The importance of cleaning blinds
Window treatments are an integral part of your home without a doubt. They offer privacy while also giving you the ability to control how much light enters your home. What is even more fascinating is that many window treatments have the ability to regulate temperature owing to their insulation capabilities. This also means that window coverings such as blinds are not only sought after based on their functionality but also because they are energy efficient options. Blinds can also can add to the visual appeal of your home while maintaining a comfortable and calm vibe to your rooms. Nowadays, motorized smart blinds have revolutionized the window treatment market by enabling remote control and voice command features.
While these benefits are almost insurmountable, it does come at a very small price (other than the money you will actually spend purchasing the blinds), which is the labour and cost of maintenance of the blinds. Much like any other useful device or object in your home, you will be required to maintain your blinds so that they don’t get dirty and become a place for accumulation of dust. Oversight in maintenance can interfere with the internal mechanism of the blinds and can also affect their durability. Not to mention, the blinds can start fading or become discoloured and aggravate the situation of anyone that maybe suffering from dust allergies.
Cleaning blinds must be a part of your weekly routine and it is important that you make time for it. Regular dusting and the occasional deep cleaning can go a long way in making sure you don’t part with blinds that you cherish and love.
Can you pressure wash blinds?
Pressure washing or power washing machines are basically devices that, after being hooked to a water source, use a spray to release water at a high rate of pressure to remove dust, mud and dirt from different surfaces. They are primarily used to clean wooden decks, concrete and walls. The question is, whether they can be used to pressure wash blinds.
While feather dusting and soft cleaning with water and soap can be more than adequate to clean your blinds, a line of dirt can stick to the fabric and the texture of the blinds. This line can be thin and almost impossible to remove. Moreover, if you try too hard you might end up causing a smudge that is more prominent. The higher pressure of the water can push these particles of dust without creating much issue.
Pressure washing as a practise is generally adopted for cleaning things that have harder surfaces than blinds. However, pressure washers come with settings that allow you to decide how much pressure you want to spray the water. You can choose the lower pressure settings to clean your blinds. If you want to test the right amount of pressure that you’re comfortable with, you can test out the different pressure settings at a particularly inconspicuous part of your blinds.
Make sure you also talk to the seller of your blinds to see if they can give you some clarity on whether you can pressure wash the blinds and what the appropriate setting would be. It is crucial that you take these steps before hand so that you don’t take an unnecessary risk of damaging your blinds. ZebraBlinds is not responsible for any damage caused through these DIY methods, and we always recommend to first check with your blind manufacturer for their recommended practises.
How do I pressure wash my blinds without damaging them?
The good thing about pressure washing your blinds is that it is an easy process to begin with. With enough care and attention, you can adhere to the following steps in order to pressure washing your blinds without compromising on their structural integrity and quality of the blinds.
Step 1 – Remove your blinds from the mounting brackets carefully. If you are unsure on how to do remove the blinds, consult the instructions that came with your blinds, or look for a video guide of some sort.
Step 2 – Now, you must hang up the blinds by using the hooks on a surface in whichever place you are cleaning them. This can be at your yard, bathroom or even your bathtub.
Step 3 – Make sure that you close the slats of your blinds so that they can be exposed to the pressurised water that will hit them soon.
Step 4 – Your next order of business is to fully extend the blinds so that you can cover all portions of your window treatment.
Step 5 – Once they are extended to their full extent you must pin down the bottom part of your blinds to the floor or the ground. You can place a slightly heavy object on the last few slats so that they don’t move out of place when the water hits the blinds.
Step 6 – Once the blinds have been pinned down, take some cleaning solution and start applying it on the blinds. Make sure you cover all parts of the blinds, from the top to bottom as well as both the sides.
Step 7 – Once the cleaning solution has soaked in for a while, you can start spraying the water from the pressure onto the blinds. It is absolutely necessary for you to make sure that the cleaning solution or the detergent doesn’t dry and stick to your blinds.
Step 8 – Make sure you set the pressure to a lower level and that you wash the blinds from bottom to top and side to side.
Step 9 – Once you are done, give the blinds a good look to check if you have covered every portion.
Step 10 – You can now take the blinds down and keep them away to dry
Conclusion
Pressure washing your blinds can be an effective way of cleaning your blinds. However, it is not something you should be doing often. While pressure washing at a lower setting wont necessarily harm your blinds, you are better off reserving these methods of cleaning for certain occasions.
Most blinds only require regular dusting and wiping with a damp cloth and cleaning solution over a weekly basis. Pressure washing is something that can be done once in a couple of months. There is also no need to pressure wash until the blinds have accumulated dust that cannot be removed from dusting and wiping. It is also important to know when your blinds have aged to the extent that no amount of cleaning can reverse the faded colour and texture of the blinds. At this point it is necessary to replace with your blinds with new ones.
You can take this opportunity to experiment and get versatile and bold designs for your rooms. There are many options to choose from, ranging from vertical blinds to blackout blinds to cellular blinds and even wooden blinds. While buying these blinds, you might want to check if they can be pressure washed.
