Living in the high desert of Central Washington State gives us amazingly lovely seasons. We have beautiful, sunny, mostly temperate Springs and Autumns as well as 300 days of sunshine, which produce wonderful fruit and vegetables. Many justifiably call this area “The Fruit Bowl of the Nation.” Our Winters are a little cooler than the rest of the state and our Summers get a little toastier, making it necessary to use ceiling fans both Summer and Winter.
The spiffy thing about a ceiling fan is that it has the ability to pull air up or push it down, depending on the slant of the fan blades against the air. Most ceiling fans come with a little switch that will change the direction the fan moves and the direction or slant that the fan blades hit the air. The direction of the blades will pull that air up or push it down. In Winter we want the warm air that is congregating on the ceiling to come down and help warm the rest of the house. In Summer, we want the cool breeze of a fan to move the air around, without the warmer air coming down from the ceiling.
Living on a dirt road makes EVERYTHING dusty, including the blades on the ceiling fan. So each year, during the months that the blades are set for the Winter draft, dust tends to settle quite comfortably on the top and forward edge of each blade. When the warm days come and we really need to feel that Summer breeze, it’s time to change the direction those blades move. Changing the direction of a dusty fan, without first cleaning the blades, has ALWAYS caused dust to flutter down on us, like little unacceptable snowflakes, leaving a light layer of dust over everything.
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HERE IS THE EASIEST WAY I KNOW TO CLEAN THOSE FAN BLADES AND CONTAIN THE DIRT AND DUST:
In order to clean the fan, use a sturdy ladder and an old pillowslip that you might be willing to throw away.
TURN THE FAN OFF 
This seems pretty obvious, but I thought I’d better mention it.
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Climb the ladder and stretch the pillow case over a single fan blade, completely covering it. Holding it tightly against the blade, slowly pull it backward to completely wipe the dust and dirt off, and into the pillowcase.
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Do this for each blade of the fan, encasing the dirt and dust inside the pillowcase.
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While up there, change the switch on the base of the fan so that the blades will reverse into a counter clockwise motion.
Then, using the outside of the pillowcase, wipe down the chain pull and gently wipe down the base of the fan and any underside parts you might have missed.
When turning the fan on, for the summer, you will also need to raise the speed of the fan. My fan has a cord to pull, that changes the fan speed. Others have remote controls. Follow the instructions that came with your fan. Raising the speed helps moves the air for a cooler feel and helps disperses the warm air. Once you are finished, you will be able to turn the fan on and have lovely clean breezes descend from above. NOTE: You can now either throw away the dust filled pillow case, or take it out side and shake all the dust out, before washing. Here are the Directions to Clean a Fan for Winter:![033-1024x940[1]](http://homeagainjiggetyjig.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/033-1024x9401.jpg)
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Stephanie!
great tip to lessen the mess when cleaning. Thanks!
Thanks for stopping by, Christina.
Now I know. I don’t have a ceiling fan, but when I do, this will come in handy!
Thanks, KC!
Great tip and thank you for the reminder- our kitchen fan is long past due to be cleaned.
Thanks, Jessy. Appreciate you stopping by.
Great way to contain all the dust particles on the blade. I used to vacuum the blades.
Thanks, Erlene!
Well this is just brilliant! You don’t have to live on a dirt road to have ceiling fan blades that get coated in dust. 🙂 I tend to put this job off because it is so messy. I usually just move the furniture below and wipe it off, letting it fall to the floor. Then there’s sweeping and mopping…
I’m definitely going to give this a try. Thanks so much for sharing! I’m sharing your post too! 🙂
Thanks, Karen! I sure was glad when I finally discovered this simple way to make it easier.
What a beautiful view you have from your house! And thanks for the ceiling fan cleaning tip 🙂
Thanks, Joy! We love living here.
The view from your house is stunning! How beautiful, open and majestic! This pillow case dusting idea is ingenious. Though I don’t have fans, I am sharing this post with all the people I know who do. 🙂 Have a great weekend, Marjie!
Wendy, Thank you so much! Appreciate the share too!
This is very smart. I have never used a pillow slip for this and it just makes so much sense. I am definitely doing this. Thanks.
Thanks, Michelle. It sure made the process less dusty here.
This is a great tip! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for stopping by, Katerina!
What a clever cleaning tip! I never would have thought of that. I’ll have to share it with my mom for sure!
Thank you Kelly! It’s been a lot less dusty at fan cleaning time around here.
Thanks for sharing this great cleaning tip! We also live on a long dirt road. I relate to your dust issues!!
Thanks Diane for stopping by. The dust is never ending on our country dirt road!