Make Sure Your Window Blinds are Safe

When it comes to window treatments safety is probably not your first concern, but it is worth thinking about epically with children in the home. Your blinds are hardly the greatest threat, but according to Parents for Window Blind Safety 495 children in the US have been seriously injured or killed by blinds in the last few decades. Most of these have been caused by the child getting tangled in the control cords and strangling to death. Fortunately there are a few simple steps which can ensure that your blinds are safe.

Buy a cord tidy

By far the simplest measure you can take is to buy a cord tidy to ensure that your children can’t reach the control cords and accidently strangle themselves. This can be as simple as a cleat hook (a two pronged bit of metal that you can screw to the wall and wrap the cords around in a figure of eight shape) or as sophisticated as a ratchet locking system. (A rotating drum with the cords attached insuring allowing you to open or close your blinds by turning the handle). In general the ratchet system is safer as there isn’t the possibility of forgetting and leaving the cords free.

Be careful with cribs and chairs

Children like to climb so try to avoid placing cribs, chairs or other raised surfaces near window blinds. This should help ensure that they don’t climb up and risk getting caught. There have also been cases where the blinds cords have fallen into a crib and the baby has subsequently gotten tangled in them. So the further away from the blinds the better.

Cordless Blinds and Curtains

While the above measures should be sufficient to prevent any accidents if you are redecorating or have just moved in, then it will be worthwhile getting cordless blinds or curtains instead. Roller blind and cellular shades in particular often come with very short or no cords. With all of these products it is also vital that secure them strongly enough that they can resist a child pulling down on them. You don’t want them falling on your child.

Cleaning

If your child has asthma or another respiratory disease then your window treatments could be refuge for dust mites and other allergens. To minimise this risk it is vital to clean them regularly. Fabric blinds and curtains can be vacuumed with the curtain attachment of a vacuum cleaner and cleaned more thoroughly by putting them in a bath tub with a little detergent and swirling them around for five to ten minutes. Plastic, wooden and aluminium blinds should be dusted regularly with a damp cloth.

I hope this advice has been helpful and can help you and your child avoid any accidents.

This is a guest post buy Daniel Frank who is writing on behalf of Wooden Blinds Direct