Home & Lifestyle Spring 2017

Vertical. Louvolite fabric. Banbury-Parchment

White Shutters

Zipscreen

Cleaning your Blinds, Awnings and Shutters Spring

through. This product can be expensive at $50 a can, but will do as promised. Plantation Shutters Dust with a damp microfibre cloth all blades and frames. Use a clean unused toothbrush to get into the ends of the blades and remove any dust or dirt. If blades are chipped or broken, they can be replaced. Best to contact the supplier you used, because not all are interchangeable. A warning though, replacing a Plantation Shutter blade is expensive. If you have several broken, you may be better off replacing the panel. You will still need to wait the 6-10 weeks for blades, just as you would have waited for the Shutters, so keep that in mind when you are planning replacement. Everything has a life... Most people replace their blinds every 8 years. When you think of it your blinds do cop a fair bit of wear and tear. They are often in the hottest part of the house - the window, or in high traffic areas, like sliding doors where hands and pets touch them daily. Just like a fresh coat of paint, a new blind can really freshen up a room and bring it back to life. Blinds that are dirty or in need of repair can scream out neglect and can be a red flag for potential home buyers if your home is on the market. Article supplied by Sharon Tieman. Premier Shades. 18/482 Pacific Highway, Wyoming, NSW, 2250. Ph: 0243248800. www.premiershades.com.au

With the end of the chilly weather, time to open up and air out the house. Test everything is working and is free of mould, dust and mildew. One of the first jobs is to clean the windows, but as Sharon Tieman from Premier Shades explains, a spring clean of your window furnishing can make all the difference too...

Blinds. Youcan imagine howmuch dust has collected in the fabric over the years. Regular dusting and even vacuuming will assist with keeping the dust off them. Just use the light brush nozzle. If you have any little scuff type marks on your blinds, try using a CHUX blind magic eraser. These are available from Premier Shades or local supermarkets for about $5. The Chux brand is often the best and found in the cleaning isle. It’s similar to a normal eraser and will easily remove little marks from your blinds. Replacement hooks andweights for verticals or brackets for roller blinds. Most are available from local blind manufacturers (like Premier Shades) for Australian custom-made blinds. Vertical blind tracks that are not too old and still working well, you can freshen up the drapes. Just unhook a drape, count the number you need and take 1 sample one to a local blind manufacturer. They will be able to show you the latest range and give you a quote per drape so you can re-hook them yourself. Get a Professional in. Any more serious issues, like mould should be consulted with a professional blind cleaning company. Yes, there are companies that just clean blinds!

The cost of cleaning old blinds can amount to half the cost of the new blind, so if you have had the blinds for a while, it may be time to invest in some new ones. Fabric can become fragile when its exposed to a hot window for a long period of time and may have faded or deteriorate over time. Fabric Awnings and External Blinds. Wind your fabric awnings out when it is sunny and dry and give them a light brush with a soft bristle brush (similar to the brush from a dust pan and brush). Then give the fabric awning a gentle hose. Be sure to make sure it’s completely dry before winding it back in. Dust left on fabric awnings can turn into mould and mildew when it’s left damp, so the more regularly you do this the better. The fabric on fabric awnings can be easily replaced. It is half the cost of a new awning and as long as the mechanisms are working and in good order, it could be a really cost effective freshen up. It’s a great way to freshen up and modernise a fabric awning. PVC Café Style blinds or PVC Ziptrak blinds can be cleaned with a product called “Vuplex” especially designed to make them clear again if they have become smokey and hard to see

& Lifestyle Magazine | Spring 2017

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