insights
insights
“Clients ask me what to use to clean them. I say: a damp cloth. That is it. No product. No treatment. Ten minutes every few weeks and they look exactly as they did on install day. That is what aluminium gives you, the wood look with none of the maintenance.”Duncan Kane Founder, Custom Blinds Shutters & Awnings
Two microfibre cloths, one damp, one dry. For salt or light grime, one or two drops of mild dish soap in a cup of warm water. Nothing specialist.
Same as plain aluminium, one differenceAluwood slats are the same alloy as the rest of the venetian range with a printed grain sealed under a protective coat. It does not absorb moisture or oxidise, but scouring pads and gritty products can scratch the print. Microfibre only.
Eight to twelve minutes for a bedroom window, in place.
Tilt the slats flat, facing down. Left to right along each slat with the damp cloth, gentle pressure, two or three seconds a slat, top slat to bottom rail.
Rotate the slats to the opposite flat position and wipe the reverse faces.
Headrail and bottom rail, especially the cord guides where grime collects. A pass with the dry cloth stops water marks in a humid room.
Every 4 to 6 weeks. Salt on the window-facing surfaces is the driver, and a quick regular clean stops it building up.
Every 8 to 12 weeks in Johannesburg, Pretoria or the Winelands. Kitchen blinds monthly anywhere: grease holds dust.
A wipe with the cloth already in your hand, two or three minutes, before soap splashes set. The core is moisture-proof.
04 Salt and grease
Salt: a damp cloth with a drop of mild dish soap, then a dry cloth. Grease above a hob: white vinegar diluted one to ten in water on the damp cloth, then a plain-water pass and dry. Heavily soiled: the blind can be unclipped from its brackets and washed with a mild soap solution and rinsed; slats and mechanism are waterproof. Dry thoroughly before refitting.
NeverSolvents, bleach, abrasive creams or scouring pads. They mark the printed grain.
Buy online:
A barely damp microfibre cloth, slats closed flat, top to bottom, then tilted and repeated on the reverse. No products or treatments. Custom Blinds Shutters & Awnings supplies aluwood venetians nationwide with the same advice.
Damp, not dripping. The aluminium core and sealed print are moisture-proof; just keep water out of the headrail housing where the lift mechanism sits.
Yes, though it is rarely necessary. Unclip from the headrail brackets, wash with mild soap, rinse, dry fully, refit.
No. The factory coat needs nothing. That is the maintenance difference from real timber.
Water, mild dish soap, and diluted white vinegar for grease. Nothing abrasive, no solvents, no bleach.
Content reviewed by the Custom Blinds Shutters & Awnings team. Visit the online shop for current pricing.
Custom Blinds Shutters & Awnings | South Africa’s trusted blinds, shutters and awnings specialists since 2010.