When hearing people talking about Venetian blinds, I used to think that they were referring to some complicated, sophisticated window treatments, that very few home owners can afford to buy. You can imagine how I felt when I found out that Venetian blinds are in fact those horizontal blinds with slats that overlap and rotate with almost 180 degrees, thus directing and filtering the light as needed. I’ve got this kind of window treatments in all rooms in my home, except from the bathroom. It’s not that Venetian blinds can’t be used for bathrooms. In fact they are one of the best window coverings for high humidity environments, because they can be made of aluminum or vinyl, therefore they are not exposed to rust and mold or mildew which usually accumulate in pleated curtains or drapes.

After I found out how my blinds were called, I tried to learn more about the origin of Venetian blinds. Guess what? They were invented by Japanese people, but they were brought to Europe by Venetian merchants, thus they were named after those traders.

Types Of Venetian Blinds

Venetian blinds can be classified according several criteria such as materials, slats width or price.

In terms of materials, the cheapest and the most common models are made of white vinyl and they can be found in most stores, ready cut in various sizes. So, if you have standard windows, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to find a pair of matching Venetian blinds at a very low price. However, you should be aware that although these cheap blinds look great when they are new, their slats don’t filter too much light and in time they’d become yellowish and warped. You’d probably need to replace them every two-three years, especially if you live in areas with many months of bright sunny days.

A bit more expensive, but of much better quality are the aluminum Venetian blinds. They can come in different colors, or even combinations, if you wish to be different and you dare to play around with your interior decor elements in order to create an original living space, but the most common ones are white. Aluminium Venetian blinds are hard to find in ready-made sizes, however there are lots of centers where you can order the customized to perfectly fit your windows.

Even more expensive, but elegant, are the wood Venetian blinds. I would have bought some for my home, but at that time I didn’t know they existed, so I’ve got the white aluminum ones. When I’ll redecorate or move, I’ll surely purchase new ones, and I already know the wooden Venetian blind model I’ve seen at a home improvement show early this summer.

How To Clean Venetian Blinds

Cleaning Venetian blinds is a real pain, if you ignore it for a longer period of time. Honestly, I forgot to clean them for about one year, and then the only method that gave satisfactory results was to take them down, put them in the bath tub, let them soak for a few hours with some laundry detergent, then rinse them thoroughly with the shower.

Now I know: daily dusting is a must, in order to prevent dirt from accumulating on the slats. I just use a regular duster. Once a week, I wipe them with a soft, damp cloth. If you are more exigent with your home cleanliness, you can buy one of those special Venetian blinds cleaning devices: it’s like a clamp lined with a soft and thick fabric, which you need to slide on the slats, one by one until they are clean.

I think my method with the bath tub and the shower is faster, but it has the inconvenient of needing to take the blinds off the windows, then hanging them somewhere to dry.

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