With Christmas just around the corner this is the time to finish off that spring cleaning you started recently. We all like to put our best foot forward at this time of the year so many of us are polishing floors and windows. Cleaning your blinds is also a must and so easy when you know how.

There is no doubt that blinds add a completely different effect to any room. With the twitch of a chord they can offer complete privacy or direct cooling breezes, unlike curtains, which are more likely to block a breeze when closed.

Blinds are completely unobtrusive, offering protection from sunlight, street lights, and prying eyes without overpowering a room. They disappear into the background leaving your furniture, artwork, and decorative pieces to shine. Especially that tinsel laden Christmas tree and all those presents.

When looked after, your blinds will last a lifetime. The key to this is to ensure they are treated with the respect they deserve. Keeping them clean and dust free is so easily done.

Regular Dusting a Must

Regular dusting, wiping or vacuuming your blinds to control build-up of unhealthy germ carrying airborne bacteria and particulate is essential. Incorporating this task into your weekly dusting and vacuum routine will take just minutes and will avoid any heavy build up that may occur.

If, however, your blinds are situated in an area where they are likely to have vaporised cooking oil settle on them or where they may be exposed to nicotine, moisture such as humidity or even exposure to vast temperature differences from hot to cold, you may find that simple dusting is not enough to keep them looking at their best.

In this situation it is a good idea to organise for them to be professionally washed by way of Ultra Sonic cleaning.

Fresher, Brighter and Infinitely Healthy

When you ask Blind Concepts to clean you blinds you can relax and get on with cooking that Christmas pudding and leave the rest to us.

We collect your blinds, take them back to our purpose built workshop (not Santa’s!), put your blinds through our Ultra Sonic cleaning process, return them to you and have them hung and ready for your Yuletide Celebrations in jiffy.

In as little as 24 hours we can have your blinds shining clean and free of dirt, grime, grease, and bacteria.

Obviously, we at Blind Concepts are all about how to make your windows look good, so this is our Number 1 Tip to upscale your home.

We offer a range of ready and custom-made vertical blinds, roman blinds, oriental, plain or exposed batten and Holland blinds. Our services also cover Venetian blinds that include Aluminium blinds, wood composite blinds, 50mm poly-resin blinds with a timber look finish, and lacquered or oiled cedar blinds.

We can clean, repair, replace or upgrade every blind in your home.

Tip 2

Sometimes your home may just need a colour upgrade. Some colours can be a bit faddish. If you are over the bright yellow of the 70s and mission brown of the 80s why not upgrade to a different shade?

Tip 3

Spruce up your front door. You can do this by changing its colour, updating, or upgrading your door mat, adding a plant on either side, or even tiling, paving or adding faux timber slats.

Tip 4

Add some life to your home’s rooms or outdoor areas by adding some hanging potted plants. They can be pretty flowery offerings or even practical plantings such as herbs you use in the kitchen.

Plants help you clear the air and static energy and even help reduce EMFs from electrical sockets.

Tip 5

Decluttering will give your soul a chance to relax. It has been proven that clutter can cause stress so start to actually let go of some of your stuff. Even letting go of something sentimental but still put away in the cupboard, can open up the flood gates to receiving more than you ever dreamed.

Tip 6

Mow, weed, and clip. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on fancy plantings to have a nice looking yard. You will be surprised how just taking a little time to actually pull those weeds, mow your lawn and clip any low hanging or straggly branches can improve the look and feel of your home.

Tip 7

Rearrange. You know what they say – a change is as good as a holiday. Why not have a go at rearranging the furniture and décor of your home. They say that good Feng Shui in your home starts with the correct placement of these items.

Give it a go and see how you feel. If you don’t like it, change it.

Tip 8

Clean it. If it looks dirty give it a clean. For outside you would be surprised how a high pressure cleaner will bring up your pavers, paths, and driveways.

Tip 9

If it’s broken fix it. Replace torn fly screens, patch holes, and repair fence palings. Give your home some love today!

If you have wooden venetian blinds in your home, you will no doubt want to take good care of them. These kinds of blinds are built to last and if looked after well they will add their special sense of warmth to your home for many years to come.

The key factor here is looking after your blinds. We at Blind Concepts can’t stress enough the importance and benefits of looking after your blinds. We highly recommend that you organise a professional clean through us on a periodical basis but, in the meantime, you also need to care for them yourself.

If you have left them uncleaned for some time do not worry, our ultrasonic blind cleaning process is so efficient that it will bring tired, neglected blinds back to life and looking new again. In between cleans by our team here is what we suggest for your wooden venetians.

Do not immerse

For a start, it’s important you understand that you can’t immerse your blinds in water. As the wood will absorb the water it can end up causing damage to the slats. Excess moisture can cause discolouration or warp the slats.

