How to clean your lights and lampshades?

If you are waging war on dust in your interior, perhaps you have neglected to clean your lighting fixtures and lampshades ! Indeed, we too often forget to maintain these decorative elements, which can quickly become dirty and become a real chore when you realize the accumulated dirt.

Cleaning your lights and lampshades is important even if you are not allergic to dust mites! So that the brightness is not reduced, so that your equipment remains new and stylish, and to enjoy your decoration for a long time, it is imperative to properly clean and maintain your lighting fixtures and lampshades.

Depending on the material from which they are made, lighting fixtures and lampshades can withstand the passage of time and changes due to dust and pollution (kitchen grease, cigarette smoke, etc.) more or less well. Regular cleaning will prevent them from yellowing and losing their splendor, especially since their maintenance is not rocket science!

To find out everything about the actions to adopt depending on the type of lighting fixture and lampshade concerned, Chamade presents its best tips for taking care of it in this article!

The golden rules to follow when cleaning your lampshades and lighting

To clean all types of lighting fixtures and lampshades, there are a few rules to know and follow:

• Remember to clean your lights and lampshades regularly: the task will be easier if you don't let your equipment accumulate too much dirt,
• Always remove dust before moistening the surface of your lampshades or lighting fixtures,
• If you are cleaning a light fixture, pendant light or any other item powered by electricity, make sure that it is unplugged first or that the power to your home is cut off, before starting your cleaning,
• Avoid using chemical products as much as possible to clean your lampshades and lampshades: in addition to being potentially harmful to health or the environment, they risk damaging the appearance of your lampshades and lampshades by changing them. the color or by revealing unsightly spots,
• Wear goggles to protect your eyes if you clean a suspension, as well as a mask,
• Remember to put on gloves before cleaning your lampshades and lighting fixtures, to avoid greasy stains. This also applies to the handling of halogen bulbs: grabbing them with your bare hands can lead to a risk of breakage, as they are particularly fragile.
• As for dust on fabric lampshades, it is best to use a vacuum cleaner to remove the dust, if it is not an item that is too fragile. Indeed, a paper towel or a cloth will move the dust on the fabric, and will not be very effective; an alternative may be to use a duster, an adhesive roller for clothes, or a hair dryer in “cold air” mode,
• If you are cleaning a suspension, check the stability of your stepladder before starting your work. If possible, do your cleaning at a time when a second person is present to assist you in case of difficulty. If you can, it is best to clean your suspension after unhooking it, which will prevent you from having to sit with your arms in the air for a long time,
• Still when cleaning a suspension, we advise you to take care not to turn it on itself, otherwise there is a risk that it will come loose and fall on your head, or that this will weaken the suspension. installation, which will be likely to fall later, which could cause significant damage. If your suspension tends to rotate when you clean it, be vigilant on this point, and try to move around it to keep it in position as much as possible.

Maintenance according to the materials of the lighting fixtures and lampshades

Among the different types of lighting, the most inconvenient to maintain is undoubtedly glass or crystal chandeliers! These fragile materials can lose their shine due to dirt, but cleaning can cause irreversible damage: scratches, breakage, etc.

If you must clean this type of fixture, be careful and wear cloth gloves. The ideal is to opt for a chamois to remove dust and dirt. Finally, avoid any chemical product that is not directly indicated for this use!

Concerning metal equipment, such as chrome or stainless steel, abrasive chemicals should also be avoided here for their maintenance, at the risk of leaving indelible marks on your luminaire.

Everyday products, some natural and all safe, are more appropriate: for example, dishwashing liquid, baking soda and white vinegar are good options. However, do not mix these different products unless the dirt is extremely stubborn!

For your fabric lampshades, if they are stained, you should definitely avoid focusing on these areas for washing, otherwise you will end up with a water stain that is even more visible than the initial dirt.

Therefore, to clean your equipment, you will need to wash it completely. To do this, you can pass a cloth, previously soaked in soapy water (dishwashing liquid and Marseille soap, with their degreasing power, being the most suitable types of soap for this) over the entire fabric of the fabric. the lampshade.

In case of a stubborn stain, replace the water with a mixture of 90° alcohol and household vinegar. You can also completely immerse the fabric shade in a bathtub filled with soapy water. In this case, remember to swirl your lampshade in the water so that the washing solution is evenly distributed, and to proceed in the same way for rinsing.

If your lampshade is made of paper, you will need to wear gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints on your equipment, and to stay away from any aqueous products! A microfiber cloth will be your best ally for cleaning your paper lampshade.

When it comes to plastic lampshades, cleaning is much easier: you can remove the dust using a paper towel or a vacuum cleaner then pass a damp cloth soaked in cleaning product over the surface of the lampshade, without fear of it breaking or scratching. You can then dry it with a microfiber cloth to remove cleaning marks.

Don't forget to clean the bulbs!

Maintaining your light fixture also involves ensuring that the bulb remains clean. Be careful when cleaning your bulbs, and first check that the electricity is turned off.

To do this, it is not enough to turn off your switches: you must cut off the electricity to the room in which the bulb is located, or to your entire home, from the electrical panel in your home. Is your circuit breaker in “off” mode? Start by waiting a few minutes for your ampoules to cool, to avoid any risk of burning.

Once you have completed the above steps, you can carefully unscrew the bulbs to clean them, removing most of the dust with a paper towel, then wiping a damp cloth over the glass. You can also use a little rubbing alcohol for stubborn dirt. As soon as the clean bulb is dry, you can screw it back into its base and then turn the electricity back on.

Easy-to-clean lighting fixtures at Chamade!

To conclude, cleaning lights and lampshades is an integral part of cleaning your interior, and it should not be left aside, especially since it is easy to do and does not require any special products! Without the need to do it too regularly, light fixture maintenance can be done two to three times a year, depending on how quickly dust accumulates in your home. You will benefit from better light to highlight your interior! In addition, don't forget to also clean outdoor lighting fixtures more frequently than indoor lighting fixtures, as they are more prone to dirt. Finally, if your lighting fixtures are too damaged due to lack of maintenance, we can only advise you to freshen up your interior decoration by choosing a new lampshade from our catalog: you will find elegant and modern models to satisfy all your desires! We hope that our maintenance tips will be useful to you; Do not hesitate to consult our site to find superb lampshades that are easy to clean and maintain!

See you soon on Chamade!