Fighting Dust in Your Home and Window Treatments
With today’s increased focus on allergies, dust mite allergies are front and center in the war on dust. With one in five people suffering from household allergies, it’s vital that you keep your home’s dust content under control. But what’s the best way to go about it? Dusting and vacuuming a couple times a week will take care of part of the problem, but there’s also issues in your home’s nooks and crannies and in fabric decor like your mattress, wall hangings and window treatments.
Dust in your home comes from fibers, dust mites, dander from household pets, bacteria, and pollen and mold spores. Dust mite fecal matter and animal dander are the two biggest allergens in your household dust, while mold spores and pollen can also keep you sneezing and miserable with itchy eyes – not a pretty picture. Considering dust mites actually reproduce so much that they add weight in your mattress and pillow, you may want to keep them under control.
Keeping Dust in Check in Your Window Treatments
1. Drapes:
Drapes can collect dust in its folds, so the best way to clean it is by using a brush attachment on your vacuum filter with a HEPA filter in place. The vacuum will suck the dust, dander and dust mites out.
2. Window Blinds:
One problem with blinds Thousand Oaks residents and business owners regularly run into is how they collect dust, especially mini blinds with long horizontal surfaced dust collects on that is harder to clean. If there’s dust building up on your window blinds, rotate the blind slats until they’re completely blocking the light, spray them with window cleaner, then wipe them clean with a microfiber cloth. Then reverse the direction to clean the back side. Why a microfiber cloth? Microfiber attracts dust, keeping it out of the air.
3. Honeycomb Shades:
You can vacuum and dust honeycomb shades, but for deep cleaning, you may want to investigate ultrasonic cleaning. This process helps protect your shades while cleaning them more thoroughly than you can manage with common household tools.
4. Roller Shades:
Roller shades are one of the easier shades to clean, as they don’t have the nooks and cracks of other shade types. Open your shade fully, then wipe the front and back down with a damp cloth.
5. Woven Shades:
Woven shades tend to have small crevices that can collect dust, so you’ll need to use a combination of vacuuming with a brush to get into those areas while taking care of flat areas with a damp cloth.
If you still have questions about keeping dust out of your window treatments, please feel free to contact us! We’re always ready to help with issues from drapes Thousand Oaks homeowners need solved to finding the perfect window treatments for your situation.