How to Professionally Clean your Blinds

September 1st, WOW!  Although it is still pretty hot here, the nights are cooling off, the sun is setting earlier and our garden is producing an abundance of veggies.  School is back in session, first week of kindergarten, homework, soccer games and I'm ready for Fall.

I'm not sure what it is, but I've had the itch lately to clean, organize, de-clutter and tackle a few projects I've been trying to hide from. a.k.a. Clean the Blinds. My husband is a superstar at these projects. He is always on board (pretty much a neat freak, he is.) and does the job right.

For years now, we have tried different "techniques" to clean our blinds, but we haven't been very pleased wth the results. Most people in our neighborhood, just pay to have them cleaned. Now, this is a great idea, but not in the budget.

Last spring, our neighbor (who is from Boston and an engineer) came up with a fantasic technique to clean blinds. It was genius! So a few weeks ago, we cleared a Saturday and cleaned all our blinds. Other than having to clean 20 blinds it was easy and the results where beautiful.

What you need:
2 Ladders
You need two ladders, preferrable about the same size. We borrowed an extra ladder from our neighbor.
Long Board
This connects the 2 ladders and where you attach the blinds.
Two heavy duty clamps
Keep blind secure to board while cleaning.
Super Spray Cleaner
Your going to spray this cleaner all over your blinds.
Water
We used our outdoor hose.
Power Washer
This is very handy, we don't own one, but borrowed it from our neighbor. I know you can also rent power washers from Home Depot or Lowes.

Set-up:

Place ladders blind-width apart. Lay board across the top of the ladders. Attach blinds to board with clamps. Attach hose to power washer.

Technique:

Spray blind with water to remove dirt and dust. Then, spray entire blind with cleaner, front and back, paying close attention to the pulls (which are always the dirtiest). Re-spray blinds with water, washing away all of the cleaner. Blinds with be clean and sparkly, even the pulls which were so black and grimy.

Since the blinds were wet after washing, we layed out a towel and let the blinds dry on the towel for 20 mins or so.  

It is time consuming, but the time vs. cost to pay someone else was so worth it. Plus, we didn't have to wait 3 days to get our blinds back. After we were all done, we went to dinner and when we came back my house smelled and looked so clean and fresh. No more dirty blinds for us, we are planning to do this twice a year.