OMG...I Can't Believe How Dirty They Are...

That's not from cigarette smoke.... maybe if you dusted a little more often...:)

Ugh is it that time to clean again!? lol Well its offically been one year here and Im afraid to take my blinds down and clean them. I clean them in the tub as well, and I have seen water that dirty from my blinds! lol

Funny Twoey, we have exactly 5 windows in our apt as well! Just like you described! The only window without a blind is the office, I have curtains up. I actually have a blind to fit the window, but I havent put it up!

I try and use my Swifter duster to go over the blinds from time to time, it helps, but like your hubby we smoke too and Im sure the Swifter isnt getting all the nicotine off the blinds. Its still hot where we live, so I have planned to clean windows and blinds when it starts to cool off some more. Seems its nicer to do it when its cooler in late fall or early spring. Those are the only times a year I clean windows outside and blinds. hehe

Bay xx

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I no longer have mini blinds which I am thankful for. I'm old fashioned and I love my simple curtains that don't require hooks or anything and they are georgous yet simple to clean. I put them in the washing machine on gentle. The thing that gets me is the living room carpet. It always looks clean but I have a steam cleaner and when I clean carpet I can not believe my eyes the water is black every time. Carpet has to be the filthies thing going in my opinion. Take care my friend.

You are correct in thinking that the ones in the 'smoking room' will be worse, they'll be stickier. But even without the presence of cigarette smoke, blinds seem to get a sticky residue on them.

I was going to say, if my mother were here, lol, she'd tell you to wipe the blades with a bounce sheet ( dryer sheet) when you rehang them, it'll help keep the dust from resettling.

She has a 'multifingered' duster, the fingers slide in between the blinds when they are open and you can dust 5 slats in a quick stroke..makes for really easy maintenence.

I did do some fall cleaning, although I want to go through the place and throw things out because our once spacious place is getting crowded with crap, lol.

Started my fall cleaning back at the beginning of September and still doing it. It's been slow going since we are also making repairs to the house as we go along as well. I'm hoping to have it all done by at least the end of this month, but well we'll see where that leads to..lol!

Good luck with your cleaning.

Are you having fun yet? You are so brave to show us your dirt, hehe. I just got done steam cleaning my carpet the other day, the water was black, yuck. Its amazing how dirty stuff gets. I also think its amazing how some peoples houses never seem to get dirty or disorganized. I don't know how they do it. To top it all off, I have my own business cleaning houses, its easy to do when you get paid for it. I tell my customers, if they could see my house, I would be fired. They all thing I am joking, but its the truth. Most of the time we are a mess. We are not too bad right now, we have been cleaning, we had a baby shower here yesturday. Take care and have fun.LOL

I'm glad you found a workable solution for your problem, twoey. Now I can go ahead and have mine taken down to clean. I will be starting on my fall cleaning tomorrow morning. Thank goodness my youngest daughter is coming over to give me a hand. I don't think I could do it all by myself.

I am a spring cleaner and yep, unendingly shocked at how dirty stuff is lol. But now that your blinds are going up all nice and clean, here is a little hint. When you dust them while hung, use a fabric softener sheet. Fabric softeners help cut down static which makes your clothes cling to you. Wiping blinds with them will help the dust not to stick so badly. use ones that have been used once in the dryer or cheap new ones that have been lightly rinsed with water and dried. Good for tv screens too.
Perhaps the most icky are my furniture cushions. When I wash those in the spring I try to do it outside, I am shocked at how dirty our bottoms must be lol. It almost looks like we sit on them without our clothes on. The covers are bad enough, but the cushions!! I rinse them with a garden hose two or three times and the water is almost black the first time or two. But it is worth the trouble, after they are cleaned and dried in the sun, the couch and chair sit almost like when new and smell so nice. My tv screens also seem to get so dirty, not just dusty. I wash them monthly and when they are dry and I cut them back on any missed spots show right up. I sometimes wonder how we see the picture through all that ick.

Ok, twoey, it's all your fault.. I'm holding you responsible.. Now I am looking around at how much my own house needs cleaning. So I guess I aam going to dod some extra lol. Went to the fridge to get cream for my coffee and yep, the darned thing needs clearing out and a real cleaning, not just the wipe and go type. All your fault. I might have ignored it for a while longer.
See, I learned long ago to try not to be the house for the holidays, that way I could hold off the Big Clean until spring when I prefer to do it. I like to do mine in the spring because I do it the old way, everything dragged out into the yard to air and everything that can be washed washed and dried in the lovely spring air. by the time spring comes I am eager to be outside and I can motivate myself to get the stuff out for some sun and fresh air. my family laughs at me cause it'll look like the spring cleaning episode of The Beverly Hillbillys for the first few nice 'weekends' (my weekend is midweek, not saturday and sunday) as one room after another endures my kamikaze cleaning binge. When I lived in town I laughed cause folks were stopping by thinking I was having a moving sale lol.

I clean mine about once a month, I have 8 of them in my trailer. I also have started fall cleaning and that is the time of the year to start throwing things away for us.