Cellular Shades

Cleaning Services for Window Shades

According to a survey of 5,000 households last year, Americans rarely clean their shades more than twice a year. Many New Yorkers clean their shades only when their apartments are painted every three years or so.

Window shades are often cumbersome. “Shades can be very wide and very long,” said Gary Oddeman, owner of Active Window Shade Laundry in Queens. “Sometimes it is difficult to clean shades if they are big, because they are hard to handle.”

Light cleaning, such as removing dust, can be simply done with a damp rag or vacuum cleaner. Cleaning services recommend that wooden shades be cleaned in this manner because immersing them in water could damage the finish and would.

Recently, several new devices for cleaning shades have appeared on the market. One of these products, the Blind-Brite, is a hand-held gadget with seven fuzzy prongs that fit between six shade slats. According to the manufacturer, it is supposed to remove dust and light dirt.

To remove heavy dirt such as grease from window shades, you many want to soak them in a tubful of warm water with a mild soap for five minutes, then rinse and hang them upside-down to dry. (Because the gear mechanism inside the head-box at the top of the shade is heavier than the metal bar at the bottom, hanging upside-down will anchor it better). Make sure you don’t leave the shades in water overnight because the paint and finish might be damaged.

If you do not want to wash your shades at home, there are window shade “laundries” that will wash them either by machine or by hand. These companies will often pick up and rehang the shades at no charge.

They also provide a wide array of repair and reconditioning services and have ladder tapes (that hold the slats), cords, tilt rods (or wands), slats and other parts in stock

Charges for washing window shades are calculated per tape; for vertical shades, per louver or vane. Painting or refurbishing charges are calculated by the square foot. It’s almost always necessary to replace the tapes after washing two-inch-slat shades because the dirt discolors the fabric or plastic.