Works for Me Wednesday: Cleaning Mini-Blinds

Okay, don't go getting the idea that this is something I do on a regular basis, but every once in awhile you've gotta clean your mini-blinds. I've discovered the most pain-free method of doing this for me is a two-step process.

First, I take the blinds down and put them in the tub. I use the hand-held shower head to spray them down and a dish brush to scrub them. I haven't yet figured out a successful way to clean them without having to clean slat by slat, but with the blinds spread out in a tub of water, that goes pretty quickly.

Once they've been washed, I pull the cord to pull all of the slats to the top, turn the blinds up on one end and let the water drain off. Then, it's on to step two.

Step two is much quicker and easier than step one. I take the blinds out to the drive way, open them up all the way and leave them lying in the sun for a couple of hours. This not only dries them, but bleaches them out a bit (which would make this technique not-so-great for colored blinds, but pefect for white ones).

I was a little skeptical of how sun-bleached the mini-blinds actually got until the first time I did this. When I brought them back in, I could actually see the outline where the pull-cord had rested.

With red Kool-aid dust floating around and settling on everything in my kitchen, these mini-blind cleaning tips definitely work for me. Visit Kristin at We Are THAT Family for more Works for Me Wednesday tips.

photo by stovak