical Blinds
Using the brush head on a vacuum cleaner carefully go over every vane of material to remove the dust. Be careful not to break any vanes off as these are usually held on by a plastic part (carrier clip) which can get brittle and break over time.
Once you have removed the dust if you have any stains spend time with warm soapy water and a cloth. Make sure you use a bit of cold water and a cloth to wipe off the soapy residue once done.
If this is not enough, carefully remove the vanes one by one and neatly fold them onto the ground. To remove the vanes grab it towards the top and tilt it, then lift and this should disengage the slat. It’s safest to do this one slat at a time to avoid breaking any parts. Other types of carrier clips require simply using a plastic card like a credit card to slide up and pry the clip apart allowing the pane to slide out easily.
Once all the vanes are on the ground put them into one neat pile with only a few folds. Fill the bathtub with warm soapy water to 1 foot (30cm) and add 3 cups of laundry detergent (750ml).
Submerge the panes and let them soak for 1 hour. Once this is complete drain the bathtub, then refill the bathtub with cold water. Remove 1 pane at a time and give it a quick wash in the shower to remove any soapy residue.
Once all the panes have been removed, you must hang these out to dry. This can be done on a clothesline, or balcony railing and give them plenty of time to 100% dry, as any trapped moisture can cause mold. A safe dry time is 6-8 hours.
Once all the slats are fully dry you are fine to rehang these slats back up one at a time.
Great Vertical Blind Cleaning Advice - Whilst your panes are off the blind this is an optimal time to clean down the tracking. Usually, these will get a build-up of dust on top, but it's also possible that dust can build up inside the track in hard-to-see places. Use a dry cloth to wipe as much dust as you can off the top of the track and both sides inside the track.
Once you have finished wiping down the track use a silicone spray and a cloth to spray all the gliders (parts above the carrier clips). Use the cloth to catch any residue from dripping to the floor as this can create a slip hazard if not applied carefully.
Can you steam clean vertical blinds? - The answer is YES. This can be a great way to clean the blinds. However, you must make sure first that the panes are free of any dust. Next, when steaming you must make sure it's set to low to medium heat. Then be careful of the tops and the bottoms of the panes as these usually have plastic parts and sometimes glue holding them together, which can melt the glue or warp the plastic part if steam gets to it.
6. How To Clean Panel Glides
Panel Glides are cleaned the same way as vertical blinds however these are much larger slats of material. Using the brush head on a vacuum is the best way to remove any dust from the fabric panels.
To remove these they are usually held on with Velcro, which means they will carefully pull off. Keep note to keep all the sliders in line, as if you pull one of the slats to the left or right you can put the sliders out of alignment and the blind won’t open or close correctly, so just take a bit of cation with cleaning these down.
When reattaching the panel glide material, start from the left side to the right side and make sure you attach the material with no bumps or groves, it should be smooth the whole way along and be a perfect fit to the size of the slider.
7. How To Clean Roman Blinds
Firstly, go over your roman blind with a cloth or brush head vacuum cleaner, which will remove any dust or hairs. If you have any stains on your Roman blinds, use a cloth with warm soapy water and give the area a good scrub.
Most Roman materials do not have an acrylic coating and are not waterproof, so it is recommended you use a light amount of soapy water when cleaning and open the window for a whole day to make sure the blind is 100% dry.
It's not common but some types of stains can smudge into the material so be careful not to make a stain worse. Also, any moisture trapped in the blind can cause mold to break out.
8. How To Clean Plantation Shutters
Plantation shutters are usually easy to clean by using a cloth or brush head of a vacuum cleaner. For any stains use warm soapy water and a cloth to give this a thorough wipe.
Be careful not to put too much pressure on the slats as this may cause parts to break. For most plantation shutters you can use spray and wipes to clean any stubborn stains, just be sure to wipe off any excess residue.
9. How To Clean Sheer Curtains
Using the brush head of a vacuum cleaner go over the curtain and remove any dust sticking to the curtain. Set your vacuum to the lowest setting, if possible, this will reduce the risk of the curtain material being tugged and breaking one of the hooks.
