Window treatments hold immense power! By adding them to your home, you can instantly transform the look and feel of your space. However, when you clean blinds, it can be a bit of a challenge. Ensuring that they, along with your shades, shutters, and drapery, remain spotless is a must to rid your home of dust and allergens while maintaining their pristine appearance. So, let’s embark on a journey to uncover the secrets of keeping your window coverings crisp and clean!

Remember… 

Before we dive in, always remember to consult the manufacturer’s recommendations when you clean your blinds and other window treatments from a store. For those familiar with the manufacturer or used to installing the treatments themselves, reading over the accompanying booklets or tags is a smart step. They have great tips and tricks on how to keep them looking perfect. Since each window covering boasts unique cleaning needs, adhering to the specific instructions provided is the way to go!

Cleaning Your Blinds and Shutters

When you clean blinds and shutters, you can often be done the same way because they are often similar. 

• Regular Dusting: Doing this is a breeze with a handheld duster, microfiber cloth, or perhaps even gloves crafted from clean, dry microfiber fabric. Fortunately, there are so many window blinds cleaning kits available at your disposal, ready with the tools to help make this process easier. Simply close the slats flat and dust away in a side-to-side motion, then tilt the slats upward for the opposite side. If you need extra reach, consider investing in an extension dusting kit. 
• Small Areas: For those nooks and crannies that are harder to reach, a natural fiber paintbrush or an unused, dry toothbrush might be the best solution for keeping them clean.

When it comes to tackling tough spots, it’s important to be mindful of the material you’re dealing with. Whether it be wood, metal, or composite blinds and shutters, determining the ideal cleaning agents is key to preserving their integrity.

Window Shades and Fabric Blinds

There is a challenge of maintaining the perfect look and feel of your window shades and fabric blinds. Regular dusting is a must to add to your cleaning routine. It helps to remove dirt and allergens while preventing dust build-up to occur. Turning them to the closed position facilitates access to a flat surface for cleaning. With this, you have three options that can greatly help you! These methods are canned air, vacuum attachments, and trusty microfiber cloths, dusters, or gloves. Each method offers its own unique flair for combatting dust and grime, ensuring your fabric shades remain clean. 

Canned Air: It is a great method gaining popularity, particularly with fabric shades. Picture this: a swift burst of air, delicately removing dust without wiping. Thus, ensuring that the dust does not spread. It also protects your shades from getting pressed. Therefore, the shape of your window coverings remains intact. Canned air cleaning can be done with a canned air rechargeable dusting tool or with disposable cans of air. 

Vacuum Attachment: Utilizing a vacuum attachment is a good way to clean your fabric window coverings. If you have an upholstery attachment, you can set your vacuum to a low setting. A great option is the versatile vacuum cleaner because it offers a sliding feature that allows you to adjust the suction of your vacuum. It also comes with two different styles of upholstery cleaning tools to select!

Microfiber Cloth, Duster, or Gloves: Take a chance on a duster, gloves, or clean and dry microfiber cloths. They will greatly help you establish dust-free fabric window shades. To start, close your window coverings and gently sweep your chosen tool from side to side. Remember that intense dust buildup may lead to an inadvertent spread of particles across the fabric.

Spot Cleaning Fabrics: We can’t expect things to stay perfectly clean all the time. There can be the occasional smudge or sign of dirt appearing on your window treatments. Grab a sponge and lukewarm water, and start to restore your shades. Dip your sponge, ensuring that it is damp, and then wipe away the blemish. Allow your fabric shades to bask in the gentle embrace of air until completely dry before rolling or stacking them. 

Cleaning Draperies and Curtains

Let’s not forget about curtains and draperies, where knowing your fabric is half the battle. Understanding what type of draperies or curtains you have is a must when determining the desired cleaning method. 

• Dry cleaning reigns supreme for most draperies, particularly those fashioned from delicate materials, safeguarding against shrinking. 
• Steam cleaning offers a refreshing alternative, banishing dust while your curtains remain proudly hung. 
• There is a chance that wetting the drapery can result in color bleeding. Test a small area before proceeding to make sure you’re good to go. 
• If you decide to toss your curtains into the washing machine, always choose cold water and set it on a delicate cycle. As soon as the cycle has completed, instantly remove them and hang them or lay them flat to dry.

Handling Pet Dander 

We love our pets. They bring so much joy into our lives. However, they tend to leave pet dander and it is often noticeable on drapes that touch the floor. There are certain fabrics that do attract more fur than others. If you’re spending some time vacuuming the room, lift up the bottom of your treatments to get the excess hair. If you have a low-suction vacuum cleaner or a lint roller, you can remove the small amounts of fur quickly!

Caring for your window treatments is an investment for your home. So, reach out to the manufacturer of your window treasures to understand the best way to clean blinds and other coverings. Our team at Bazaar Home Decorating is here with guidance to help you find the best window treatments for your home. Contact us today to schedule your FREE consultation!