We spend a lot of time testing products, tips and tricks to find the easiest, quickest and most effective ways to keep everything inside and outside your home clean. We have tips for cleaning your windows, a step-by-step guide to keep walls looking freshly painted and more. Before you try any of the cleaning methods below, it’s a good idea to check your blind manufacturer’s website for instructions and precautions. Then, follow the simple steps below depending on the material of your blinds and just how deep of a cleaning they need.
How to Clean Blinds Without Taking Them Down
The best way to deep clean your blinds is by taking them down and laying them on a flat surface. It makes it easier to clean both sides and the top and bottom rails thoroughly, but you may not always have the time or energy for this. There are two ways you can remove dust from blinds while they are still hanging: dusting with a microfiber tool like a cloth, glove or duster and vacuuming with a soft, dusting brush attachment. Vacuuming is also the only way we recommend cleaning real wood and fabric blinds or cellular shades.
What You’ll Need
Microfiber cloths, duster or dusting gloves
Vacuum cleaner with attachments
Warm water
Dishwashing liquid
Cleaning Your Blinds with a Microfiber Cloth, Glove or Duster
Open the blind and wrap the microfiber cloth tightly around both sides of a slat or grab both sides with your glove.
For horizontal blinds (sometimes called venetian blinds), start at the top-most slat and work your way down. Starting from top to bottom ensures that you won’t have to clean the same slat a second time when dust from a slat above settles on one below. Wipe the slat from left to right. If you are using a double-sided duster, like this GH Seal star double-sided duster from Swiffer, you’ll clean the topside of one slat and bottom side of the one above it as you pass the duster in between.
For vertical blinds, wrap your microfiber cloth tightly around both sides of the blind and wipe from top to bottom. No need to worry about depositing dust on other slats here, but working from the left-most slat to the right (or vice versa) will allow you to more easily keep track of the slats you’ve already cleaned.
Dip a microfiber cloth in a mixture of dish soap and water. To remove stubborn stains and sticky residue from metal, vinyl or faux wood blinds while they are hanging, dip a microfiber cloth in a bowl of warm water mixed with a few drops of dishwashing liquid.Wipe slats with the damp microfiber cloth. Squeeze out the excess water and wipe the blinds from left to right (or top to bottom if they’re vertical blinds).Wipe slats dry with a clean microfiber cloth. Make sure to wipe both sides of each slat to buff away any water spots or streaks. Use water sparingly, if at all, on real wood blinds.
Expert Tip: Be sure to shake your microfiber tool outside as you start to notice it collecting dust to avoid depositing dust back on to your blinds as you clean.
Cleaning Your Blinds with a Vacuum
Turn down your vacuum’s suction to the lowest setting. Attach your vacuum’s soft dusting brush attachment and turn the suction down to the lowest setting available. If your vacuum only has one suction mode, make sure it isn’t strong enough to damage your blinds. You want the vacuum to pick up dust, not vacuum seal itself to the blinds’ slats.
Close the blind, hold the slats taut and vacuum slowly. Keep the blinds taut and move across horizontal blinds slowly from left to right. If you have vertical blinds, grab each slat and vacuum a small section working your way from top to bottom.
Go over each blind again. Vacuum along each slat again in the opposite direction to pick up any dust that might have been left behind on the first pass.
Open and close the slats in the opposite direction. When you finish, reverse the slats, closing them the other way and vacuum each slat again.
How to Clean Blinds in a Tub
If you want to give metal, vinyl or faux wood blinds a deeper clean, your best bet is in the bathtub. It’s important to note that if you are using this method to clean your blinds, you should pay special attention to the manufacturer’s care instructions. Submerging blinds for extended periods of time in water can cause metal to rust. We don’t recommend this method for cellular shades or real wood blinds as these materials become damaged when immersed in water. If cellular shades become stained, reach out to your manufacturer with questions on how best to remove them or about the warranty offered on your product.