What You Need to Know About Hurricane Shutters

Most people who live in areas with frequent hurricanes have storm shutters on their homes. These shutters protect your home from flying debris and reduce the risk that a hurricane will rip the roof off your home. Storm shutters can also be a beautiful addition to a home even when they aren’t acting as protection from a storm.

However, for shutters to do their job, you need to clean them. Each type of shutter, whether it is made of plastic, metal or plywood, needs to be cleaned in a specific way.

You will need a dry duster, microfiber cloth, furniture polish and a toothbrush to clean your plywood shutters. Use a polish that is based on a vegetable oil because this will not leave behind a residue like other polishes do on plywood.

When you are cleaning your shutters, you will do the following:

1. Run the dry duster up and down the shutters. The dry duster will remove most of the debris to make the rest of the cleaning easier.
2. Wipe the shutters down with a microfiber cloth.
3. Spray the shutters with furniture polish and rub the shutters until they shine from the polish.
4. Scrub with a toothbrush and polish to remove dirt in hard-to-reach places.
If you do not have a lot of free time to clean your shutters with the process described above, you can run dryer sheets up and down the shutters.

Be sure that you do not use soap and water on these types of shutters. Soap and water will cause the shutters to warp.

Assemble a brush, hose, mop and detergent when you prepare to clean your metal or plastic shutters. You will achieve the best results if you use a detergent specifically designed for cleaning metal or plastic.

Your shutters can be cleaned effectively using the following steps:

1. Brush all of the debris off of the windows shutters with a long-handled brush.

2. Use the hose to rinse the shutters. The hose will wash off any debris that has not been removed by the brush.

3. Scrub the surface of the shutters with a mop.

4. Add detergent to a bucket of water.

5. Use the mop to apply the detergent to the shutters. Do not allow the detergent to dry on the shutters.

6. Rinse the detergent off the shutters.

7. If you would like to avoid streaks on your shutters, be sure to scrub them with a microfiber mop.

8. Use a sponge to scrub the inside of the shutters, as you cannot use a hose to reach this section.

After you finish cleaning your shutters, allow them to air dry.

When the home has two floors, you will not be able to use a mop to clean the shutters on the upper story. Fortunately, your hose can be fitted with a detergent attachment that will allow you to spray these shutters with all-purpose detergent.

When you spray the shutters, begin by testing the detergent on a small corner of your shutters to make sure that the detergent removes the dirt and that the formula will not cause any discoloration. Before applying the detergent to the shutters, make sure to rinse them down with water. Allow the detergent to sit for a few seconds before rinsing it off.

When you have your shutters installed for the first time, simply ask us about the most effective technique for cleaning your shutters. We can recommend the method that will clean your shutters the most effectively. The shutters at Custom Storm Shutters Direct are highly durable, but they will last longer if they are properly maintained.