Cellular shades, also called honeycomb shades, have a unique, pleated, accordion-style fabric design that stylishly and effectively blocks out sunlight and helps control room temperature. While they are easy to maintain, they can trap dust and debris from the air that accumulates inside the fabric folds. Fortunately, it’s simple to clean your cellular shades, although it does require a little research to determine which approach is best and to ensure you don’t accidentally damage the fabric or warp the shape of the shades. A few basic cleaning supplies is all you’ll need to knock loose the built-up dirt, dust, and debris.
Most cellular shades only require light, regular dusting and vacuuming to keep them clean. You can remove embedded stains, by spot treating them with warm water and a mild detergent.
5 Ways to Clean Your Cellular Shades
- Dusting: It’s natural for dust to build up on the inside of your cellular shades, and there may even be dead bugs inside the honeycombs. You can easily blow out the dust from your shades with a can of compressed air positioned at the mouth of a cell. You may want to put a drop cloth or newspaper at the opposite site of the cell to catch any ejected matter. If you don’t have compressed air, you can opt for a blow dryer instead, just make sure you use it on the lowest, coolest setting, as hot air can weaken the glue that holds the shades together.
- Wiping: The outside of your shades may also attract dust, which can be wiped away with a feather duster of a dry microfiber cloth. Microfiber is the ideal fabric for light cleanup and dust reduction. Lightly wipe the shades using a side-to-side motion and follow the direction of the fabric pleating so you don’t deform the cells.
- Vacuuming: By adding the brush attachment to your vacuum hose, you can clean the shades from top to bottom using a side-to-side motion. Use a low setting, because high settings with powerful suction can deform your shades. If you notice that your shades are still dirty, you’ll likely need to move on to heavier stain removal techniques, as vacuuming can only do so much to clean them.
- Spot cleaning: This is the most complicated type of cleaning for cellular shades, as moisture can damage the fabric if there is more than one sheet of material making up the shades. To spot clean, use a mild, diluted detergent on a lukewarm washcloth or rag, and dab at the stained spot(s). The water shouldn’t be too hot, or it can weaken the glue used to make the shades. Do not rub forcefully, as this, too, can deform your shades or cause the fabric to pill. Make sure you test your damp rag on a small portion of the shades to avoid discoloring the shades with any dyes the rag contains.
- Hiring the professionals at Bloomin’ Blinds! We professionally clean window treatments and have specialized cleaning techniques that thoroughly clean your cellular shades. While you may be tempted to do a DIY deep clean of your shades, you could permanently warp and deform the shape of your shades or cause other irreparable damage, not to mention it could very likely void your existing warranty.
Interested in more tips and tricks for your window treatments? Check out these related blogs!
Content Reviewed by: Kevin Stuart - In-House Repair Tech