How To Clean Blinds, According To Professional Cleaners

We consulted with professional cleaners to provide you with a thorough blind cleaning guide complete with tips.

One feature of your home that we can bet probably doesn’t get cleaned often are your blinds. It’s pretty easy to forget that these dust magnets can accumulate a lot of filth if not cleaned every so often. Below, we asked two professional cleaners for their best tips for how to clean your blinds at home.

Before you begin the process of cleaning your blinds, you want to determine which type of blinds you have in your home. “Are they Venetian (slat), vertical, or celluloid?,” asks Sara San Angelo, a professional home cleaner and the founder of Confessions of a Cleaning Lady in Charleston, South Carolina. “What type of material are they? Do you need a cleaning solution or just a duster?”

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If they look pretty dirty, skip down below to the “How To Deep Clean Blinds” section. If they just need a bit of dusting on Venetian blinds, follow these steps:

Cleaning blinds is relatively straightforward. Be aware of the cord that controls the blinds, especially if you have to get up on a ladder. “There are cleaning tools designed to clean several slats at a time, which saves you time,” explains San Angelo.

If you really want to deep clean your blinds, San Angelo suggests taking them down and soaking them in a tub or spraying them with a hose outside. “This is only good for vinyl or plastic blinds, not wooden,” she warns.

Even though drapes may not show dust as clearly as hard surfaces you find with Venetian or slat blinds, dust does accumulate, and they will benefit from periodic dusting as well.

Fierman and her team are often asked about cleaning white roller blinds, particularly once they have yellowed or have dirt built up on them. “These are actually the trickiest to clean because they need to be scrubbed with soapy water and a brush,” she says. “You can imagine how difficult this is when they are hanging—soapy water will drip and you have to protect your window sill, frame, floors, and any other area that can receive dripping water.”

Fierman doesn’t recommend doing that. Instead, she recommends extending the roller blinds and vacuuming them. But this will not remove rubbed on, built up dirt or yellowing. “For this, we recommend hiring a professional company that provides ultrasonic cleaning,” she explains. “The company will remove the shades and clean them in a special machine that uses high-frequency waves and biodegradable cleaning agents.” Compare the pricing of cleaning to what it will cost to replace the blinds—sometimes, it’s better to go with new blinds.

To whiten yellowing blinds that are vinyl or plastic, San Angelo suggests using a bleach spray. “Be sure to spray on the cloth and not directly on blinds, as the spray may bleach carpet and other furnishes around them,” she says.

It is recommended to clean your blinds every week or two, so that dust and particles don’t accumulate.

When cleaning Venetian blinds, never use any products that can bleach or corrode surfaces, be it wood or textile. “I always advise that less is more, and dusting with a powerful vacuum brush attachment and washing with a cloth dampened with mild soapy water is often all that’s needed,” explains Fierman. “Diluted, gentle dish soap can be used on non-porous surfaces, remembering to always wipe dry and never let it drip. Even a forgotten or unseen drop of water on a wood floor can stain it.”

Yes, you can clean blinds without taking them down—you can wipe them down with a cleaner while they are hanging.

When you think that it will cost more to have your blinds professionally cleaned, rather than purchase new ones, you might want to consider replacing them. Additionally, if they are really yellow and past the point of cleaning, you should replace them.