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Guide 05 · the long game
Cleaning and caring for your shutters
Shutters are the lowest-maintenance window covering you can fit, which is different from no-maintenance. Here is the honest routine, material by material, and the short list of things that actually damage them.
The routine, per material
| Material | Routine | Cadence |
|---|---|---|
| Basswood (painted timber) | Dry microfibre along each blade; a barely-damp cloth on marks, dried straight after | monthly |
| PVC | Damp cloth, mild detergent if needed; it genuinely doesn't mind water | monthly |
| Aluminium (exterior) | Fresh-water hose-down of blades, pivots and fixings, soft brush on stubborn salt | quarterly; more front-row to the surf |
| Roller curtains | Rinse the curtain, brush the guides clear of grit, run it full travel | quarterly |
Work top blade to bottom, tilt the set both ways so you reach both faces, and the biggest window in the house is a five-minute job. A soft paintbrush gets the pivot corners the cloth misses.
The never-do list
Short, because shutters are hard to hurt: never soak timber (a wet cloth left on a basswood blade does more harm than a year of dust); no solvents or abrasive cream cleansers on any painted finish; no pressure washers on exterior shutters, which drive water and grit into pivots engineered for weather, not water-jets; and don't force a stiff panel, because stiffness is a symptom worth reading, not a resistance to overcome.
The cord question, answered by design
Corded internal window coverings are regulated in Australia under a mandatory child-safety standard, because a looped cord at child height is a strangulation risk; the ACCC's guidance on blind and curtain cord safety sets out the requirements. Shutters answer the question structurally: there are no cords, looped or otherwise. Tilt is a rod or a hidden gear, and nothing dangles, which is why shutters are a default recommendation for children's rooms.
When to call us instead
A sagging panel, a blade that won't hold its tilt, a hinge working loose: call, don't tinker.
All three are ten-minute adjustments with the right tool and a known torque, and amateur retightening into a worn screw hole is the one "repair" that creates real damage. The same goes for a roller curtain that has jumped its guide. Get in touch through the form, tell us what it is doing, and we'll sort the visit.
References
- ACCC Product Safety: blinds, curtains and window fittings guide: the mandatory standard for corded internal window coverings referenced above.
Fitting new rather than caring for old? Start at the four types or draft your window schedule.
Free in-home measure & quote
Every window is bespoke. The quote starts at your place, not ours.
A specialist measures each opening, talks through material, louvre width and tilt for your rooms and your exposure, and leaves you a written quote. Nothing is made until the figures are checked on site.
Form only. We reply to arrange a time that suits.