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How To Clean Blinds

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It is generally accepted that heat and cold is transferred through your windows at a greater rate than through your walls. One of the primary causes of allergy induced asmtha are dust and other airbourne pollutants which are, unfortunately, attracted to places in your home where the transfer of energy is the greatest such as your window blinds. Accordingly, it is important that you understand how to clean blinds to prevent allergy induced asthma.

First, to prevent allergens from building up on the surface of the blinds, you need to routinely dust your blinds. Regardless of what type of blinds your windows have, this should always be the first step in cleaning them. Use a lamb's wool duster to get the best results. If one is not available, a soft house paintbrush will work as well, often at a much cheaper price. Alternatively, use your vacuum and the brush attachment to vacuum the dust away. Simply close the blinds in one direction and thoroughly clean one side. When done, close the blinds in the opposite direction and repeat the process. Do not use a feather duster to clean your blinds as all that does is redistribute the dust into the air where it will eventually settle somewhere else -- and, sometimes, back on the very blinds you are trying to dust!

Second, depending on where your blinds are located, extra cleaning may be necessary. For example, your kitchen blinds will likely become greasy and grimy if you cook often. Additionally, the nicotine from cooking smoke may cause a yellow film to occur in other rooms. However, depending on the material in which the blinds are made, different cleaning methods are required.

How To Clean Vinyl Blinds: If your blinds are made out of vinyl or metal, Windex, Formula 409, or any similar cleaner, used in conjunction with a very soft cloth, is a good method of cleaning these blinds. If you do not like using these types of cleaners on your blinds, another good blind cleaner can be made by combining a few ounces of trisodium phosphate in a bucket of water. First, wipe your blinds using a very soft cloth soaked in the trisodium mixture. Once you have done so, repeat the process using plain water.

A Word of Caution About Trisodium Phosphate: Trisodium phosphate is usually available at your local hardware stores. However, when using this compound to clean your blinds, it is important that you take safety precautions to protect your health. Wear protective eye covering, rubber gloves and a long sleeve shirt. Be sure to read, and follow, the manufacturer's instructions.

Third, because cleaning between the slats is sometimes an issue, a discussion regarding the best method of cleaning blind slats is warranted. One effective method of cleaning between the blind slats is to use a soft paintbrush. If a clean paintbrush is not available, use a small piece of wood wrapped in a paper towel.

How To Clean Wood Blinds: Wood blinds can usually be cleaned by simply dusting them in the manner described above. However, if special cleaning is required, the trisodium phosphate method can be used on wood blinds as well. However, be careful that you do not over-saturate the wood.

How To Clean Fabric Blinds: Blinds covered with fabric also require a different method of cleaning. To effectively clean fabric blinds, you need to first mix the cleaning solution you will be using. Use five ounces of a liquid dishwashing detergent in a bucket of warm water. You will want to strenuously mix the solution so that the bucket has a head of foam on top of the water. This "head of foam" is similar to the head of a nicely poured beer. Next, skim the foam off of the top of the water using a damp cloth or sponge. Do not allow the sponge to dip into the water as all you want is the foam, not the water. Third, rub the foam into the fabric blinds with a cloth. This will extract the soil while, at the same time, dry the surface of the fabric blinds.

How To Clean Metal Blinds: Coated metal mini-blinds are a little easier to clean. Simply use your bath tub to clean them! First, remove the metal blinds from their support brackets. Next, emerge the blinds in warm bath water which has been prepared with a few cups of powered automatic dishwasher detergent. Make sure the metal blinds are entirely submerged in the water. Thereafter, use a sponge or soft cloth a carefully wash each slat of the metal blinds. Be careful not to cut your hands on the metal slats -- think huge, metal paper cut. Fourth, drain the water from the bath tub and stand the metal blinds up in a corner to try. If they are not dry after a couple of hours, you should hang them back up in their supports anyway. However, if that is the case, you need to make sure to completely dry the blinds using a dry, soft cloth.

How To Clean Blinds Professionally: Sometimes, however, despite your best efforts to use the above-stated cleaning methods, your blinds remain dirty. At that time, you may want to consider having your blinds professionally cleaned. Most professional blind cleaning services clean blinds using a method involving an ultrasonic bath. Essentially, this blind cleaning method involves utilizing sound waves that vibrate through water, thereby releasing the dirt and debris. If you are able to take the blinds to the professional cleaners yourself (as opposed to having them pick up the blinds from your home), you can certainly save yourself a considerable amount of money.

Blind Cleaning Caution: As with most cleaning methods, you need to spot check the cleaning solutions on an inconspicuous part the blinds before cleaning the entire surface of the blinds. Use a cotton swap on a small portion of the back of the blinds. This is critical for imported blinds as it is difficult to determine what paints or dyes the blinds have been made of.

Treating allergy induced asthma is a subject routinely discussed on the author's website entitled: Allergy Induced Asthma.