Blind headrail
The exclusion inside the manufacturer's immersion instruction, and the reason 'can I wash my blinds' is a question about the mechanism rather than about the slats.
What not to do
Water is prohibited by the manufacturer for Blind headrail
Best avoided
The available guidance advises against this.
The exclusion inside the permission. Whatever the slats are made of, the rail with the mechanism in it does not go in the water.
Evidence
Supported
Sources
How to Clean Blinds, and How to Clean Wood Blinds
Hunter Douglas · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That headrails on the cordless, motorised, retractable-cord and glide operating systems must not be immersed, and neither must the bottom rail on the lift system that carries its mechanism there. (states this directly)
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Disconnect from the power supply first
Start here
What this is, what tends to go wrong with it, and what to do about it.
The science behind this: Moisture and electrical appliances
Part of Window blind.
In detail
Where a manufacturer permits blinds to be immersed — the whole assembly, in lukewarm water with mild detergent, washed for five minutes by moving the water with your fingers — the permission comes with a list of exceptions, and every exception is an operating system rather than a material. The headrails of the cordless, motorised, retractable-cord and glide systems do not go in the water, and neither does the bottom rail on the lift system that carries its mechanism there instead. This is the same rule that governs appliances, arrived at from a completely different direction: the part that decides whether something can be submerged is the part with a mechanism in it. A slat is a slat. A spring, a motor or a cord retractor is not, and it is usually hidden inside a rail that looks like more of the blind.
Why
- Blind headrail is explained by Moisture and electrical appliances
Sources for this page
Sources
How to Clean Blinds, and How to Clean Wood Blinds
Hunter Douglas · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the entire shade assembly may be immersed in lukewarm water with mild detergent and washed for five minutes, but that the headrails of the named operating systems, and the bottom rail on the lift system, must not be immersed. (states this directly)