Learn How To Clean Your Dirty Window Blinds

Learn How To Clean Your Dirty Window Blinds Learn How To Clean Your Dirty Window Blinds
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DotcomBlinds Ultimate Blinds Cleaning Guide



On the DotcomBlinds website we have a lot of information about measuring for blinds, installing blinds and day to day information about the usefulness of each type of blind, but we don’t have much on how to clean your blinds. Well today we’ve put together this comprehensive guide on how to clean your blinds no matter what type of blind you have, be it a roller blind or a metal venetian blind, we’ve got you covered!


Before we get into all the tips we have for cleaning your blinds, let’s start off with a few pointers which can be applied to our blinds when you clean them.


Top Tip 1 – Before you clean your blinds, you should take them down from your window for an easier cleaning experience (Unless they’re Venetian blinds). Trying to clean a blind that’s hung up will end up being a harder experience than it needs to be.


Top Tip 2 – Before cleaning your blinds, have a quick check on our website to see if your blind is made out of our ‘Wipe Clean’ fabric, as all our ‘Wipe Clean’ blinds can be cleaned simply by giving them a quick wipe down with a damp cloth or sponge.


Top Tip 3 – You should ideally be cleaning your blinds about once every 6 months, so if you’re blinds are relatively new or they’ve been cleaned in the last few months you shouldn’t worry about cleaning them unless they’ve gotten dirty or stained. You can however regularly polish or dust blinds with slats to avoid them accumulating dust.


Top Tip 4 – Don’t be temped to put fabric blinds in a washing machine to clean them, although it seems like a simple and easy option this will wear down the material and cause bobbling and fading of the colour.


Top Tip 5 – Some blinds may need to be lightly vacuumed as part of their cleaning process, make sure that when vacuuming blinds, you have your vacuum cleaner’s Hose Brush attachment put on. If you use the normal vacuum head, you may cause damage to your blinds.


Top Tip 6 – When cleaning your blinds, also make sure to give the header rail, mechanism a quick clean too, this can usually be done with any standard cloth and a bit of polish to get your hardware looking good as new.


Now you’ve got some top tips to keep in mind when cleaning your blinds, lets get into our advice for cleaning your blinds.




How To Clean Roller Blinds


Clean Roller Blinds


Before you start to clean your roller blinds, quickly check to see if your roller blinds are made out of a ‘Wipe Clean’ fabric, if they are you can just wipe them down with a wet cloth. If your roller blinds don’t have this ‘Wipe Clean’ fabric on them, simply follow our guide below.


To clean your roller blinds you’ll need the following: Vacuum Cleaner w/Hose Brush Attachment and a Damp Cloth


Step 1 – Take down your Roller blind from the window and lay it flat on your floor.


Step 2 – Put the Hose Brush attachment onto your vacuum cleaner and gently vacuum each side of the roller blind to remove dust and dirt.


Step 3 – After vacuuming your roller blind, gently wipe it down with a clean, damp cloth in a downward motion to leave your roller blind perfectly clean.


Step 4 – Put your blind somewhere where it won’t get dirty and can easily dry. Leave your blind until it is dry.


Step 5 – Once your blind is dry, give it a quick spray of Febreze and hang it back up on your window.


And there you have it, you’ve just learnt how to clean your roller blinds quickly and effectively.




How To Clean Venetian Blinds


Because we stock venetian blinds made of metal, real wood and faux wood, we have broken down this section into 3, to allow us to give correct and accurate advice for cleaning your venetian blinds as the different materials require slightly different treatments to clean them. But, there is a simple way to dust all of the venetian blinds, so we’ll start with that.


How To Dust Any Venetian Blinds


If your venetian blinds don’t need a full clean, you can always spruce them up by giving them a quick dust down, as the slats accumulate dust easily which can ruin the look of your blinds.


To dust down your blinds, all you’ll need is a cloth (preferably microfibre) and a bottle of spray polish.


