How to Remove Mini Blinds

Locating the Brackets

Raise the blinds all the way up. Depending on the type of blinds you have, you will either need to push them up from the bottom or pull the cord to draw them up. Drawing the blinds up will prevent you from accidentally damaging them.

Stand on a ladder to reach the top of the blinds if necessary. Some home blinds may be within reach, but for others, you may need a ladder. Ask another person to hold the ladder steady as you climb it.

Snap off the cover or valence if you have one. Some blinds may have a bar, valence, or box over the headrail at the top. This cover hides the brackets from view. To remove it, look on the bottom for 2 buttons or clips. Press down on the clips with your fingers and snap the cover forward and off. You should now see the headrail and brackets.

Look for raised cubes at each end of the headrail. You should have 1 bracket on each end of the blinds. Brackets look like cubes. They should protrude slightly from the main support bar. If your blinds are very long, you may have additional brackets along the center of the headrail.

Identify if you have hinged brackets or sliding brackets. Hinged brackets typically have a panel on the front that snaps to the bottom of the bracket. You may see a raised lip with an opening on the bottom. Sliding panels are attached to the front of the bracket. They may have a small, raised shape on the front to help you push it to the side. A good way to tell is to try to slide the front of the bracket. If it moves to the side, you have sliding brackets. If not, you may have hinged brackets.

Taking the Blinds out of the Brackets

Ask another person to hold the blinds if they are very large. Most blinds can be removed by 1 person, but if the blinds are very heavy or very long, you may want to ask another person to keep both hands on the headrail while you undo the brackets. This will help prevent damage to the blinds. Wooden blinds tend to be heavier than plastic blinds, so you may want to ask someone else to help with these.

Remove center brackets first if you have them. For most mini blinds, you will have 2 brackets, 1 on each end of the blinds. If your blinds are very long, however, you may also have center support brackets in the middle. If you have center brackets, undo them first before opening the brackets on the end of the blinds.

Snap open hinged brackets with your hands or a screwdriver. On the bottom of the bracket is a small opening where the bracket closes. Press up against the bottom of the bracket until the hinged front panel springs free. Lift this panel up as far as it will go. Older blinds may be more difficult to open by hand, so you may need a flat head screwdriver instead. Slide the screwdriver under the panel and use gentle pressure to pop the panel open.

Push sliding panels to the side with your hands or pliers. Press and slide the front panel away from the wall until it pops out of the bracket entirely. If it is difficult to slide the panel out with your hands, use a pair of pliers to pull them out. If you are just cleaning or moving the blinds, slide the panels back into the bracket to keep them safe until you are ready to put the blinds back.

Slide the blinds out of the bracket. Once both brackets are open, hold onto the blinds with both hands. Pull the blinds out towards you to remove them from the brackets. You may now clean or replace the blinds. If you are temporarily removing the blinds, place a piece of masking tape on the headrail and write down where the blinds belong so that you can remember where to put them.

Uninstalling the Brackets

Fit a drill with a Phillips head bit or find a screwdriver. Insert the hollow end of the bit into the drill. The Phillips head should be facing outwards. If you have a Phillips head screwdriver, that will work as well.

Unscrew the bolts with the drill or screwdriver. Inside of the square bracket, you should see 1 or more screws. Place the end of the Phillips head screwdriver or bit into the end of a screw. Hold onto the bracket with 1 hand as you unscrew each bracket. If you are using a drill, set the drill to reverse and press down on the trigger to remove the screw. If you are using a screwdriver, turn the screw counterclockwise until it pops out of the wall.

Repeat until each screw is removed. Once the screws are out, take the bracket from the wall. If you are getting rid of the blinds, you may throw out the brackets. Otherwise, save the brackets for later use.

Put the screws and the brackets in a bag to keep them. If you need to save the brackets and screws, place them in a plastic zip bag. Mark the bag with the location of the blinds so that you do not lose them. If you labeled your mini blinds, write the same label on the bag with the brackets. For example, if you marked your blinds as "kitchen door blinds," label the bag with the same thing.