Now that you’ve got the perfect shutters from Blindo installed in your home, what do you need to do to keep them clean? If you’re wondering what is the best way to clean shutters, we’ve got the answer for you.
How to Clean Shutters and Keep Them Clean
The key to cleaning shutters is consistency. The best way to clean shutters is to stay on top of the job of keeping them clean. What do we mean by this? We mean don’t clean your shutters once a year and expect them to always look their best. You should be cleaning your shutters about once a week. If that sounds like a lot of cleaning, don’t worry – it’s easy to clean shutters if you clean them regularly. To help you out we wrote this article to explain how to clean shutters and keep them clean. We’re also going to cover what to do if you let a lot of dust and grime build up on your shutters over time. Let’s get started!
The Cleaning Tools You’ll Need
We mentioned that it’s best if you clean your shutters once a week. That may seem like a lot of work, but it’s not, especially when you use the right tools. Here are the best cleaning tools for cleaning shutters.
- Microfibre cloth – You’ll be doing a lot of wiping of your shutters, so a good microfibre cloth will go a long way in making the job of wiping easy. Microfibre is soft and absorbent, and it washes well after each use. It’s a great material for cleaning shutters.
- Microfibre shutter duster – This is a duster specifically designed for cleaning shutters. There are many different designs of microfibre shutter dusters out there, and just about any of them will do. They often have three arms covered with microfibre cloth, and each arm fits between the slates of your shutters. Choose a microfibre shutter duster that looks like it will fit your shutters well.
- Feather duster – In this day of high-tech cleaning materials, there is still something to be said for a traditional feather duster. The best way to use a feather duster to clean shutters is to upwardly close all the shutters then give them a once over with the duster. After that downwardly close all the shutters and hit them again with the duster. It’s a quick and easy way to keep your shutters dust free.
Cleaning Very Dirty Shutters
It’s as easy as can be to clean shutters when they are only a little dusty, like a week after dusting them. But how to clean shutters that have been left uncleaned for some time? That’s a different kind of job all together and requires some more elbow grease. There are some different ways to go about cleaning very dirty shutters, so here are some ways we find work very well.
Soap and Water
Soapy water is the tried-and-true cleaning method for most every cleaning job. We recommend that you use a mild soap diluted in a lot of water. Usually, a solution of soap and water is enough for most shutter cleaning jobs, but if the shutters are very dirty you may need to do some scrubbing. In that case, use a soft cloth and be careful not to apply too much pressure so that you don’t break the shutters. Also have a bucket of clean water at the ready to use to remove the soapy water.
When Soap and Water isn’t Enough
If soap and water isn’t cutting through the dirt and grime on your shutters, you may need to add a bit of white vinegar to the soapy water solution. Vinegar is a mild acid, and sometimes making the water slightly acidic is enough to help it better remove built up dirt.
A Warning About Real Wood Shutters
The methods above for cleaning very dirty shutters work great if your shutters are made of polymer of aluminium. But if your shutters are made of real wood, special care needs to be taken when cleaning them. Real wooden shutters shouldn’t get wet, but if your shutters are very dirty getting them wet may be unavoidable. If that is the case then just be ready to immediately wipe your wooden shutters dry after cleaning them. Real wood looks great, but to keep real wooden shutters looking their best you have to keep them clean and not let it get to the point where you need to wash them with water.
Replace Shutters That Are Too Far Gone
If you’ve tried cleaning your shutters the way we described in this article and they are not responding well to any of your efforts, it may be time to replace your old shutters with new high-quality window shutters. This is also an excellent opportunity to refresh the look of your home. Blindo is a blinds, shutters, and curtain store, and we’re happy to help you find the best new shutters to replace your old ones. If you’d like to discuss new window coverings for your home, get in touch with us. You can call us on 1300 884 749 or you can get in touch online to organise a FREE measure and quote.