Are Your Window Coverings Safe
For Kids and Pets?
By Jeff Mitchell, Regional Sales Manager, Levolor Home Fashions
From the January 1999 edition of Brainwave

Much has been said recently about the safety issue of window coverings, particularly regarding potential illness and injury to children. Obviously this is an important concern for consumers who are parents and new homebuyers. Let me go into a little history, and what to look for when making a decision about what are the best and safest window covering products to put into your home.

In 1996, a tragic situation that occurred in Arizona. A child died of lead poisoning. When local officials investigated the home of the child, the only material found to contain even trace amounts of lead were the low priced, imported vinyl miniblinds. Prior to 1996, on low priced miniblinds like these, lead was used as a stabilizer, to make the slats of the blind more rigid. It was found that the sun's UV rays actually caused a breakdown of the vinyl, creating dust on the surface of the blinds. This dust, as it turns out, contained trace amounts of lead. The speculation was that the child in Arizona either chewed on, or somehow ingested the dust on the blind. While it is still debated whether the amounts of lead present were sufficient to cause illness or death, the situation was serious enough for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) of the US Government to become involved. The CPSC's decision was to rule that any vinyl miniblind sold in the US must be re-formulated to use something other than lead to stabilize the vinyl. Most retailers at that time removed these products from their shelves, until a suitable replacement could be obtained. Since that time other materials, primarily tin, have been utilized in low cost, low price vinyl blinds.

This was never an issue with custom made, high quality, aluminum miniblinds, like those available through No Brainer Blinds. Because the surface of aluminum miniblinds is painted, you should feel comfortable with any aluminum miniblinds you have, or are considering, for your home.

Another important concern is miniblind lift cords. These are the strings that you use to raise and lower your blinds. A rare, but no less tragic situation has occurred where children have been strangled by blind cords. In the past, these cords, as many as four to five, have been knotted together at the end, to allow for easier control in raising and lowering the blinds. The concern was that children could potentially get caught in this "loop" created by the knotting.

We window covering manufacturers decided that we had to do something to make the products as safe as possible for our consumers. Two basic solutions became the norm in the mid- 1990's. One solution, which Levolor Home Fashions has implemented, is to no longer knot the lift cords, thereby eliminating any loops that could cause injury. This multiple cord/tassel situation means that you have a number of cords that have to be grabbed and pulled simultaneously. The other method, used by Hunter Douglas for example, is a tassel that separates when force is applied in the loop created by knotting the cords. While both systems work well in situations where a child may get caught in the loop created by knotting the cords, they do not address a situation that is more prevalent. In most cases where a child is injured by a window covering, it is because the child places the cord in his/her mouth, and the cord gets wrapped around the neck. No number of tassels, or breakaway design can prevent this situation.

There are some easy, common sense rules to apply to window coverings that are in close proximity to where small children or small pets play.

KEEP THE BLIND CORD AWAY FROM THE CHILD, AND THE CHILD AWAY FROM THE BLIND CORD!

This means, DO NOT place cribs, playpens, etc., near windows. If there is no way around placement near a window, then do one of two things. One, when the blind is lowered all the way, cut the cords as close to the top of the blind as possible. Then, re-install the tassels. This will allow Mom and Dad to reach the cords, but keep the cords away from the children. The second suggestion would be to use an old fashion "cord cleat" available at most any window covering retailer, to tie the cord out of reach of the child.

Now, common sense tells us that the safest thing to do would be to eliminate the cords altogether. It was not an easy task to accomplish, but Levolor Home Fashions has perfected the "Cordless" blind. Available from No Brainer Blinds, these products use a patented spring system to eliminate the traditional lift cord. You simply grasp the rail at the bottom of the blind, and lift or lower with your hand!!! We introduced this system in April of 1998 at the "World of Window Coverings" convention to rave reviews. Levolor Home Fashions received four awards for innovation and safety for the Cordless Mark I miniblind. We have also just introduced the first Cordless Cellular Shade, the Cordless Designer Textures.

Regardless of what product you choose to personalize your windows, if there are small children nearby be sure to take the proper steps to insure their safety.

Click here to order FREE child-safety tassels from No Brainer Blinds.