Anyone who has ever had blinds in their home knows that after repeated lifting and lowering, the pull cord can get pretty gross! I must have stared at the dirty cord above my kitchen sink a million times in frustration because I had no idea what to do about it. Then one day it came to me in a “lightbulb moment.”
I was engaging in my daily Pinterest perusal when I came across this clever trick for cleaning a shower head. I realized that the same concept might just work for my nasty pull cord. I figured it was at least worth a try.
HERE’S WHAT I DID:
Take a small plastic bag and fill it with a 50/50 mixture of bleach and hot water.
CAREFULLY put your lift cord in the bag (you might want to get someone to help you with this, however, I managed to do it alone because I was worried if I asked anyone to help me they would question my sanity!)
CAREFULLY twist the top of the bag and secure it closed with whatever means you have available. (I used a clothespin, but a rubber band or twist tie would work as well.) Just make sure it’s VERY SECURE! You don’t want bleach water to come crashing down all over the place.
If you have an aversion to using bleach, CLICK HERE for my post about a Natural Bleach Alternative you can try.
Once you have your bag securely in place, all that’s left to do is wait. I left mine like this overnight.
In the morning, after I took the bag off and patted the cord dry, it looked like this!
Quite an improvement! I’d venture to say it looked BRAND NEW (except for the cracked plastic thingie on the end.)
I know it’s a small thing….but I can’t tell you how happy it made me. I look at that cord at LEAST once a day, every day, and now when I do it’s to admire how nice and clean it looks rather than ruminate over how icky it is.
Sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest difference when caring for our homes. Wouldn’t you agree? :-)
Clever. Big improvement. Have to remember this one. Just a reminder to people with kids in the house, or visiting kids. Better not to tie a knot in the cords to keep them together. Kids do wacky things like stick their heads in between the cords and risk strangling themselves. The shower head thing is a great idea, too. Just stick a note at eye level to remind others that the bag is over the showerhead. Learned the hard way when I forgot to mention it to DH and he turned the shower on. He’s still complaining about that.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I hated the plastic thing at the end of my blinds in my old apartment. So I used some pretty wooden beads I had left over from a craft project and replaced them. A 10 minute project that made a huge difference!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Good idea, Jillee. And you’re right–sometimes a seemingly little thing can just drive you crazy until you figure out what to do with it. ;-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Good idea, but I get that anyway. I let the blinds soak in a bleach and water mix in the tub overnight. Come back to brand new blinds! (That’s for the cheapie plastic blinds; wood ones are obviously not soakable.)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Love that idea for cleaning the entire blinds. Can’t wait to try it!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I agree. I’ve been appalled looking at them. What a great idea!! Wish I had known that when I washed the blinds with the sprayer and brush in the shower.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’ve been looking for a way to clean the cord that pulls on the light in my bathroom for ages. definitely going to try this
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Now if I could just slip the blinds into the bag!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hmm..what about puting the mixture in a water bottle and feeding the cord into the solution. you could cover the hole and give it a few good shakes to agitate it like a little washing machine?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.brilliant!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Did you rinse it?
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