3 common cleaning jobs for cloth blinds

Cloth blinds can be an attractive and flexible option for homes, providing a warm and natural finish to the room. However they can also become dirty over time with use, with a range of possible issues including cigarette smoke, dust or animal hair. Here are some tips on how to remove different stains from cloth blinds. 

Dust

Dust can naturally build up on any surface. Often the easiest way to remove dust is to use a hair dryer on the cool setting. It´s important not to use hot air or dab with water as this can drive the dust further into the blinds. You can also use a feather duster or static cleaner to try and attract dust from the blinds. Dust tends to be easiest to remove if you can clean it regularly, before the blinds become visibly soiled so try to do this every few days. 

Animal fur

Animals add a lot to any household including a lot of excess fur. If you have a pet then you may need to make cleaning pet hair from the blinds a regular job. It can be useful to use a vacuum cleaner or handheld cleaner with a pet fur setting. You can also gently brush the blinds with a fine brush. Animal fur tends to be most obvious in summer as animals most their thicker winter coats, so it can often help reduce the amount of fur you need to clean if you manually clean them at this time. 

Cigarette smoke

A much trickier stain to get out of cloth blinds is cigarette smoke. This combines both an odour issue and the yellowing of cloth due to tar. These stains will not wipe off and are relatively ingrained in the cloth, becoming more tricky to manage over time as the staining become more severe. Often the best solution is to get a professional blind cleaning service to come to the house and use an ultrasonic cleaning service. This gentle washes the blinds and then using ultrasonic waves to loosen the hardier stains such as tar from the blinds. It can be done in the home and is relatively gentle making it suitable for a large range of fabric types. 

If you want more information on how to best look after your cloth blinds and keep them clean, they you should speak to a window treatment professional. They can give specific advice suit to your household and type of blinds.