Step 1 – Rotate your venetian blinds so all the slats are perfectly horizontal.


Step 2 – Spray some polish onto your cloth


Step 3 – Using your polished cloth, grab onto a slat and run the cloth along the length of it, gripping the bottom and top side of each slat.


Simply just repeat this process across all your slats to get them nice and dust free and make them look as good as new.


How To Clean Real Wood Venetian Blinds


Clean Wooden Venetian Blinds


Real wood venetian blinds need a lot of care when being cleaned, wooden slats can often be fragile, so you’ll need to be gentle with them. Also avoid getting your real wood blinds wet when cleaning them.


To clean your real wood venetian blinds, you’ll need the following: Dry Microfibre Cloth and a  Vacuum Cleaner W/ Hose Brush Attachment.


Step 1 – Rotate your real wood venetian blinds so that the slats are all open and horizontal.


Step 2 – Using your dry microfibre cloth, gently run the cloth along each individual slat horizontally to remove dust and dirt.


Step 3 – After you’ve quickly brush the blinds with your cloth, close the blinds fully so they’re flat and vertical.


Step 4 – Using your vacuum cleaner with upholster attachment on,  gently vacuum along the slats of your blind to get any remaining dust and dirt on that side of the slat.


Step 5 – Fully rotate the slats on your blinds back around so that they are again flat vertically but facing the other direction.


Step 6 – Again using your vacuum cleaner with upholster attachment on, gently vacuum along the slats of your blind again to get any remaining dust and dirt on that side of the slat.


Congratulations, you’ve now successfully cleaned your real wood venetian blind.


How To Clean Faux Wood Venetian Blinds


Clean Faux Wood Blinds


Faux wood venetian blinds are more forgiving of the two types of blind. Their vinyl and PVC makeup means this blind is more water resistant and resilient than a real wood blind. You can use a damp cloth on this blind without fear of warping the slats.


To clean your wooden venetian blinds you’ll need: A Damp Cloth


Step 1 – Rotate your blind’s slats so that they are completely closed vertically.


Step 2 – Using your damp cloth, wipe the blinds horizontally to pick up any dust and dirt.


Step 3 – Rotate your blind fully in the other direction, again you’ll want them to be completely vertical and closed.


Step 4 – Using your damp cloth, again, wipe the blinds horizontally to pick up any dust and dirt.


Step 5 – Rotate your blinds so that all slats are horizontal and leave to dry.


Congratulations, you’ve now successfully cleaned your faux wood venetian blind.


How To Clean Metal Venetian Blinds


Clean Metal Venetian Blinds


Metal Venetian Blinds are on of the easier blinds to clean, but it can be quite time consuming to clean them as each individual slat will require attention, but shouldn’t take you too long.


To clean your metal Venetian blinds you’ll need: A Cloth and Water In A Spray Bottle


Step 1 - Rotate your blind’s slats so that they are completely closed vertically.


Step 2 – Spray some of your water all over this side of the blind.


Step 3 – Rotate your blind fully in the other direction, again you’ll want them to be completely vertical and closed.


Step 4 – Again spray some of your water all over this side of the blind.


Step 5 – Rotate your blinds so that all slats are horizontal and open.


Step 6 – Wipe each slat horizontally with your cloth, gripping the slat between your thumb and index finger firmly through the cloth to clear off any grime. Once each slat has been cleaned, checky they’re dry and if they’re still moist, give them another rub with a dry cloth to remove the wetness.


There you have it, you’ve only gone and cleaned your metal venetian blind, doesn’t it look lovely and clean now?




How To Clean Vertical Blinds


Clean Vertical blinds


Vertical blinds will take quite a while to clean as you’ll need to clean each individual slat by hand, so to save time, before you start to clean your vertical blinds, quickly check to see if your vertical blinds are made out of a ‘Wipe Clean’ fabric, if they are you can just wipe them down with a wet cloth. If your roller blinds don’t have this ‘Wipe Clean’ fabric on them, simply follow our guide below.


