dusting blinds

How do you dust your blinds?  
What kinds of blinds do you have?  
What are the best and worst tricks you've tried for keeping them clean?

Do it before you vacuum or mop the floor. More often is better to slow the accumulation of the hardened layer.

Feather duster, shaken out frequently - like about every 24-36" down the blind.

Whole thing is a penance. <g>


Rufus

We have blinds, lovely 2nd hand, so cheap, wooden ones. I do not like them solely because of the difficulty cleaning them, (rather have curtains you can take down and wash).
(Though for privacy and appearance they are pretty neat).
So when the discussion started between my SO and I about what to use on windows in new home, it came down to - he wanted blinds, I did not, so I would agree to having them only if he would be responsible for cleaning them. After several discussions, neither of us budging on opinions, he agreed. (and we did find very cheap 2nd hand ones, did I mention that?!)
Now, being wet season in the wet tropics, some of the blinds have a light dusting of mould and they need to be cleaned. It won't be by me! When guests come he tells me to pull them up so nobody will see the mould, great "cleaning" tip  ;)

Wet wiping with a clove based spray, cleaning vinegar is good also, if the build up is thick enough a duster won't move it. Do 1 or half a blind a day if the slats are small to draw out the tedious task.

post note: we do have a big bottle of a local made natural mould cleaning now, so that can be sprayed on to our blinds once they are cleaned and should prevent fungal recolonisation for some time

As with everything: it depends...
As far as I know blinds can be made of different materials. They can be wood, plastic or (synthetic) textile. The way to clean them depends on the material.
And there are different types. I don't know if you consider wooden (or metal or plastic) shutters at the outside of the window 'blinds' too. Then there are the horizontal ones (going up or down) and the vertical ones. The last type often can be removed from the rail and then is easy to clean (the easiest if they're made of plastic).
For horizontal blinds there are special 'dusters', but still they are difficult. Cleaning them often is the best ... (I'm glad I don't have them).

For cleaning metal and plastic horizontal blinds - I usually vacuum with a brush attachment (this is the easiest way to keep them dusted). Sometimes the humidity causes the dust to actually stick to the blinds, and that’s when I dust with a wet towel, or take them down and given them a gentle wash in the bathtub.

Cleaning blinds is about as fun as flossing teeth.

1)  I use a dishwasher if they fit.

2)  If they don't fit I use a pressure washer outside.

This is not helpful, but reading this makes me soooo.... glad I sew my own washable drapes, either pleated or Roman Shades. I've admired the nice wooden blinds I've seen at times, but this thread has convinced me *not* to go there, particularly in our humid climate! I will buy sheets or blankets on sale to make a drape that is affordable.

We haven't had blinds for years but I found the easiest thing for me to do sometimes back then was to just put them in the bathtub and shower them off.  I did want to point out that older vinyl blinds (from the 90's and older) were found to be a dangerous lead risk, especially for children.  The lead in them broke down and became part of the dust and then became airborne.  Here are a couple of articles about the risks with more information.

Information  adapted from “Questions & Answers About Lead in Vinyl Mini Blinds”, California Department of Health Services, ChildhoodLead Poisoning Prevention Branch, July, 1996.
https://cchealth.org/lead-poison/pdf/miniblinds.pdf

And from Reader's Digest:

I am concerned that my venetian blinds may contain lead. How can I be sure that the blinds do not contain lead?

The blinds that you are referring to are cheaply made plastic blinds that contain lead as a stabilizing agent. After the blinds have been in the sun for a long time, the lead in the blinds breaks down and turns into dust. If the dust is touched, it can make its way into the body. Children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable. Lead can cause brain damage and other serious problems, so it is very important to make sure that you do not own blinds that contain lead. There are government publications that provide informative instruction on what types of blinds (and other household items) are dangerous. If you are worried that your blinds contain lead, you can buy a product called a lead tester. It is a 7.5 cm (3 in.) tube with a short, bristled end. Squeeze the tube, which secretes a yellow liquid, onto the surface of the blind. After mixing it over the surface with the bristled end, watch to see if the color of the surface turns red. If it does, then the blind contains lead. If it does not turn red, then the blind is lead-free. The gadget is easy to use and not very expensive.

We have 2" wide wooden blinds in most windows of the old family house. Some are going on 60 years old with no discernible problems (aside from the need to dust them regularly or wash them occasionally. There is definitely some maintenance involved but as things go, it's not bad for something the pretty much "just works". I remember years ago I checked what it takes to clean them and found many references to the bath tub and shower. However, the problem at that time was smoke from the fire that consumed a couple bedrooms and _that_ stuff is evil incarnate to get off anything - so we just got new blinds. I remember way back that sometimes on blinds that we used a lot, especially we children (6-12 years old) the cords frayed and were replaced (with grumbling) by my father.

The mini blinds sold by the box stores seem to be an entirely different animal. Because they're dirt cheap we have used them in rental units and they seem to last about 1-2 years max. The tenants break the slats fairly quickly but we leave that on them; the main problem is that the cords break and the works are small, plastic and not worth messing with. The ease w/which the slats break is germane here because it make them somewhat problematic to clean regularly. You're almost sure going to break one and that really looks bad, at least to me.


Rufus