Cleaning Mini-Blinds in the Bathtub

After picture (I was too embarrassed to take a "before" picture)

It is worth mentioning that I am a mediocre housekeeper, and I'm okay with that. I try to keep my house reasonably presentable but let's be honest, it's not always possible. I also HATE to clean bathrooms. So they may go longer than they should between cleanings. There, I said it, now the world knows.

So, being the excellent neglectful housekeeper that I am, I have not cleaned our blinds once since we moved here 2 1/2 years ago. And I'm not going to lie, there were three sets in particular that were pretty horrendously dirty when we first moved in, and have only gotten worse since then. Luckily most of the other blinds in the house were brand new when we moved in.

So cleaning the blinds has been on my list of things to do for...2 1/2 years. Yesterday I finally did it. I started with some Windex and paper towels. That lasted about 3 minutes. Waste of time, it would have taken me all day. I had heard of cleaning blinds in the bathtub before and I was a little skeptical, but I figured it couldn't possibly make them worse than they already were so I gave it a go. It worked, and with minimal effort! Hallelujah! After scouring the internet here is how I did it:


Cleaning Mini Blinds in the Bathtub

Start with a dirty tub, you will have to clean it again afterwards otherwise. Fill bathtub with hot water. While it's filling add lots of squirts of dish soap until it's bubbly, and then pour in some vinegar, about 2 cups I would say.

Take your blinds down (or have your husband do it like I did). Make sure they are fully extended and the slats are in the "open" position. Carefully lower them into the bathtub. I did three sets all at once, right on top of each other. Swish them around a bit and then leave them for at least an hour.

Put on rubber gloves (I didn't do this and have three cuts on my hands to prove it. Trust me, those suckers are sharper than they appear). Swish your blinds around again and grab the top of the blinds and slowly pull them out looking for any majorly gross parts. Just rub the dirty spots off as you go. This probably isn't necessary if you don't have years of grime on your blinds like I did.

Turn the shower on and rinse the blinds until you can tell all of the soap has come off. Turn the shower off and give the blinds a good shake. You don't have to be overly gentle. Rehang your blinds and separate any slats that are sticking together. Then take a paper towel and wipe any dirty spot you see. They will come off quickly and easily.

Repeat all steps with each set of blinds. Leave your blinds extended until dry, mine took 2-3 hours. Enjoy your sparkling clean blinds (and kick yourself for not doing it sooner)!

With Love,

Lindsey