How to clean delicate curtains and silk fabric curtains – Using warm soapy water carefully work at the stains, then wipe off any residue with a wet cloth. Otherwise, carefully use fabric and upholstery cleaning products and clean off the residue. Note that not all fabric cleaning products are suitable. Check the label on the bottle before commencing.
How to clean polyester sheer curtains – Place your curtains into the washing machine as a half load. Use liquid detergent only. Set your washing machine to no more than 50 degrees with a gentle spin cycle. If your curtains are extra dirty give them more wash time. Use 3 rinse cycles and each time the temperature should be lowered by 10-12 degrees.
Roll out your curtains for 20 minutes so they lose most of their water, then hang the curtains when they are slightly damp.
Be warned using a washing machine is at your own risk and can risk the material getting torn, if not done correctly or if the material is old or sun-damaged.
Once these have fully dried you can look at steaming your curtains again to get out any creases. This can be done by renting or borrowing a professional steamer (Propress),
10. How To Clean Block Out Curtains
These curtains are cleaned virtually the same as sheer curtains however being how heavy most block-out curtains are these are not advised to be put into a washing machine. So, like the sheer curtain, the best way to clean these is with the brush head attachment on your vacuum cleaner.
For any stains use warm soapy water and a cloth to wipe the stain thoroughly, be careful of the hooks holding the curtain up don’t bend or break. Once you have wiped the stain wipe away the residue with a wet cloth.
There are fabric and upholstery cleaning products that can remove stains, read the label before use.
Should I Consider Ultrasonic Blind Cleaning?
Ultrasonic blind cleaning is a process that uses ultrasound at a very high frequency, of about 20-40 kHz, to rapidly vibrate water particles to create millions of micro bubbles. These microbubbles come in contact with the blind material and remove dust, stains, and mold, giving you a nice clean blind afterward.
This can only be achieved by hiring a professional who will go to your place to remove your blinds and take them away.
This all comes back to the price and if this service is worth the value to you.
The thing to know about this process is the machine that does the cleaning is like a commercial trough, that can submerge blinds in different cleaning solutions, as well as having a massive ultrasound machine underneath. This machine alone costs tens of thousands of dollars.
The labor time to go to your property remove the blind, clean the blind in 1st step of the cleaning solution (about half an hour), do the ultrasonic clean, rinse the blind, then hang the blind to dry for 4 hours, then finally travel back to your place to hang the blind.
The equipment, overheads, and labor time all mean you will be paying anywhere from $60 to $160 per blind to clean.
If you have a large household with lots of dirty blinds this may be an affordable solution for you to rejuvenate your blinds as opposed to getting new blinds.
At Real Blinds, we have new quality blinds ranging from $100 for the smallest blinds to $199 for average-sized window blinds, and that's including installation.
Are my blinds worth cleaning or replacing?
Window covering should be lasting you 7 to 10 years, while cheaper blinds will last 3 to 5 years, and higher quality blinds can last well over 10 or more years. At Real Blinds we offer a 10-Year with our roller blinds, so you are covered if anything happens to the blinds in that 10-Year period.
To decide whether you require new blinds or not you should consider:
- If the blind is bent out of shape, warped, has holes, or is moldy beyond simply cleaning the blind.
- The blind is not operating correctly, not going up and down, the string has snapped multiple times, unable to control the privacy or light in the room, the blind is simply old and used due to wear and tear.
- The blind has yellowed beyond repair, or the strings are badly frayed.
Conclusion
Over time blinds will get dusty, moldy, or accidentally have things split on them. It’s even common for kids to draw on blinds with textures. With the information in this blog, you can spend the time to do a thorough clean to get the most life out of your window coverings.
Did you get the information you needed to clean your blind? How was the result when you cleaned your blind, I’d love to see a before and after pic!
I can help you out with blind solutions that are super easy to clean so your blinds will look newer for longer, plus they come with a massive 10-Year warranty, message us for more details.
Written by
Noah Radford
Senior Blind Expert
Visit https://www.realblinds.com.au or call 1300 215 388
The person or party who cleans the blind does so at their own risk. This blog is of the opinion of the author and every cleaning scenario is unique. It’s advised you consult a professional if you are unsure. For further details on our T&C’s visit https://www.realblinds.com.au/terms-conditions