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[GingerPeach]

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@151949 wrote:

@GingerPeach Back when we had window blinds I would dust weekly but once a year I'd take them down and hang them in the shower, spray with hot soapy water ( spic & span) let it sit a short while then use the shower to rinse them. I'd do one window a day - every day for a week and would leave them hanging in the shower til dry.It was actually very easy.

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A few posts down I explained I am past the days when I can manhandle venetian blinds into the shower or tub.  No longer an option.

Thanks.  It USED to be manageable, but is no longer.

[151949]

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@GingerPeach wrote:

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@151949 wrote:

@GingerPeach Back when we had window blinds I would dust weekly but once a year I'd take them down and hang them in the shower, spray with hot soapy water ( spic & span) let it sit a short while then use the shower to rinse them. I'd do one window a day - every day for a week and would leave them hanging in the shower til dry.It was actually very easy.

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A few posts down I explained I am past the days when I can manhandle venetian blinds into the shower or tub.  No longer an option.

Thanks.  It USED to be manageable, but is no longer.

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Ok I don't understand that because it's not like they are heavy - unless you have some huge window. Just pull them all the way up then slide them out of the holder.

But if you don't want to wash them - you could probably get away with just dusting them.

[Mominohio]

My comments are not at all directed at the OP, but in other threads in the past about cleaning blinds and plantation shutters, people are so adamant about the fact they would never have dusty dirty curtains again and the shutters are the way to go (or the blinds like shown here). 

Honestly after having all three at one time or another, simple curtains are much easier to care for. They slide right off the rods, into the washer and dryer and many just put right back up without needing an iron. Washed Once a year, with a quick vacuuming once or twice in between is much easier than the work it took me to keep plantation shutters truly clean. I needed to take a wet cloth to each slat every couple of months at least, to keep them truly looking clean in the nooks and crannies. 

And if one is going to take blinds down and hang them in the shower, let the dry all day or multiple dayd, and remount them, I see no work saved over curtains either. 

I realize one may prefer blinds or shutters for the look of the room, and that is not the point of my post, of course one should choose what they like the look or functionality of, I'm simply addressing those that always seem to think curtains are a bigger hassle. Having dealt with all three, I find them to be the least work (not talking formal draperies that would need to be professionally cleaned etc.).

[151949]

@Mominohio In some places curtains are just not practical. Here in Fl., as well as most of the south and SW desert the sun rots the fabric in very short time. People need to either have shutters or blinds. Plus curtains do not control the sun coming in sufficiently when it is a hot sunny day, so the sun fights the AC, which just costs money. I know Ohio doesn't get this kind of sun, and you truely welcome that sunshine you do get, but everywhere is not the same climate as you have.

I don't know what the issue was with the shutters you once had in one room I believe, but that was uniquely your problem. All the rest of us do not have the issues with our shutters you had. I had shutters on 2 small windows in Pa that I only ever dusted and they looked fine - I have shutters throughout my home here and all that is done to clean them is dust with the dusting attachment on my sweeper. I may have to wipe them off when DH touches them with dirty hands and leaves a fingerprint, but that's not all the time.

[Mominohio]

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@151949 wrote:

@Mominohio In some places curtains are just not practical. Here in Fl., as well as most of the south and SW desert the sun rots the fabric in very short time. People need to either have shutters or blinds. Plus curtains do not control the sun coming in sufficiently when it is a hot sunny day, so the sun fights the AC, which just costs money. I know Ohio doesn't get this kind of sun, and you truely welcome that sunshine you do get, but everywhere is not the same climate as you have.

I don't know what the issue was with the shutters you once had in one room I believe, but that was uniquely your problem. All the rest of us do not have the issues with our shutters you had. I had shutters on 2 small windows in Pa that I only ever dusted and they looked fine - I have shutters throughout my home here and all that is done to clean them is dust with the dusting attachment on my sweeper. I may have to wipe them off when DH touches them with dirty hands and leaves a fingerprint, but that's not all the time.

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@151949

You are right about the hot sun in certain parts of the country, the Southwest even more so than Florida, and needed alternate window treatments.

But I know for a fact the cleaning issues with plantation shutters are not uniquely my problem. I've been in homes of friends that have the same issues. 

Dusting or vacuuming of blinds or shutters is not efficient over time as the only source of cleaning. They absolutely have to be cleaned with something damp or wet, slat by slat at least once or twice a year, or they are not truly clean.

They are just like windows. Even in rarely used rooms, the inside of windows get a film of dirt/grease/residue from cooking,candles, heating systems etc. that have to be washed off. 

[Spurt]

@GingerPeach

My sister was looking for a tools to clean blinds, baseboards, and her ceiling fans....we went to a cleaning store, and they had exactly the tools she wanted (the tool for the blind looked much like the one you pictured)  but the prices were so outrageous she passed on them all............Good luck on your search...

[GingerPeach]

@Mominohio

You are so right about the dampness needed to thoroughly clean.  Just dry dusting is not enough.  And it is certainly not enough to simply swipe or even vacuum closed blinds or shutters.  There is always that overlap portion that never gets touched.

That's why, as simple looking (and for shutters, to my eye, as beautiful) as they appear in construction, cleaning them isn't the slam dunk they may appear to be.

[GingerPeach]

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@151949 wrote:

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@GingerPeach wrote:

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@151949 wrote:

@GingerPeach Back when we had window blinds I would dust weekly but once a year I'd take them down and hang them in the shower, spray with hot soapy water ( spic & span) let it sit a short while then use the shower to rinse them. I'd do one window a day - every day for a week and would leave them hanging in the shower til dry.It was actually very easy.

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A few posts down I explained I am past the days when I can manhandle venetian blinds into the shower or tub.  No longer an option.

Thanks.  It USED to be manageable, but is no longer.

---

Ok I don't understand that because it's not like they are heavy - unless you have some huge window. Just pull them all the way up then slide them out of the holder.

But if you don't want to wash them - you could probably get away with just dusting them.

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I suppose you didn't read other posts of mine saying I have RA.  But that's OK.  Go ahead and argue because you do like to do that.  I suppose it's not enough to actually just believe me when I say the days when I can manhandle blinds are long gone.  Sheesh.  And you still don't believe you are lucky.  I feel sorry for you.