Cleaning Your Lights: A Litecraft Guide
Very few things take away from the look of a wonderful light fitting quite like dirt does. Having dusty and dirty lighting can have a dimming effect to the light, and can really be detrimental to the overall look of the piece. Cleaning your lights should become a regular part of your cleaning routine, but many people don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to it.
That is why Litecraft are here to offer a helping hand with this brilliant guide to cleaning your lighting!
Cleaning Your Lights
Before you start dusting and polishing make sure the power is turned off and the light fitting is safe to touch.
When it comes to tidying up your lights, there are three areas to focus on:
- how to clean bulbs;
- how to clean lamp shades and crystals;
- how to clean the frame of the lights.
Caring for your bulbs
Perhaps the most easy part of washing a light fitting, yet one of the most important, is ensuring that you keep on top of the dirt and dust build up which is left behind on the bulbs. By regularly dusting down your bulbs, you ensure that the build-up of grime in minimised, and this allows for a bright, clear, tidy, and more effective style of lighting within your home.
Cleaning bulbs is a fairly easy process, and should be done using a damp cloth to remove the film of dirt, and then should be left to dry for a few minutes before they are returned to their holders.
If you ever come to a point where your bulbs seem to have truly lost their shine, take a look at the wide range of bulbs available on the Litecraft to replace them!
Cleaning shades and crystals
Now that you have the bulbs shining beautifully, it’s time to focus on the rest of the fitting, and the best place to begin is with the outside accessories such as the crystals and shades. These external features are what create the look and feel of the fixture, and therefore need to be cared for properly.
To clean a glass shade, you simply need to use soapy water and a clean cloth. Use a soft brush or cotton ear buds for any particularly difficult areas, and then buff it with a dry cloth. If the glass shades are extra dirty soak them for 10 minutes before cleaning. This is particularly useful for use upon shades used on a table lamp, bedside lamp, desk lamp, or floor lamp, as they attract a great amount of dust and dirt throughout the day, and will be clearly visible at eye level. You shouldn't soak or scrub painted shades or glass shades with sprayed on glitter or other decorative elements as it might damage the shade.
For the crystals we suggest our Crystal and Chandelier Cleaner that will help to remove any tough dirt and will also bring a stunning sparkle to the clear glass or crystal. This is sure to add an extra touch of elegance to your lighting and will bring the twinkle back to any fitting. If you're still wanting to add that little bit extra TLC to your light fittings, you can browse through our lighting accessories where we stock a range of spare glass and crystal, as well as vintage light bulbs.
Keeping the frame looking fresh and stylish
There is a very simple way to stop the frame from becoming a dust mess, and it’s probably far easier than you would have thought! This is by quite simply dusting the frame on a regular basis with either a duster or a microfiber cloth. This will get rid of any lingering dust particles and will give the clean and fresh aesthetic back to your lights.
If you have some deeper and tougher dirt, then you may look to clean with soapy water, and then polish up with a dry cloth to avoid smearing.
Final thoughts
So, just to recap, the general rules to follow are to ensure you clean thoroughly, dust often, and use the correct cleaning agents and tools at all times! Also, we would like to stress that you MUST turn off all fittings before cleaning, as the moisture could poses a serious danger is the electricity still flows within the fitting.
We suggest leaving your lights off for at least an hour before cleaning to allow for the bulb and electrics to cool.
Follow these steps, and you’ll be on your way to ensuring your lights are always in tip top condition, and will have a beautiful glow around your home!
For more of LItecraft’s excellent tips, take a look at the fantastic blog!
I know how to clean them all perfectly