Be mindful of cleaning products

It is not recommended that you use any old detergent on your blinds. Some chemicals can damage the wood slats and this will be irreversible. If you wish to use a cleaning product, purchase a wood cleaner that is safe and approved for blinds.

Safe stain removal

When it is time to clean your blinds start by looking for any stains or spots of food, for example. If you have little people in the home it is likely that sticky hands make their way to the blinds. This is often because children want to look out the window, so always check.

If there are stains or marks remove these by use of a paper towel or cloth. Hard to remove stains can be eliminated with a safe wood cleaner. Again, please remember to use only approved cleaners and don’t soak with too much water.

Removing dust

Dust is everyone’s problem and your blinds will collect as much as the next household. To remove dust you can do a number of things. If your vacuum comes with an attachment then a gentle vacuum is quick and ideal.

You can also use a dust brush to remove dust, there are even special dusters for blinds designed to collect dust between the slats. Once you have performed either of these methods you can take a damp, not wet, cloth and wipe the slats individually.

Along with your gentle care of your blinds give us a call at Blind Concepts to organise a professional clean to make your blinds last for years.

In temperate South East Queensland we are currently in the middle of winter, which means spring is just around the corner.

For the Blind Concepts staff a spring clean is a tradition. After being cooped up without the windows open for a few months our homes are ready and waiting for a good airing, as well as a good clean. The weather during spring is a lovely time to be doing some hard work; that is for sure.

The flowers are coming out, your bulbs are blooming and it is warm without being hot. This is ideal cleaning weather for our sunny part of the world. If we wait any longer to clean we will be doing it in sweltering summer heat.

Don’t Forget Your Window Dressings

It is amazing how much dust can settle onto your window dressings. Especially if you have a fire going over winter. The dust and particulate seems to increase during this time even with the windows closed.

One of the very best things you can do for ANY blind is to give it a once over with the vacuum cleaner every now and then. You will be amazed at how good they look just from doing this and if you do it regularly you can push out the need for a deeper clean.

To vacuum horizontal blinds simply close them and hold them at the bottom. Vacuum the side facing you with a simple left to right motion starting at the top. Close them facing the other way and repeat.

For vertical blinds, again close them but work from top to bottom. If you have long blinds you may need to ask someone to hold the bottom firm for you. Repeat on the other side.

Deeper Cleaning Tipsdeeper clean

The world became a better place the day microfibre cleaning was discovered! This amazing cloth can clean ANYTHING and usually without any cleaning solution assistance.

If you find you do need a little extra assistance when using it, a few drops of detergent in a bucket of water or a fifty-fifty mix of vinegar and warm water is more than sufficient for cutting through grime and cooking grease.

You can buy mitts made with microfibre that allow you to easily slip your hand between the slats of timber, vinyl or metal blinds with ease. Even wrapping a couple of them around your tongs works well.

It is important not to saturate your blinds when cleaning. Quality microfibre cloths are able to be rung out very well and they leave little water behind.

We also highly recommend that you should have blinds professionally cleaned ultrasonically every couple of years. This helps to loosen and clean any dirt and grime that may be trapped within the fibres where a cloth cannot reach.

If your blinds are in need of a good thorough cleaning you need to contact our team at Blind Concepts. You can keep blinds clean yourself by following some simple maintenance steps and tips but over time they will need a professional clean.

This is because grime and dust builds up in all the hard to reach places that cleaning by you won’t get to. At Blind Concepts we highly recommend you get a professional clean carried out by us at regular intervals to ensure optimum hygiene longevity of your blinds.

Why is ultrasonic cleaning best?

Along with getting into all the tight and small spots where you can’t, there are other benefits to ultrasonic blind cleaning. When you choose to get blinds cleaned in this manner you are increasing their lifespan, which will result in not having to replace or repair blinds sooner than necessary.

Ultrasonic blind cleaning is also the best option for the environment using less water and biodegradable detergent that is environmentally safe. So what is the process?

What happens during the cleaning process?

We will collect your blinds from your home. This will ensure they are removed and transported without damage due to an inexperienced person removing them.

Once in our workshop a small amount of our environmentally friendly water based cleaning solution is added to the water in the machine. Your blinds will be carefully placed in the machine and high frequency pressure sound waves are used to agitate the liquid and create cavitation bubbles.

More intricate cleaning is carried out by using a higher frequency. The process will then remove all dirt, grime and contaminants from the blinds and penetrate all areas including the small moving parts you are unable to access yourself.

We understand your privacy and that the protection of valuables is important. This is why we work efficiently to get your blinds cleaned and back to your home for reinstallation within 24 hours.

The last part of our ultrasonic blinds cleaning process is for you to enjoy the breath of fresh air your blinds breathe into the room. Now hygienically clean so they are safer for your family to be around and looking sparkling and new again.

