Cleaning Windows (Indoors)

Every six months I go through and give our windows and all that goes with them a good cleaning.  I do not attempt to do them all at once...this is a good and fast way to burn out quickly!  I take a section of them a week at a time.  I break my home down into sections...doable so that I can stop and start back up without having a huge cluttering mess in my home. Little by little!  This week I did our sitting area located just at the top of our stairs.  We use this area to read, play checkers and put together puzzles.  It is a nice spot to get away if you need to. 

Let's get started...

I start taking down the valances.  If your drapes require dry cleaning may I recommend that you take them down in an orderly fashion and keep the pieces that go together in a separate bag so that they will be cleaned together and you can easily put everything back the way they were without having to guess what went where and with which one.  I do the same with the valances and drapes here and wash them with the parts that go with them.  This makes putting everything back together so much easier and by the time I'm ready to put my window treatments back up...I ready to be done with the whole windows cleaning thing for the week!   

I have 2 window areas here.  Two windows to the front and one window on the side.  Again, I try to keep the front window parts together and not mix them up with the side window's parts.

As you are taking the pieces apart...be sure to group the smaller bits and pieces together... 

If you have small little ones running about...you may want to put the pieces somewhere safe.  The only little ones I had to worry about was a certain black little puppy who thought that the drapes were for her to lay down on!  She is such a little princess!

After taking the curtains down I begin the washing/drying process.  As they are going through their washing cycles and drying I start on the mini-blinds.  When we moved into this house back in November, I began washing the windows just after we moved in.  The people who owned our house before smoke in the house and the odor was in just about everything especially the curtains.  The blinds I don't think have ever been cleaned and had quite a bit of build up on them.  In one room...the blinds had to be soaked and scrubbed several times before even cutting the grime.  One set of blinds had to have bleach taken to them.  Now we could have saved us the trouble and bought all new blinds but with all the windows we have in this home...I was not ready to take on that kind of expense. The great thing about having them clean is that I don't have to take them down and do this again because during my weekly visits to each area...I swipe down the blinds during my detailing. 

Knowing the effort this would take in getting them to the point that I could just swipe them down was not something I looked forward to but once you see how dirty they were...you will see it was much needed!  I do have to find motivation in this task...sometimes it is just as simple as saying..."Just Do It!"

Okay...let's start with those blinds!  Down them come...

(Tip:  Draw up the blinds about half way for easier carrying.) 

To remove your mini blinds...

On each end of the holder that simply slide out the small plates towards the middle.  Remove both plates/slides and set to the side so that you don't lose them.  The plates are what holds your blinds in place and keeps them from falling down.

And into the tub they go!

I fill the tub with hot water and use ammonia.  Please be careful when using this or any other strong type of chemical.  Be sure to ventilate the area well before filling the tub.  The fumes can be harmful! 

Make sure you release the blinds all the way so that the water can get in between each of the slats...

Make sure that you cover the blinds completely with hot water.  At this point I allow them to sit and soak.  The window I pulled the blind from is the window I work on...

First I clean the woodwork.  When using the polish...the oils from that tend to make their way onto the window/glass and so I will clean that last.  I then clean the window frame itself.  I follow up with my favorite window/glass cleaner and the windows are sparkly and clean once again!  Once I have finished with that I check on my blinds and see how they are doing...

Bleck!!!

They look better but need a good scrubbing. 

Because it was late in the day...I finished up with this set of blinds and window and will finish my project area the next day.  These required another soaking and scrubbing.  I drained the tub and allowed these blinds to drain as well.  We will address them again later on.  This is where taking the areas and breaking them down and also breaking those areas down even smaller into doable tasks.  I was able to stop what I was doing with minor cleanup in order to pick it back up the next day without a huge mess for my family to have to navigate around. 

Next day...after completing my To Do List (Tuesday's Detailing), I get started back into my little project.  More blinds come down and get a nice hot bath!    The blinds I worked on the day before had to be redone due to the greasy residue on them.

Once the blinds are clean I drain them off and place them back up and start on the next set of windows.  Now with all the drapes are nice and clean...I go about placing the drapery pins back in...

...Oh so fun!

I think this took longer than washing the blinds!  Maintenance on these will be vacuuming with the brush attachment to keep the dust from building up.  The dust holds on to odors, grease/grime and invites mites.  When I Detail this area next week, I will lightly brush them up with the vacuum.  When I go to do my Fall Cleaning I will be so very glad I kept this detailing up!  Now with everything back up...

I can make a nice glass of iced tea and sit back and enjoy this area even more!  Next week I will work on the next area...oh but I can't tell you that!  We are working on one area at a time and we won't even think about that until we have finished the area we are working on!    Right Ladies?!

Have a Blessed Wednesday Evening! 

Catherine