Reader “Motor Head” writes:

I have venetian blinds, and noticed they were looking pretty grimy. All the advice said “soak them in a bathtub.” That was bull, because the tub is no way large enough for the blinds and the blinds had some baked on nicotine that soaking would not fix. The blinds did, however, fit in the tub enclosure.

I found two of those suction cup hooks and proceeded to hang the blinds open from the wall of the tub. Sprayed on Mr. Clean. (I did not dilute it.) Let sit a minute. Wiped with sponge. (Really easy since the blinds are open and resting against the tile wall.) Rinsed with water from the shower. (If you do this, you might have to repeat until you are happy with how clean it is.)

Lay out on some old towels to air dry. The blinds are now like new.

Smokers’ blinds are always nasty, because the tar settles on everything, which in turn causes dust to goop on. (I’m an inveterate smoker, but can’t handle the indoor funk, which is why I always smoke outside.) Good tip, though!

Image via CreativeBob4u’s Flickr stream.