To clean your vertical blinds, you’ll need: A Dry Cloth, A Damp Cloth, Spray Polish, a Towel and a Large Bucket or Washing Up Bowl.


Step 1 – Remove each slat of the blinds from the headrail by unhooking or unclipping the slats from the connector at the top of the rail.


Step 2 – Whilst the blinds are off the headrail, spray some polish on the rail and wipe it down with a dry cloth to remove dust and dirt.


Step 3 – Using a dry cloth quickly dust down each side of each slat to remove any dust and dirt on the surface of the blind.


Step 4 – Fill your bucket or washing bowl up with lukewarm water, the water must not be too warm as it could melt the adhesive that holds the weights to the bottom of each slat.


Step 5 – Wash each slat of the blind individually, by dipping into the lukewarm mixture then softly washing each side of the blind with your damp cloth. Make sure not to scrub as this could cause scuffs and cause threads to come loose.


Step 6 – Take the blind slat out of the water, rub off any remaining stains with your dry cloth and put the slat down somewhere safe and dry.


Step 7 – Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each slat of your blind.


Step 8 – Once you’ve cleaned all the slats, leave them laying flat until they’re completely dry (hanging whilst wet may cause the slats to stretch or warp).


Step 9 – Once all the slats are dry and clean, hang them back up on the headrail.


And you’re done, well done, it may have taken a while to do, but you’ve cleaned your vertical blinds.




How To Clean Roman Blinds


Clean Roman Blind


Roman blinds are a classic style of blinds, in fact it’s one of the oldest forms of blinds that we still use today. Roman blinds are also rather easy to clean for the most part as they’re made out of a single piece of fabric and only connected to the headrail by a strip of Velcro, so it’s an all around easy experience.


To Clean your Roman Blinds you’ll need: Vacuum Cleaner w/Hose Brush Attachment and a Damp Cloth.


Step 1 – Remove your roman blind from the headrail and lay flat on the floor.


Step 2 – Put the Hose Brush attachment onto your vacuum cleaner and gently vacuum each side of the Roman blind to remove dust and dirt, make sure to also vacuum the pleats of the blind as dust can settle there.


Step 3 – After vacuuming your roller blind, gently wipe it down with a clean, damp cloth to leave your roman blind clean and remove any stains. Make sure not to scrub as you may damage the fabric of the blind.


Step 4 – Put your blind somewhere where it won’t get dirty and can easily dry. Leave your blind until it is dry, don’t hang it whilst wet or the blind could stretch.


Step 5 – Once your blind is dry, give it a quick spray of Febreze and connect it back to the headrail..


And now you have a clean Roman Blind, great job!




How To Clean Day And Night Blinds


Clean Day & Night Blind


Day and night blinds need a lot of care and gentleness when they’re cleaned, because of the unusual way fabric is used in a Day and Night Blind, it is very easy to accidentally damage them. So gentle handling is essential when you clean your day and night blinds. Also because the Day and Night Blinds can not be removed from the cassette headbox you’ll have to rotate the blind as you clean to get all of the blind clean, because of this, you’ll want to leave the blind hanging up.


To clean your Day and Night Blinds, you’ll need the following items: Damp Cloth and a bobby pin.


Step 1 – Fully open the day and night blind and gently slide a bobby pin onto the blind near the top of the blind. The Bobby pin will help you make sure that you clean the entire blind by giving you a starting point.


Step 2 – With your damp cloth, wipe your blind clean horizontally, making sure that you are gentle as to not damage the blind. You’ll want to wipe the outward side of the blind as well as the interior side of the blind, as well as occasionally running the cloth down the side of the blinds.


Step 3 – Continue wiping the blind horizontally and rotate the blind as necessary between wipes to clean the whole blind, once the bobby pin has reached the other side of the cassette you’ll know you’ve clean the entire blind.


