Help With Your Home And Garden

Six Items to Help You Clean External Shutters Without a Ladder

by Carolyn Fox

Tired of the dirt and debris built up on your external shutters? Wondering how to clean them when you cannot reach them? It may be easier than you think, and if you incorporate the following ideas, you can clean all ground story and most first story windows without a ladder. Here is a look at a few items that can help:

1. Broom

Before moistening your shutters, use a broom to knock off hardened dust. Rub the broom up and down as well as horizontally over the shutters, until you have shaken most of the dust off. Start from the top so that you don't knock dirt onto the windows you have already cleaned.

2. Pressure Washer

A pressure washer lets you spray water up onto your shutters, and in some cases, you can actually add cleaning products to the machine's reservoir so that the machine cleans and rinses. Be careful that the pressure isn't set so high that it risks breaking your windows.

3. Hose Attachment

In lieu of using a pressure washer, you can use a less powerful hose attachment. For example, there are nozzles and wands that you can attach to your hosepipe to direct a stream of water at your shutters. Alternatively, you can use an all-purpose sprayer or attachment that connects to your hose and simulates a pressure washer.

4. Squeege

Once you are done cleaning your shutters, you should dry them. That prevents the water from setting on the shutters or making water lines. A squeegee with a long handle is perfect for pushing the water off your external shutters. Squeegees tend to work best on shutters that have flat designs or panels. However, if you have a louvre shutters with slats, you may want to use a towel instead.

5. Towel

To get a towel up to your window, you need to grab your broom. Then, simply wrap the towel around the head of the broom and use a big rubber band or a piece of twine to hold it in place. Use a microfibre towel if possible. They work well because they are very absorbent and lightweight enough to attach to a broom.

6. Dowel

A long dowel can help you extend any cleaning tool such as a broom or a squeegees into a long handled tool for cleaning shutters. To attach the dowel to your other tool, use a round metal clamp that tightens with a screw. Overlap the tool and the dowel and use two clamps for extra stability.

For assistance with your external shutters, talk to a professional.

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