I admit, I’m not a huge fan of mini blinds. While I do enjoy how they look in certain rooms, I’m not happy about how hard they are to clean. Luckily for us, only two of our three bedrooms have them and I’ve figured out how to clean them quickly and easily. Matter of fact, I clean mine twice a year, during the late Spring season and during late Summer.
One of the reasons that you’ll want to do heavy-duty mini blind cleaning twice a year is that by cleaning them often, you’ll prevent dirt, grease and grime build-up. Second, you want to clean them when the weather is nice outside which makes it so much easier!
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First, take them down and haul them outside. I have two large screws on the upper edge of our carport which allows me to hang things up for thorough cleaning. You can also toss your mini blinds over a clothesline or hang them from a small tree. Once they are hung up, open up them up! Make sure that the slats are fully open and not stuck together.
I believe in using eco-friendly cleaning products whenever possible. When I do chores like this, I like to use Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner. It comes in a spray bottle. I lightly spray both sides and let the product sit for 5-10 minutes. You’ll most likely see the dirt & grime running down.
Start up your garden hose and use a medium power setting to spray them down. I like to spray both sides and then I go over them again with the “light” mist setting. If you have any tough spots, you can spray an old cotton cloth with the eco-friendly all-purpose cleaner and wipe down the area. I have to admit, 99% of the time, I don’t have to do any of that since I do my heavy-duty blind cleaning twice a year and I dust mine in-between that time twice a month.
Let them hang to thoroughly dry in the sunshine and heat. Don’t forget to wipe down with a wet cleaning cloth the wand which opens & shuts the blinds. You would be amazed at how dirty those wands get and the type of germs that live on them.
Once they’re dry, take them back inside and hang them. Every time I do this, I stand back and can immediately tell the difference of how dirty they were and now how clean they are!
Note: If you have extremely dirty and greasy mini blinds…you’ll want to use a product called Krud Kutter. I find Krud Kutter to be the BEST at cleaning extremely dirty household things. I recently used it to clean-up my sister’s mini blinds, outdoor patio furniture, pool ladder and other things when helping her to spring clean her house. It’s a fantastic product!!!
If you don’t have a backyard and a garden hose to clean them this way, you can do the same thing by tossing them into your bathtub. Lay them in the tub, spray them down with your favorite cleaner, let them soak for 5-10 minutes and then rinse. My mom then tosses her’s over her shower curtain bar to dry.
(How to Clean Dirt and Grime from Mini Blinds) This was very informational for me to read. I do ours twice a year and I was doing it all wrong! Thanks for sharing this with us all Shelly. ( this way much easier)
They’re such a PITA to clean. With that said, that’s how I do mine…a twice a year deep cleaning and a light cleaning in between. I found that if I keep on them…it’s much quicker and easier to clean them. If you let the dirt & grime build-up…well, it takes longer. I use Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner or Krud Kutter, they’re my 2 preferred cleaning products for this particular job.
These are good ways to clean mini blinds. It is so much easier to hose them down outdoors rather than to try to clean them indoors, even in the bathtub.
Oh, I’ve grown to hate mini blinds, lol. They are hard to keep clean & it seems one of the slats is always out of kilter or bent or broken! This is a good idea on how to clean them, though. In the end, just taking them outside will save time & effort.
I have blinds like this but not mini blinds, on my apartment patio door and have to clean them individually. I keep them almost closed most of the time to keep the heat out, since it’s almost always sunny here. I’m not a fan of them either and hopefully won’t have them in my next place.