Step 4 – Leave the day and night blinds fully extended until they have dried to prevent the blind from staying damp. To speed up the drying process fell free to turn on a radiator or open a window.


Well done for cleaning your Day and Night Blind, doesn’t it look amazing now that it’s lovely and clean again?




How To Clean A Pleated Blind


Clean Pleated Blind


Here at DotcomBlinds we call our pleated blinds either Bi-Fold Door Blinds or Conservatory Blinds as that is what we find customers usually use these pleated blinds for. But our Bi-Fold and Conservatory blinds are both types of pleated blind, so are both covered in this guide. It’s also important to remember that Pleated blinds can be a bit fragile, so be gentle with them.


To clean your pleated blinds, you’ll need the following items: Vacuum Cleaner w/Hose Brush Attachment and a Damp Cloth.


Step 1 – Take your pleated blinds off of your window and lay flat on the ground at full extension so the blind is as flat as possible.


Step 2 – Using the vacuum cleaner with Hose Brush attachment, gently vacuum both sides of the blind on a low suction setting. Make sure to be gentle and slow whilst vacuuming this blind as you may damage the pleats if you’re too aggressive.


Step 3 – Using your damp cloth to gently wipe the blind horizontally along the pleats, working your way from the top to the bottom of the blind on each side. Again, it is important that you are gentle whilst doing this as you may damage the pleats if you’re overly aggressive.


Step 4 – Leave the blind laying fully extended on the floor until it is fully dried, then hang back up on your windows. Make sure the blind is dry as otherwise the blind may leave marks on the window.


Wow, you’ve made it through and cleaned your pleated blinds, awesome!




How To Clean Honeycomb Blinds


Clean honeycomb blind


Honeycomb blinds are another type of Bi-Fold door blinds or Conservatory Blinds, where the blind is made of honeycomb like cells that are connected together to form the blind itself, much like the Pleated Blinds, they can be quite delicate, so be very gentle and soft when cleaning your Honeycomb Blinds.


To clean your Honeycomb Blinds you will need: Vacuum Cleaner w/Hose Brush Attachment, a Can of Compressed Air and a Damp Cloth.


Step 1 – Take your honeycomb blinds out from your window and lay flat on the ground at full extension so the blind is as flat as possible.


Step 2 – Spray the bottle of compressed air into the honeycomb cells from the side of the blind, dust dirt and occasionally creepy crawlies make their way into the blinds cells, so the compressed air will blow any debris out from the cells.


Step 3 – Using the vacuum cleaner with Hose Brush attachment, gently vacuum both sides of the blind on a low suction setting. Make sure to be gentle and slow whilst vacuuming this blind as you may damage the blind if you’re too aggressive. You’ll want to vacuum in horizontal streaks.


Step 4 – Using your damp cloth to gently wipe the blind horizontally along the blind, working your way from the top to the bottom of the blind on each side. Again, it is important that you are gentle whilst doing this as you may damage the blind if you’re overly aggressive.


Step 5 – Leave the blind fully extended on the floor until the blind has dried. Make sure the blind is dry as otherwise the blind may leave marks on the window.


Step 6 – Once the blind is dry, put the honeycomb blind back up in the window and leave them fully raised/closed for a couple of hours so that the honeycomb cells can retain their shape. Once they’ve been up for a while, they’ll be good to use as normal.


Congratulations, you’ve successfully cleaned your honeycomb blinds, time to relax and enjoy the view.




We hope the DotcomBlinds guide to cleaning blinds at home has been helpful to you in the endeavor of cleaning your blinds. If cleaning your blinds seems like a job you’re not interested in or you have a stain in your blinds that you can’t get rid of, you can always get your blinds professionally cleaned or buy yourself a brand new set of fresh and stylish made to measure blinds from us today. Whatever you do, we hope you have a nice clean blind up in your window for you and your family to enjoy.