Nancy asked: How do I clean spots on day/night shades in our RV? We have just purchased a used motorhome. It has very nice day/night shades in it. A couple of the shades have some brown spots on them. They are made from a fabric. I don’t know what to use on the spots. I don’t know what made the spots, maybe insects, food or drink? Can you help? Please and thank you.
Day/night shades offer a wonderful feature to RVs that allow bright light to enter during the day while keeping the home dark at night, all while maintaining your privacy. Cleaning these shades can be a bit of a challenge. The fabric cannot withstand scrubbing or harsh chemicals and can stain easily. To clean them, it is easiest to remove them and bring them indoors. Here are the steps to follow:
You Will Need:
- Vacuum
- OxiClean
- Bathtub
- Warm water
- Spray starch
Steps to Clean the Shades:
- Start by vacuuming the shades while they are still hanging. Use an attachment to avoid having the suction pull too greatly on the fabric.
- Once clean, carefully remove the shades and bring them indoors.
- Fill a bathtub with warm water.
- Add one cup of OxiClean to the water.
- Agitate to mix.
- Place the shades in the water and allow them to soak for approximately 30 minutes.
- Remove the shades and drain the water.
- Refill with clean water and rinse the shades.
- Hang to dry.
- To restore the creases, pull the blinds all the way down and spray with starch.
- Push them up to close.
- Allow to dry folded up. This will keep the creases nice and crisp.
Additional Tips and Advice
- This cleaning method is intended for fabric shades only. Do NOT try to wash paper shades. The paper will disintegrate in the water. Simply dust and vacuum paper shades to maintain them.
- Though the delicate fabric cannot tolerate harsh scrubbing, it may be necessary to rub difficult stains lightly to remove them. This is best done by brushing lightly with an old toothbrush.
- If you don’t have any OxiClean, use a mild laundry detergent like All Free & Clear instead or a mild baby shampoo.
- Spot cleaning is not recommended as shades will stain easily when sprayed in only one area. It is best to clean the entire shade.
- If steam cleaning shades, test a small area first to ensure there are no adverse effects to the color or texture. If that goes well, it is safe to clean the entire shade.
I tried this method exactly as explained and the shades came out really nice and clean. My major caution to anyone trying this method is that the Oxy Clean will bubble the paint on the metal portion of the shades so maybe don’t soak them for quite as long as 30 minutes. Now I have to sand and mask off my shades and paint those damaged portions.
How do you remove and replace them? Mind are crammed under the overhead cabinets. (sigh)
Ida,
Feel along the top of the shade for the clips and the pop the shade out of each one. The top holder of the shade has a ridge or lip along it that allows it to hold in the clip and you just need to push the top away from the lip of the clip. Here is a video on Youtube that shows the process well. Good luck!