Shaklee Archives - Ask Anna

How to Clean Silhouette Blinds

Anna — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 12:00:54 +0000

It’s Friday again (woo-hoo!) which means it’s time for another great cleaning tip. Today I’m going to show you how to clean something it took me 20+ years to finally do.

In the house I grew up in we had Silhouette blinds and I always wondered why people would buy them because they seemed impossible to clean. Fast forward 20+ years later and we moved into our current home, which, of course, has Silhouette blinds on some of the windows. My first thought was to just take them out back and burn them but then I decided that wasn’t a good option because with all our other projects going on, replacing the blinds isn’t in the budget.

I tried to just ignore them but after 18 months (yes, it took me THAT long to do something about it) I couldn’t handle how dirty they were any longer. The only problem was now that meant I had to come up with a way to clean them. So today I’m sharing my simple solution for how to clean Silhouette blinds that will have them looking new all over again.

Step #1

Remove them from the window. Yep, you have to take them completely down if you want to give them the best clean possible. Once they are out of the window unroll them so they look like this.

Step #2

If you have any dead bugs in your blinds then we want to get those out first. You can open the blind and turn them on their side which should drop most of the bugs out (I did this over the bathtub). If there are some stubborn ones use a hair dryer to blow them out.

Step #3

Now it’s time to wash them. Pour a small amount of mild cleanser in the bathtub, I used Basic H to wash mine but if you don’t have any you can use a mild detergent or dish soap. Fill the bathtub up a few inches, just enough to cover the blinds.

Use your hands to “swish” the blinds around in the water to release the dirt.

I was right, my blinds were dirrr-ty because the water turned dark brown! Gross!

Once the water gets really dirty drain the tub. Repeat this process as many time as you need to until the water is no longer really dirty. I also used my daughter’s bath scoop to rinse the blinds with clean water in between filling up the tub.

The water from the second rinse, not as brown.

Step #4

Once the water is pretty clear, drain the tub. Fill the tub up one more time but this time don’t add any soap. “Swish” the blinds around in the clean water to get all the soap out of them. There shouldn’t be a lot because you shouldn’t be using that much soap, but it’s always good to rinse, just to make sure.

Step #5 (Optional)

Even after washing my blinds they were still a slight shade of brown, probably because they hadn’t been washed in 20+ years! To get them as clean as I possibly could I filled the tub back up with warm water and added a cup of bleach.

I “swished” the blinds around in the bleach, then let them sit in it for about 10 minutes. Then I drained the water and rinsed them really well (see step #6).

Step #6

Drain the tub for the last time and then rinse the blinds one last time with a bath scoop or the shower head.

Once you’ve rinsed them for the last time leave them in the tub to dry. Because the material is so thin it doesn’t take them very long to dry, mine only took about a day.

Once the Silhouette blinds are dry, screw them back up into the window frame. You’ll be surprised at how clean they are and that they look new all over again!

Don’t believe me? Here are a couple close ups!

No more dirt, no more dead bugs, no more food splatters, no more greasy fingerprints, they are super dooper clean! To see more tips in the Love to Clean Series, click HERE.

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How to Clean Marble

Anna — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 13:00:40 +0000

Question:
I’ve recently moved to Holland and I’m renting the best house!!! But I have a huge question, how do I clean marble? My kitchen and bathroom counters are all marble. It’s beautiful but gets a white powdery build up. Not sure what to put on it to not ruin it.

Answer:
To clean marble I suggest using a very mild cleanser. Personally I like Basic H because it’s all-natural and a very mild cleanser. However, if you can’t purchase Basic H in Holland then I would recommend using an all-natural (dye-free) dish soap diluted with water.

*Fill an empty spray bottle with Basic H or dish soap.

*Spray the marble counters with the cleaner. Next wipe them with a gentle sponge or rag.

*You aren’t supposed to let marble air dry so make sure that immediately after washing it that you buff it dry with a clean, dry cloth.

Now you can sit back and enjoy the shine!

Check out these posts I have written on countertops:

Giani Granite Countertop Paint Review

How to Clean Countertop Stains

Encore Countertop Review

The post How to Clean Marble appeared first on Ask Anna.

How to Clean Wood Floors without Chemicals

Anna — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:05:00 +0000

I get asked, all the time, what I recommend for how to clean wood floors. My answer is always the same so I figured it was time I wrote an actual post on it!

Let me start by saying that I have tried a lot of different products, always in search for a product that wouldn’t leave my floor with a nasty residue, one that was easy to use, a product that wasn’t harmful for my floors or my family, etc.

After trying just about every product on the market I was pleasantly surprised when Jennifer, from Blissfully Ever After, introduced me to Basic H. I had been using Orange Glo Hardwood Floor Cleaner for a few years and I had always been happy with it. However the hardwood floors we have in our current home are a different type of hardwood then we had in our other home and I had started to notice that the Orange Glo was leaving a waxy residue on my floors. I had never had that problem before, but there are so many different types of hardwood flooring and each one is a little different.

So… when Jennifer told me about Basic H I was excited to give it a try. I have been using Basic H to mop my floors for about 8 months now and I am still loving it. It is an all natural product so it’s safe for my floors and my family, it doesn’t leave a waxy residue, and it’s super easy to use!

Here’s my “mop the floor” routine:

First I vacuum. One of the things I love about my Dyson is the hard floor attachment. It makes it very easy to vacuum up the floors before moping!

Then I pull out my Scotch Brite Microfiber Hardwood Floor Mop. I absolutely love this mop! It has a swivel head which is great for mopping around furniture and toilets and the microfiber cloths are removable so when I am finished mopping I can pull it off and toss it in the washing machine! The best part is that this mop is less than $20 and it lasts forever {I’ve had mine for almost 2 years}!

Then I pull out my Basic H, All Purpose Blend.
{It’s a Shaklee product; you can purchase it here.}

I start by getting the mop head wet and then wringing it out. Then as I mop I spray the floor with the Basic H and then mop that area. I spray about a 3 foot section at a time. Let me tell you, this is such a fast and easy way to mop the floor and because there are no chemicals in the Basic H it dries very quickly!

I actually love this combo {Basic H & Scotch Brite Mop} so much that I’ve started giving it to my friends as house warming gifts. My friend Tricia moved into a house that is all wood flooring and she was ecstatic when I gave her this as a gift!

I hope this answers all of your questions about what I use, and how I mop my wood floors. The last thing I want to say is that if you have hardwood floors that are supposed to be waxed, then I would still highly recommend the Orange Glo Hardwood Floor Cleaner. If your wood needs wax then this is a great product because it’s not too waxing like a lot of products on the market are.

NOTE: If you do not have Basic H you can also use a mixture of 1 part water to 3 parts white vinegar.

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