Ultrasonic blind cleaning is a far simpler and cheaper process than buying new blinds. Don’t think that tired, old and dirty blinds need to be thrown away. Save yourself time and money by contacting our team today to organise your ultrasonic clean today.

We all know too well the constraints of a budget. It is what keeps us from overspending on either things we want or things we need and often it keeps us from fixing things up around the home and putting them on the ‘to do’ list.

However, there is proof that living in a well kept home that is not cluttered is better for our mental state so it is important to try and keep on top of maintenance. Living in conditions that we are not happy with will have a negative impact on our well being whereas getting things sorted, cleaned and repaired when they are needed gives us a positive lift.

It’s time to start getting those little things fixed to de-clutter your life.

Start with your blinds

If you have had blinds in your home for some time you will notice that the chords may be worn, one or more of the slats may be damaged or there is possibly a build up of grime in some of the parts. With so much use, blinds do get damaged over time and once they begin to wear out they tend to get worse quickly.

This is because even once the blinds are worn, you still have to use them, opening them, closing them, lifting them and lowering them. You need to let the air and light in through the window and using them is unavoidable.

The worst case scenario is that they get in such a bad condition that you can no longer lower or raise them. Your home soon becomes stuffy while they are left closed or you lose your privacy if they are left open.

Before it’s too late

You have probably been putting off getting your blinds sorted because you think it will be too costly. Buying all new blinds is likely to be one of those items that are outside the range of your budget and so you leave them. Well the good news is thanks to our team at Blind Concepts, you don’t have to.

Rather than getting your blinds completely replaced you can contact us and we will do a blinds replacement. We simply replaced the damaged parts and your old blinds will look as good as new again. Our replacement service covers just about every kind of blind and we can give you a free quote.

Contact us at Blind Concepts today to find out if you have to salvage your existing blinds with a blind replacement and save those hard earned dollars.

When you pay to have blinds installed in your home it’s nice for them to always look good and last as long as possible. When you take care of them and keep them clean it means you won’t have to spend the money to replace or repair them as soon as if you had not taken care of them.

Keeping your blinds clean has some other benefits, too. Blinds are the perfect spot for allergens, dirt and other pollutants to hang around on in your home. This means anyone who suffers allergies or has respiratory issues will soon feel the effects of blinds that are not kept clean.

If blinds are really left to get filthy though, they can even pose an issue for people who don’t have any pre-existing health issues such as allergies. In a nutshell, blinds that are left dirty are just as bad as carpets that are not cleaned regularly.

Of course, just as you can vacuum carpets and mop floors you can clean blinds yourself with dust brushes, vacuums and damp sponges. And just like carpet, a professional clean from Blind Concepts is really the only kind of cleaning that can get rid of every trace of dirt, dust and other nasties hanging about on blinds.

DIY doesn’t get everywhere

While you can clean slats by vacuuming and dusting, it pays to remember that there are moving parts, chords and other bits in blinds that they are unable to reach or don’t even consider. As a result, blinds are never really cleaned properly and the build up on them becomes worse, creating a bigger possible health issue in the home.

Mildew, pet dander, mould and other irritating particles settling in the crevices of your blinds you can’t reach, will only make you suffer.

Professional cleaning the only way

The only real sure way to have your blinds thoroughly cleaned is professionally through ultrasonic cleaning. All the grime, grease, pollutants and more are effectively removed from the entire blind set up leaving them looking brand new again, and much safer from a health perspective to have in your home.

Basically, there is no point in keeping on top of dusting, vacuuming and mopping the rest of your home if you allow your blinds to remain unclean and dusty. If you have been putting off cleaning your blinds then contact the team at Blind Concepts today to find out more about their highly efficient and professional blind cleaning service.

Your blinds or other window furnishings are like any other investment you make in your home. They are there to enrich a room, add value to the property, and most certainly perform a service.

Just like any other investment, To maintain its value and condition you will want to keep your blinds in a good state of repair and working order.

To this end, professional blinds installation specialists at Blind Concepts have put together a few tips to help you achieve this goal.

Dust, Wipe, and Wash – Which Method for Which Blind

• If you have timber blinds it is more than acceptable to dust them with a lamb’s wool or microfibre duster, or even use the vacuum on them, but never, never use soap and water on a timber blind.

The same applies to natural timber shutters but if either of these items is painted you can feel free to apply water and soap to them either in situ over a drop cloth or plastic, in the bathtub or gently hanging over the clothesline on a warm breezy day.

• If you have metal or vinyl blinds you can clean them with a solution of one tablespoon of ammonia to one litre of water. Then put on a pair of rubber gloves with some cotton gloves over the top, and use your own fingers and thumb to run above and below the slat, cleaning it as you move along.

