Tips for cleaning/dusting radiators

bbat

Hi All. Anyone purchased an excellent cleaning tool or have tips for getting years worth of dust out of radiators? Since I moved in I've tried many things and haven't found anything thin or flexible enough to be able to clean the double radiators properly. Any suggestions before I waste any more pennies!

Apodemus

Blow the dust out with compressed air.  Either with a vacuum cleaner that blows and sucks or with a 12v compressor for pumping up tyres (assuming you don't own a proper compressor).

In practice, I use air from the top and vacuum at the bottom at the same time, so that I catch all the dust as it comes out.

If you don't have access to anything that can blow the dust out, net curtain wire (available for £2.99 on Amazon) can be easily used to push small scraps of cloth through - but that takes a lot longer than just blowing it out.

bbat

Apodemus said:

Blow the dust out with compressed air.  Either with a vacuum cleaner that blows and sucks or with a 12v compressor for pumping up tyres (assuming you don't own a proper compressor).

In practice, I use air from the top and vacuum at the bottom at the same time, so that I catch all the dust as it comes out.

If you don't have access to anything that can blow the dust out, net curtain wire (available for £2.99 on Amazon) can be easily used to push small scraps of cloth through - but that takes a lot longer than just blowing it out.

Thank you for the tips. I didnt think about net curtain wire. While that might be slower I think its prob the first thing for me to try. Thanks!

donemedosh

We clean our rad vents using damp kitchen roll & a thin bamboo cane. Just push the damp kitchen roll down the vent using the cane.You may have to do it a couple of times but it does get the dust out.

John_the_Boy

https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-long-handled-radiator-brush/p/0512387

I have something similar and it worked a treat.

Ebe_Scrooge

Some excellent ideas already.  One other trick to try - when the heating is on, hold a vacuum cleaner nozzle on the top of the radiator, and give the radiator a few slaps with your hand.  This usually dislodges quite a lot of dust, which gets blown up to the top by the heat, then sucked straight into the vacuum.  Probably not as thorough as the "cloth on a wire" technique, but it's a quick and simple way of getting rid of quite a lot of the dust.

Apodemus

bbat said:

Thank you for the tips. I didnt think about net curtain wire. While that might be slower I think its prob the first thing for me to try. Thanks!

Net curtain wire is also really good for poking through the fridge drain to keep it clear (although a long cable-tie also does the trick).

badger09

I've tried all sorts of things. Radiator brushes I've bought were just too stiff, so scratched, rather than brushed the dust.

Best result I had was to use vacuum on strongest setting 1st, then I bent a curtain wire in the middle and put each end into an old pair of tights. Looked extremely odd (anyone remember Olive Oyl, Popeye's girlfriend?) but worked quite well.

neilmcl

https://www.lakeland.co.uk/22322/Microfibre-Radiator-Brush

daivid

When I played clarinet I used a square of cloth with a weighted string attached to one corner to clean it. Drop the weight through then use the string to pull the cloth through. I'd imagine the same idea would work with radiators.

bbat

Thanks all some great ideas! Will put them to the test