best solution to clean vinyl blinds

I have several very dirty & greasy blinds that need cleaning. Can someone suggest an easy and inexpensive way for how to clean vinyl blinds? If they are mini blinds, I would take them outside and drape them over a clothes line, spray them off with the hose, then wash down with a solution of ammonia and water, rinse and then turn them over and repeat the process for the other side. I have gotten several really disgusting mini blinds clean that way in places we have rented. I read a tip somewhere that said to put on rubber gloves (I used surgical gloves) and then an old white sock over that, dip your whole hand in rubbing alcohol and start cleaning the blinds. So much better than those blind "finger" looking things, and it was so easy too. Give it a try! Woman Washing Blinds photo from Shutterstock I used to manage an apartment complex and we used one of two methods for cleaning blinds Elizabeth B. in West Valley City, Ut I used to work part-time cleaning apartments between tenants and the best way to clean vinyl blinds is to take them down, put them in the bathtub, saturate them with 409 cleaner and degreaser, let them soak, then turn the shower on them to rinse.
You'll get lots of good suggestions for cleaning blinds, so I just want to add one little caution. If you have plastic or vinyl blinds, test them for lead content prior to cleaning. Lead testing kits can be found in hardware stores in the paint department. If the blinds contain lead, they must be disposed. Contact your local waste department for the correct way to go about this. I have tried many different ways to clean dirty and greasy mini blinds, and the best way i have found is putting very warm water in the bath tub, with degreaser or pine oil and laundry soap. duct cleaning companies chargeAbout 1-1/2 cups laundry soap and 1 cup pine oil to 1/4 tub of water. best budget upright vacuum cleaner 2014put blinds in and soak for a half hour, moving them around to get the solution between the blinds. pro clean duct and carpet service
Let the water out and rinse well. Then I take them outside and put them on the deck or fence to air dry. It works well for me. Don't forget to use the ebates cash back site and receive cash back on all of your purchases. We have the mini blinds thru our house and they can be a pain to clean. We take them off once a year and take them outside. We lay them out in a closed position and use either baking soda or borax and warm water solution. best lightweight vacuum cleaners for carpetThen we scrub them with a handled scrubbie sponge and finally we take the hose and hose them off. best vacuum cleaner most suctionHang them to dry outside for a few hours and they're done. best vacuum cleaner most suction
We have done it this way for the last 11 years and they are still holding up. Share your thoughts about this article with the editor.Easiest CleaningCleaning TricksDiy CleaningHouse CleaningHate CleaningHousehold Cleaning TipsEasiest DiyCleaning BoardCleaning Tip For HomeForwardTips for making one of the most despised chores in your home into one of the easiest! No matter what kind of blinds you have—wooden, fabric and vertical are the three basic types—these tips will make their cleaning and maintenance easy: 1. Vacuum blinds often with the brush attachment. Vacuum across the slats, not up and down. 2. Use a lamb's-wool duster, again working across the slats and starting at the top. Do not use plastic dusters. 3. When dusting or vacuuming vertical blinds, brush downward only, as the slats often become unhooked if you brush upward. 4. Use a rubber sponge, also known as a dry sponge (found at hardware and paint stores), to remove dust and residue from both fabric and vinyl blinds.
Simply wipe the dry sponge firmly across the blinds. 5. For spot cleaning, spray an all-purpose cleaner onto a clean dry cloth and wipe the soiled area of the blind. Never spray the cleaner directly onto the blind. 6. You can wet wooden blinds when cleaning, but don't soak them. Clean them in place instead of removing them as you would for other types of blinds. 7. If fabric blinds become very dirty, take them to a dry cleaner. 8. Do not try cleaning blinds by spraying them with a car-wash hose, dunking them in the tub or one slat at a time. 9. To clean metal and vinyl blinds, follow this method: Take the blinds outside to your patio or driveway and lay them on a small rug or piece of carpet. Put a few drops of dishwashing soap in a bucket of water. Wet a car-washing brush and brush the blinds from side to side, and then turn them over and brush the other side. Rinse the blinds gently with a garden hose while tilting them so that the water runs off. To prevent water spots from forming, quickly run your finger down the slats a couple of times to remove excess water.
When done, drape the blinds over a fence or a couch to dry.Edit ArticleHow to Clean Mini Blinds Blinds of all kinds gather dust just like the rest of the inside of the house; however, they are sometimes forgotten due to their perceived trickiness. Moreover, dust often hardens on blinds due to their exposure to the sun. Read on to see how a few simple steps can get your blinds clean, thus avoiding the extra cost of sending them to the cleaners. Turn the blinds so that the convex side faces the room. Brush away the loose dust towards the floor. Put on some rubber gloves, and open the blind half-way. Wipe off the stuck dust with some folded dusting wipes. Lower the blind and damp dust its lower half. Turn the blinds so that the concave side faces the room, and start the steps from the beginning.If the blinds are not clean enough from just dusting, the best solution is to soak them. Consider sending your blinds to the cleaners, or do it yourself: If your blinds are too long for the bathtub, obtain some rain gutter.
Visit your hardware store. Obtain a length of rain gutter at least as long as your longest blinds. Also get two end caps and whatever other hardware is needed to attach them. Use the end caps to close up both ends of the rain gutter. You now have a mini-blind shaped cleaning tank. Take the blinds and the gutter outside. A clean driveway is a good place to do this. Fill the length of gutter with water and a bit of cleaner, such as dish soap (which has the advantage of rinsing clean) or Simple Green. Don't overdo it on the cleaner; just use enough for some suds. Soak the blinds in the solution for a few minutes. Give the soap long enough to do the job. Spread the blinds on a large, flat surface, such as a clean driveway or patio, and wipe gently with a wet cloth to loosen any remaining soil. Rinse with a garden hose.Allow the blinds to dry in the sun. The dry cleaning takes about half an hour. Soaking takes longer, but you can do several blinds at once. If you're taking down many similar blinds at once, it's a good idea to label them so that you know which windows and which rooms they came from.