Don’t Be in the Dark When it Comes to Caring for Your Window Shades and Blinds

Roman shades, vertical blinds, and wooden shutters are just a few of the many types of window coverings people have in their homes. They are extremely popular, but how many people know the proper way to care for them?

For advice, we turned to the Arceri brothers — Joseph and John — who own The Blind Spot, which designs, makes, and installs custom window treatments in both Babylon Village and Wantagh.

“One common mistake people make is failing to operate their blinds or shades,” Joseph Arceri said. “They need to be operated at least every week or two weeks; otherwise, the cords that raise, lower, and open the shades can become brittle and break. They want to be used!” he said. “The same is true for motorized shades, which have become increasingly popular. They account for about a third of The Blind Spot’s sales.”

People like the convenience of not having to get up from the couch to raise or lower the shades. Some motorized shades also come with an app that allows owners to set a timer so the shades automatically raise and lower at the same time each day. Arceri has the shades in his bedroom set to rise at 6:45 a.m.

“I haven’t set an alarm in years,” he said.

“Motorized shades are battery-operated, so make sure the batteries are charged.

As for keeping your blinds and shades spotless, cleaning them at the start of each season — winter, spring, summer, fall — should do the trick,” Arceri explained. “You don’t need any specialized equipment. A damp, soft cloth with a non-ammonia-based cleaner, such as multi-surface Windex, works well for harder surfaces like wood blinds and shutters. For fabric shades, a hair dryer set on cold to blow off the dust works.”

He further advised that the best way to reduce the amount of dust your shades attract is raise them to the same height whenever a window is open, preventing dust from outside from settling onto the back of the shade. As for shade colors, off-white and beige tend to be the most popular because they are less likely to show dust than bright white or grey.

Arceri states that properly caring for your window treatments can help them last up to 10 or 15 years, if not longer. He noted that his business is often called to repair shades installed over 30 years ago.

“Protect your investment!” Arceri emphasized.

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