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Installing louvered doors in your business can help you add style and increase airflow throughout your facility. Choosing where you use a louvered door in your facility is important since you’ll want to avoid using these doors anywhere you need a fire-rated solution.
As the National Institutes of Health point out, the metal slats in a louvered door will promote the spread of fire and smoke while compromising the door’s effectiveness as a barrier. Additionally, metal slats will absorb the heat from the fire. As a result, the door will give way to the fire faster.
If you do have an ideal place for a louvered door, you’ll want to keep the door in good condition. This work includes keeping the slats and the entire door clean.
Maintaining clean slats in a commercial louvered door can be challenging if you don’t have janitorial experience. While cleaning this type of door isn’t complicated, you can use the following steps to further simplify the process:
To clean the slats in a louvered commercial door, you’ll need a cleaning solution that matches the type of slats. Most commercial louvered doors have metal slats, but you might have a door with wood or glass slats. Choose a polish for wood, a glass cleaner for glass or mirrored slats, or a metal cleaner for metal slats.
You’ll also need a clean, dry cloth. Look for a microfiber cloth that’s soft and non-abrasive. A harsher or rougher cleaning cloth material can scratch the finish on the door's surface, so it’s important to use a cloth designed for delicate cleaning.
Finally, find a ruler or another flat, elongated utensil. You can use a butter knife with a rounded tip, but avoid using anything with a sharp point. A point can penetrate the cloth and damage the louvered door.
Next, you’ll want to apply the cleaning solution to the clean cloth or rag. This application is easier to perform if you pour the cleaning solution into a spray bottle and spray the cloth until it’s damp enough. Otherwise, dip the cloth into the solution and wring out the excess solution.
Apply the cleaning solution liberally to ensure the cloth is damp. A damper cloth will deliver more of the cleaning solution to the slats.
Once the cloth is sufficiently damp, wrap it around the ruler or utensil. You can use a rubber band or adhesive tape to hold the cloth in place. Run the cloth-wrapped end of the ruler across each slat, ensuring you rub it against the top and bottom of every slat. If the cloth gets excessively dirty, replace it with a clean cloth and repeat this process.
The corners of each slat can be especially challenging to clean since you’ll have to get close to screws and crevices. To clean these areas, grab a new, soft-bristle paintbrush and dust the corners of each slat. Again, make sure to dust the top and bottom on both sides of every slat.
After you clean the corner of one slat, flick the paintbrush's bristles. This technique will remove excess dust. If you don’t remove the dust regularly throughout this cleaning process, you will just add more dust to subsequent corners instead of properly cleaning them.
As the final step in cleaning a louvered commercial door, use a clean rag and the appropriate cleaning solution to clean the rest of the door.
Failing to clean the entire door surface will leave dust and dirt to accumulate on the slats faster. Thoroughly cleaning the entire door can minimize how frequently you’ll need to go through this process.
Make sure to remove the dampness left on the surface of the door. This work includes drying the slats in the louvered door. Use another clean, soft, dry cloth to eliminate the excess cleaning solution left on the door’s surface. Lightly polish or buff the surface to avoid scratching the finish.
CDF Distributors sells a broad range of commercial doors, including beautiful louvered doors. Visit us online today to browse our range of commercial and industrial doors.
