Manufacturers are Becoming Safer With Their Window Treatments

As of December 2018, all newly manufactured stock window coverings should not use cords or have compact, inaccessible pull cords. Sunburst applauds the announcement, as it comes after conversations between the Window Covering Manufacturers Association and the American National Standards Institute, and includes any pre-manufactured window coverings. And while the new safety regulations don’t recall old corded treatments, many in Philadelphia have seen the announcement as an opportunity to install a safer option.

 

What Are The New Window Treatment Safety Standards?

In the past few decades, corded window treatments have been deemed one of the Top 5 Hidden Hazards In The Home by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Toddlers and infants can get intertwined in the cords, causing injury or strangulation, with one report finding that there were almost 17,000 window cord injuries during a fifteen-year period. External cord safety products, like cord wraps and locks, tried to solve the problem, but people did not use them as much as anticipated.

What Do The Safety Regulations Cover?

Every stock (ready-made) window covering made for stores or online must now be cordless or have inaccessible cords. This involves over 80% of all window treatment products purchased in the U.S. and Canada. Custom-made coverings don’t have the same constraints; however, cords can only be 40% the length of the treatment and will default to a tilt rod instead of a tilt cord. These standards affect window coverings made after December 19, 2018, and current shades and blinds have not been recalled.

What Are Your Choices Regarding Cordless Window Treatments?

With the new standards, consumers are now pursuing different safer choices when buying or replacing their blinds and shades. Let’s look at a few window treatments that don’t use cords:

• Plantation Shutters: These fashionable treatments cover the window with sturdy louvers and usually utilize a center tilt-rod. Shutters have been know as the most durable window treatment and are made with either real wood or a faux wood composite that doesn’t warp, crack, splinter, or chip. Plantation shutters have never worked with a cord, so this product has always been considered child-safe.

• Barn Door Window Coverings: Instead of raising up with a cord or tilt rod, barn door coverings attach to a track above the window and slide apart sideways. You can part the panels a tad to bring in some light, or slide them completely apart to frame your window.

• Cord-free Shades and Blinds: Some shades and blinds have modified their mechanics to employ inaccessible cords that won’t dangle down. Other treatments employ motors, which manipulate coverings without touching the treatment. Many shades open and close to their desired height by operating the bottom bar. These treatments come in a multitude of colors, textures, and patterns, and are even available in a variety of semi-translucent fabrics that give you the feel of sheer draperies.
  

Let Sunburst Help You Cut The Cord On Your Window Coverings

If you need to replace your corded shades and blinds with a better treatment, your Philadelphia Sunburst representative is only a phone call away. We have an array of cord-free choices, and we can guide you in finding one that looks great in your windows. Book your free in-home consultation by calling 215-874-4897 today.