This definitely helps you get into all the nooks and crannies without damaging the blinds as you can smoothly feel your way around.

• If you have bamboo blinds you can use this same method but use as little water as possible. Let dry completely in a shaded breezy area.
• If you have vinyl or coated blinds remove them from the window and lay them on a flat clean surface. Anchor each corner and clean the topside with a mild soap solution and a sponge. Rinse and dry, turn over, and repeat.

Ultrasonic Cleaning – Easy, Carefree, Affordable

As you can imagine, cleaning any blind can be a lengthy job, taking up much time and effort, and don’t forget the cleanup after you have finished.

If you are a busy person who would prefer to spend your spare time with family and friends why not take advantage of Blind Concepts’ http://www.blindconcepts.net.au amazing Ultrasonic Cleaning Service.

It will effectively sanitize, deodorize and lubricate your blinds PLUS it is environmentally friendly!

We have all heard the catchcry Reduce, Reuse, Recycle from that famous children’s character we all know and love.

Blind Concepts believe there should be another “re” added to that list and that word is Rejuvenate. Rejuvenating represents a cost saving not only to the homeowner but to Mother Earth herself as it also incorporates the reduction of waste.

You may have your home décor just the way you like it and you are very happy with it but there is just that little problem of the cooking grease that settles onto your blinds. It mixes so nicely with the airborne matter that flows through your windows and circulates through the rooms of your home.

The combination is making your blinds look quite tired and old.

Before you consider replacing those weary blinds with something new why not get them cleaned with the efficient blinds cleaning service that Blind Concepts has to offer, called Ultrasonic Cleaning? You Will Not Believe the Astounding Results.

The Modern Cleaning Method

Many people are waking up to the amazing new technology cleaning service called ultrasonic cleaning.

Yes, you read correctly. Ultrasonic cleaning uses high-frequency sound waves to produce many millions of tiny microscopic bubbles of detergent. The detergent used is biodegradable and the amount used is so small it would put any at-home efforts to shame in the use of it.

The added bonus is you do not need to scrub with this technology so the blinds come out of their treatment glowing and looking brand new with none of the usual marks or scratches caused by abrasive cleaners.

This product will in no way damage slats or soft furnishings of any blind, such as rope pulls and fabric blinds.

Collection and Delivery Service

The aim is to keep the amount of time your windows are without their “clothing” to the absolute minimum. Thus offering the least possible disruption.

This is why your blinds are collected on a nominated day and returned to you within 24 hours so that they can be rehung immediately.

Blind Concepts also offer a repair service for damaged blinds of all kinds such as slats, vertical blinds, roman blinds, Holland blinds, including chord pulls, chains, and wands.

To see some incredible before and after shots and get more information regarding the wonders of ultrasonic cleaning why not visit http://www.blindconcepts.net.au and see for yourself.

Whether you are maintaining your own home, office, or perhaps that of an investment property it is usually in your best interests to ensure it is done often and correctly.

Proper care and maintenance of any property will return to you tenfold in the value the property holds. In other words, if you take proper care of your home, office, or investment and make appropriate repairs when necessary, your property will not only hold its value and good looks but continue to grow in worth.

Some maintenance and repairs can be quite large jobs and be very costly.

What can often happen is a simple, inexpensive thing like a busted blind, clip, or slat may be overlooked as it is too fiddly. Some people are even unaware that a blind can be inexpensively repaired. If this is the case it may get left broken as they do not wish to invest in a new window covering.

Fast and Simple Blind Care and Repair

You may not realize that blinds, all types of blinds, in fact, can be repaired at a fraction of the cost of a total replacement. Affordable Brisbane blinds installation and repair can be achieved quickly, inexpensively, and with a minimum of disruption with Blind Concepts.

Broken slats, cords, chains, valance clips and corners, tilt mechanisms, brackets, wands, tassels, and condensers can all be replaced instead of buying a whole new blind.

The range of blinds Blind Concepts is able to repair

• Vertical blinds

• Holland blinds

• Roman blinds

• Timber blinds

• Woodweave blinds

• Oriental, plain, or exposed batten

• Venetian Aluminium blinds

• Venetian Wood composite

• Venetian 50mm poly-resin (timber look finish)

• Venetian Cedar (lacquered or oiled)

Value for Money and the Environment

Maintenance of your property does not have to take a long time or cost an arm and a leg. In this day and age, we all understand the real value of money and wasting it.

This is why it can be an exercise in savings to have a broken clip, slat, or cord repaired or replaced rather than invest in a whole new blind.

The other great contribution you make when you choose to have a blind repaired is that you are reducing the amount of landfill waste, thus reducing your carbon footprint.

Visit us at http://blindconcepts.net.au to see our great range.