Archive for the 'Blind Maintenance' Category
DIY Repair For Your Wood Window Blinds
So it’s time to repair your wood blinds and you want to do-it-yourself. We’ll cover a few scenarios in this article depending on what your problem is.
Blinds Won’t Tilt
If the tilt rod gets disconnected from the tilt mechanism – you’ll have problems tilting your blinds. This is the most likely case as to why your wood blinds won’t tilt. This can also happen on shipment of your blinds, so out of the box you might have this problem. If this tilt mechanism has been broken from normal use, then you’ll have to remove your wood blinds from the window. Take a look at the headrail, which is the horizontal housing at the top of the blinds. In your headrail you will see a metal rod that runs inside it. You’ll also see the tilt mechanism – which holds the tilt rod. It’s most likely that the tilt rod has come loose, so push the tilt rod back into the tilt mechanism. Try to push it all the way through to get a secure positioning.
Tilt Mechanism
Blinds Won’t Lower
You’ve probably tried to lower them several times and in doing so, you’ve raised the blinds up to the top position – and now they’re stuck all the way at the top. Or if they’ve come from the manufacturer and won’t open, you’ll have to hang your wood blinds in the window to try this. Try to bring the lift cord parallel with the head rail and pull gently to release the cord lock. If that doesn’t work, remove the blinds and place them on the floor. Find the cord lock mechanism which is inside of the headrail – trace it by following the lift cord. Inside you will see a small pin. Take a Flathead screwdriver and push the pin gently to disengage the cords. The slats should now lower. Make sure the screwdriver is perpendicular to the pin – and watch for fraying or cutting the lift cords with the screwdriver.
Misaligned or Broken Tilter
So you’ve found out your tilter is broken perhaps after seeing that your blind slats won’t open. Bummer. Take the blinds down from the window. Remove the wand tilt, or cord tilt – depending on which you have. Remove the end caps of the headrails. Then slide out the tilt rod all the way out, and try putting it back in. You may have to get an entirely new tilt rod if it is broken. You can order a repair kit from any of the major manufacturers.
For more advanced repair for your wood blinds, you may have to hire a handyman to avoid destroying your blinds! Of course this site is about wooden blinds, but if you need information on cleaning vinyl blinds, outdoor roll up blinds, or skylight blinds just go to the search engines and you’ll find a wealth of information. But most likely one of the above methods will fix it – most repairs are minor and due to slight misalignment, assuming you are treating your wood blinds well.
How To Clean Your Wood Blinds
So you’ve had your wood blinds for a while now, and you’re enjoying them, but what’s the best way to clean them?
This is how we do it:
Dust is not our friend, ever, but especially when it comes to our precious wood blinds. We want our blinds to live as long as possible, so from the start you should get rid of that nasty dust. To clean the front side of the blinds, angle the slats completely downward – to clean the back side of the blinds angle the slats upward. For weekly, even monthly cleaning you can use a duster, so do this right from the start. Don’t use feather dusters as they just spread the dust around, use a wool or “magnetic” duster, which pulls the dust onto the duster and won’t scatter it. Using a vacuum is ok, as long as you use the brush extension and are gentle. We don’t ever want to our lovely wood blinds. No matter what your dusting or cleaning method of choice – go slat by slat at first, then give a good once over cleaning to make sure no spots were missed.
Wool Duster
But there are times when you might have not been so diligent in cleaning your blinds, and dust has built up. Or perhaps your wood blinds are in a room like the kitchen or bathroom where water, cooking residue or smoke has interacted with the blinds. In this case you will want to use a soft cloth and some kind of wood cleaning agent that is not wax-based. There are many different types of cleaners to choose from, so be careful. Any kind of wood furniture cleaner will do – but, please, please don’t use anything like Fantastic or anything meant for kitchens, bathrooms or floors. We want to maintain the life of our blinds, and these types heavy duty cleaners will do more damage in the long run.
Remember – regular cleaning will help maintain the life of your blinds, so dust them often.
If you still aren’t satisfied or have majorly slacked off in your cleaning, you may need to go the advanced route. That means dismounting the blinds completely. Find an old sheet, lay it down and place the blinds there. This way you have the ground as a supporting surface to put a little more pressure (but not too much) on the slats to scrub them clean with your soft cloth and a gentle wood cleaner. You can also use mitts or gloves made cotton to clean your blinds. Again don’t use wax-based wood cleaners, that will just seal in the dust. Never use water!
You can also use a soft-bristled paintbrush for really dirty blinds. Using a bit of fabric softner on the paintbrush will prevent the dirt from scattering – just make sure to wipe off the dust as you go, and then continue cleaning.
At some point your blinds may also get dried about, especially for those of you that live in desert climates. Oil soap is a great for both cleaning and bringing life back to your blinds if they are dry. Just remember to evenly wipe the oil into the blinds when done cleaning. Always be careful when cleaning your blinds, otherwise you might need to do a little DIY repair on them if you break something or knock it out of place.
So now you’re off to clean your wood blinds! Get to it!