Window treatments add beauty and style to your rooms in a functional manner. However, when the weather is nice and you open your windows for a cool breeze, the outside air can bring dust with it that will accumulate on your window treatments. Learn tips and tricks to clean all window treatments easily and quickly.
Tips and Tricks on How to Clean your Window Treatments
Clean window treatments look nice and pristine, but they are also making your home or business a healthier environment too. Dust, dust mites, and allergens can collect on the surfaces of your window treatments and caused allergy sufferers a distressing time. Some people are more susceptible to allergens than others are. Keeping all of your window treatments clean also helps them to last longer and continue their job of controlling, light, heat, glare, and adding a decorative appearance to your home or business.
Cleaning Draperies, Curtains, and Valances
Draperies in Maui are available in a huge variety of material types, weights, colors, and patterns from which to choose. Some are user-friendly and easy to clean, while others are not as easily cleaned. Your best bet for all fabric window treatments is to vacuum them often with a brush attachment on your home vacuum cleaner. This will keep them in good shape; however, you may encounter a stain or spill on your fabric window treatments and need to wash them.
Cotton and linen fabrics can be washed on the delicate cycle in your washing machine, but only if they have no liner and no embellishments on them. Items with liners and embellishments should be dry cleaned so the trim and liner do not come apart from the fabric. If you have nylon or polyester fabric, you can wash on a cold and delicate cycle in the washer or wash them by hand. This same procedure goes for cashmere and wool fabrics. Keep in mind that polyester and nylon fibers will degrade when they are dry cleaned, so hand washing or machine washing is your only alternative. Another great attribute of polyester fabric is that you don’t need to lie them flat to dry but you can hang the window treatments up while right out of the washer after you shake out any wrinkles.
Silk fabrics can be washed by hand with a bit of mild dishwashing liquid, but another consideration is the color of your fabrics. Lighter colors of Maui drapery will not bleed or fade as much as a darker fabric when you wash them. So, it may be best to test a small area before dunking them in the water and soap first.
Cleaning Shades
For your fabric shades in Maui, such as Roman shades, roller shades, pleated shades, and cellular shades, you can also vacuum them to remove dust from them. First, close the shades entirely. Then Use your vacuum cleaner on a low setting if it has one to decrease any chance of damaging your shades. If you are just touching them up to remove dust from them, you can even use a blow dryer on the cool setting to blow off any dust, dirt, or bugs on your shades where they may be caught increases, honeycombs, or rolls.
For fabric shades that are stained, you can use a damp microfiber cloth and try to blot the stain lightly to remove it. If the stain is set in, you can try blotting with a bit of laundry detergent to break it down and blot it away. Make certain you let your fabric shades dry completely before you raise them. If this method doesn’t work for your fabric shades and they are stained fairly bad, you will need to take them to a dry cleaner.
Cleaning Shutters
Indoor plantation shutters are simply stunning in any setting and make a great statement piece for any home or business. They may be stained or painted in any color you like to go with your decor. Whether your indoor shutters are made of beautiful hardwood or are faux wood, composite wood, or polyvinyl, they can all be cleaned in the same manner. The only stipulation is to make sure and use very little dampness on real wood shutters.
For starters, close your shutters in Maui entirely and then you can just simply dust the shutters with a dry cotton cloth. Don’t add any type of cleaner to hardwood blinds as it may degrade the finish and stain that protects it from sun damage. You may use some quality wood polish to add a sheen to your wood shutters. Flip the louvers over the other way to clean the other side of them in the same manner. Use a clean and dry cloth to absorb any polish that may be left behind.
For badly soiled shutters, dip a cotton cloth into a mixture of warm water and mild detergent and wring it out entirely. Wipe each slat lengthwise with one hand and immediately follow up with a dry cotton cloth to wipe it with your other hand. This will save your shutters from having spots or becoming discolored to degrade their majestic appearance.
Cleaning Blinds
All blinds can be cleaned easily with the same method of using the brush attachment on your vacuum cleaner. Do this each time you clean your house and it will make them more durable and save you money in the long run. Just make sure to clean with the direction of the slats and not against it and clean both sides and the cords or wands that are attached to your blinds. For in-depth cleaning see the below tips and tricks.
Wood blinds in Maui can be wiped down with a cloth that you dampen in vinegar. Vinegar can cut through grease and dirt with ease and as an added benefit; it’s an antimicrobial to reduce germs in your home. Wipe the blinds dry immediately so they don’t warp or discolor. As an added protection, you can condition them with a wood conditioner to keep them from fading from sun damage.
You deep clean faux wood blinds in the same manner as wood blinds, but you don’t need to use a wood conditioner. After cleaning them with vinegar, you can wipe each of the slats with a fabric softener sheet to prevent dust build-up for several months.
To clean aluminum and vinyl Venetian blinds, you can simply wash them in the bathtub with a little bit of mild dish soap and warm water. You should let them soak in the tub for about an hour and then scrub them with a sponge or you can use a sponge mop instead to speed up the process and save your back at the same time. Next, drain the water and refill the tub with clean water to remove any remaining dust or dirt. Then remove them from the tub and lay them on towels to dry completely. You can instead hang your blinds outside from a clothesline or put them flat on towels on your lawn for them to dry before you hang them back up.
Vertical blinds are cleaned in the same manner as faux wood blinds with vinegar, unless you have fabric blinds, then you use the steps above to clean fabric blinds. A simple trick to keep them looking great all the time is to use a lint roller from top to bottom on the slats to clean dust and dirt from them with ease.
Cleaning Custom Window Treatments is Easy
You can keep all of your window treatments looking new with a bit of cleaning every so often. This also will make them more durable so they last longer. If you have any questions on how to clean a particular type of window coverings in Maui, call us because we are here to help you.
