How to clean wooden blinds: step-by-step guidance

Generally, all looks fine. Until that moment when the sun suddenly spotlights the blinds or the light falls the wrong way, and you suddenly see it: your wooden blinds need a thorough clean-up. Sadly, this should be done more often than you might think. Because although wooden blinds are a very decorative type of window decoration, they excel in collecting dust and dirt.

But when you finally decide to take action and pull out your cleaning supplies, where do you start? What exactly do you need and how do you make sure you don't damage your pretty wooden slats while cleaning?

With the 2 step-by-step plans below - one for dusting the slats and one for removing stains - you can make your wooden blinds shine like new again effortlessly.

1. Remove dust from wooden blinds: use a feather duster or vacuum cleaner

If you want to remove dust from your wooden blinds, you would do well to use a feather duster, a vacuum cleaner with a small brush head or a special blind cleaner. How best to proceed:

1. Close the wooden slats.
2. Grip your blinds carefully so that the slats don't fly in all directions when you put pressure on them.
3. Carefully wipe or vacuum with the feather duster, vacuum cleaner or blind cleaner from left to right and from top to bottom. Take extra care with the ladder cords/ladder bands, as this is where your blinds are most vulnerable.
4. If you have wooden blinds with wood grain and cannot get the dust off, you can try scrubbing them with an unused soft-bristled toothbrush.
5. After you have dusted them all, tilt the slats the other way and repeat steps 1 to 4.

2. Remove stains from wooden blinds: dabbing with water

If dusting is not enough to clean your wooden blinds, and you see stains that need a more thorough scrubbing, you can clean your wooden blinds as follows to make them stain-free:

1. Carefully hold your blinds and gently dab the spot where the stain is located with a clean, dry microfibre cloth. Be careful not to use one of those yellow household cloths; they may leave yellow fibres in the grain of the wood.
2. Lightly moisten the cloth with water. Do not use any cleaning agents, as this may damage the wood!
3. Dab the slightly damp cloth gently on the stain (do not rub!), clean/moisten the cloth after dabbing it for a while and keep repeating this process until the stain is gone.
4. If the stain is more stubborn, you can use a special cleaner for wooden blinds or a wood cleaner.
5. After cleaning, dry the slats thoroughly with a clean cloth.

Cleaning wooden blinds: benefit from extra convenience?

Cleaning wooden blinds is not necessarily the most fun job. But you CAN make your life easier by automatically operating them remotely with a Somfy motor. No more hassle with pulling the cord, the slats can be tilted at the push of a button. More comfort, more convenience!

Please visit a Somfy dealer for more information.