Vertical Versus Horizontal Blinds.

[Tilly2]

I am thinking of having blinds fitted to the back windows of the house.

Which will be easier to maintain and keep clean? Any suggestions welcome about how to go about keeping them clean etc?

[ladybirder]

Depends what they are made of Tilly. I have wooden ones and dust them but also wipe them with nice smelly wipes now and again.
I much prefer horizontals as I think verticals look better in an office.

[Cloverjo]

Vertical blinds are much easier to keep clean than horizontal ones, which get very dusty. I've just taken down my vertical blinds after being up for 15 years. They are still clean, even though I've done nothing to them, apart from a tiny amount of grubbiness at the bottom where they touched the floor. As long as you keep your floor or sills clean, you shouldn't have to do anything to the blinds.

[Tilly2]

I imagine that horizontal blinds would capture more dust, though, LB.
I hadn't thought of wooden ones.

[Tilly2]

Thanks for that Clover. 15 years is a good innings. Are you putting them back again or getting new ones?

[Cloverjo]

We're getting new ones because the little plastic chains that link the bottoms of the slats together are broken. It gets very windy in my house and all the flapping about has led to some of them breaking.

[ladybirder]

IF they do I don't care Tilly because I think they look so much nicer. When the chap fitted them he suggested I blast them with a hairdryer on cold every now and again.

[Tilly2]

That's a good idea, LB. One way of shifting the dust. I won't have wooden ones, though. I'd want the light to be coming in, even with closed blinds.

[Birdfeeder]

cloverjoe I had a similar problem and went on the local market where there is a stall selling blinds, for £3 I was able to get a complete set of chains 1 for the top and 1 for the bottom of each side of the blind) they were very east to fit you just start at the back. I also got the replacement plastic pieces that fit in the bottom of each slat as some of the eyes where the chain fits had perished, much cheaper than a new blind. Hope this is of some help.

[Birdfeeder]

sorry for east read easy

[KARL]

We have had vertical blinds for at least 15 years at least and would not consider horizontals as I have had to clean some in flats where they were fitted (son's digs, etc., some were wooden which admittedly somehow look better). You are correct, horizontals gather dust and, if present, also catch the tiniest droplets in the air (bathroom, kitchen, etc.) as they are pulled downward by gravity. Result: dust and even goo on the surfaces. We have never had to clean our verticals (much larger slats, no lines through them) except where something has been rubbed or splashed onto them.

In the end the choice is yours - have a look at places where they/each are/is fitted, then imagine them in your house. But on the cleaning issue puts verticals ahead on points.

Note to cloverjo: I am pretty sure you can buy the line and weights on eBay.

[bunkmoreland]

It depends if you want to be able to see the length of your window. Verticals are easier to keep clean,but,when you half close them etc you cut off the view from left to right.