The rolling shade has long been around in home function and fashion and probably will continue to be a staple in home design for years to come. They are a great way to provide shade from the glaring sun, give you some privacy and at the same time, look good doing it.

Roller shades are made from different materials: fabric, vinyl, wood or plastic. The cording is either nylon or cotton. Over time, as with all window treatments, they do accumulate dust and dirt.

To give a light dusting, simply use a feather duster or use the attachment on the vacuum cleaner.

For stains and spills, use a clean, soft, damp cloth. This will clean most stains. If the cord is stained, a bleach pen can be used. Remember to follow up with a damp cloth to remove as much of the bleach as possible. Test a piece of cord first, though. Sometimes bleach will dissolve certain types of cording.

If the roller shade is very dirty, begin by dusting. Once your shades have been dusted, you’ll need to dampen a sponge or washcloth in mixture of warm water and mild soap. Next, proceed to gently wipe down shades in small circular motions. When performing the cleaning process, make sure to pay special attention to any areas of your shades that feature caked-on dirt or dust deposits. Once you’ve vigorously cleaned your shades, dry them with a clean cloth before proceeding to roll them up.

For roller shades too big for the tub, take them outside and clean them on the patio. Here’s what you do: clean the patio first so you have a clean workspace, then lay the shade down with most of it rolled up. Say you have about a two-foot long section to work with. Clean that section, roll it up, unroll from the bottom, and so on. It takes time, but you will end up with clean shades.

Fabric roller shades can be cleaned in the same way. If the shade contains removable metal or plastic pieces, remove them first. Some fabric shades are machine washable; be sure to read the instruction leaflet first.

If a fabric shade has instructions that state it should only be dry-cleaned, then take the shade to a reputable business. Do not attempt to wash this in the tub or washing machine.

For vinyl shades, never use alcohol, ammonia or bleach. These substances will cause the material to deteriorate over time. Stick to mild soap and water. Before using a commercial cleaner, check the ingredients to ensure it does not contain these substances.

Room-darkening shades are coated with a special substance that should be cleaned with a damp cloth only. Placing this in a tub with a scrub brush or washing machine may remove this coating and ruin its effectiveness.

No matter what type of roller shades you have, regular cleaning will keep them looking great.

Roman shades is the perfect way to add elegance and style to your window. They are sometimes called roman blinds so the next you come across this term it actually just means the same thing. This type of window treatment is becoming really popular among home interior designers. That is because these blinds are able to provide the classy look and ambience, they could be costlier than the other types of blinds but they are absolutely worth it.

Fabric roman shades are the most common in the market although there is a also a demand for wood woven and vinyl ones. The fabric ones are the most popular of course because they provide the same effect as draperies plus they are pretty easy to clean and maintain. They can be made from almost any types of fabric and it depends on the purpose of the blinds. If it’s just for providing privacy you can choose from the blinds that are made out of translucent fabrics. For the room darkening ones you need to have block out fabric to do the job effectively. Cotton,, polyester, lining and even silk are some of the fabric used in making roman blinds.

In general there are 4 distinctive designs when we talk about fabric roman shades. They are the classic,European, flat and hobbled. There are also some other variations but these 4 are the most common ones. The classic shade basically pulls up from the bottom when opened. Each column’s bottom ring is ties to the lift cord then threaded up through the remaining rings. The flat blinds basically just use one fabric panel to fold over the next when raised. It’s also one of the most common shades design in the market. The European style works pretty much like the flat except that it makes a U shape at the bottom when raised giving it a more elegant and stylish look. Finally the hobbled use a cascading movement and look when raised so it is very much like draperies or curtains being raised. All the 4 syles are great but my recommendation is that if you have a minimalist or modern home try to use the flat or classic look. For the more European style of décor you should give the hobbled and European look a try.

This just came in from Washington Post. Apparently there was a recent recall of roman shades and roll up blinds there were manufactured by Whole Space Industries LTD and imported by Meijer and they were being sold at a variety of home décor retail stores nationwide in the US. The blinds were believed to have to been made in the Far Eastern country in Asia and they were manufactured between March last year and Sept this year. The report says that around a quarter of million blinds and shades have been recalled so far.

Why were they being recalled? Apparently there was imminent danger of the exposed inner cord and the fabric on the back of the roman shades. So a young child’s neck could be caught in between especially when he or she pulls it and wraps it around his neck. Similarly for roll up blinds there was a problem with the lifting loops where the child’s neck can be caught in between the loop and the roll up blinds.

The recall is seen to be just a safety precaution and it is not a knee jerk reaction to any incident. So far there have not been any reported cases of young children who were hurt from these blinds. However it is always wise for parents and care givers to take the precautionary safety measures on the blinds, shades and curtains that they have at home. It’s a good practice not to leave any cords dangling or within reach of your young child. Better still is you can install window treatments that do not have all these things like plantation shutters.

For more information on safety tips and recommendations for window coverings you can contact Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) if you live in the US. WCSC is a coalition of US manufacturers, retailers and importers and it was setup in 1994 with the purpose of educating American consumers about window coverings safety.

Would you believe that roller shades have been around for more than a 100 years? At that time it was in the form of roller roman shades. They are great for providing privacy as well as to darken the room or protect the room from the strong sunlight.

So roller shades are basically made out of a stiff fabric that is wound around a wooden or metal roller. In order to make it roll, a spring mechanism is incorporated so that the blind can be raised and lowered to any position and then released to recoil to its top rolled up state.

To complete the shade, there is a firm metal rod at the bottom to keep it straight as well as to weigh it down when lowered. The base is sometimes decorated with braid, frills and accessories. Nowadays roller shades are made out of both fabric and vinyl or PVC. This makes it easier to clean and it won’t be damage by moisture so it can be used even in the bathroom. They can be used on their own or you can mix it with curtains at the side.

The pulley system of the shades is pretty simple as it uses just a chain or cord at the side to raise and lower the shade. If you can afford it you should go for the motorized ones and they usually come with a remote controls and timer as well.

Like the other types of blinds you can choose from either the outside or inside mount. The inside mount will be installed within the window frame so the brackets will be installed at top of frame. The outside mount shades on the other hand are meant to cover the whole window frame and a bit of the wall. So the brackets are installed on the wall at the top of the window frame.

One of easiest window coverings that you can make is actually classic roman shades. This is because part of the shades is made out of fabric as opposed venetian blinds where you need equal length wooden or plastic slats to make the blinds. I have summarized the whole procedures on how to make roman blinds below. For a more detail explanation you can watch the video

First of all you need to measure the height and width of the window. For inside mount blinds it will not cover the trim of the window where as an outside mount blinds will.

Assuming that you already have the fabric. So just cut the fabric but make sure the height is about 9-10cm longer and the width is about 4cm wider than the window’s measurement. At this point you should also get the lining ready by cutting the same fabric and the lining should be the same length as your fabric but about 2cm shorter than the width of the fabric

You would have known by now that roman blinds fold upwards when drawn. The folded areas are called pleats and you create them by inserting solid rods or slats into the sewn pockets that you created for each pleat. You need to determine what is the length of each folded area. Measure where you want the pockets to be but they are usually about 16-24 cm between the pockets. You should by measuring from the bottom of the shade to the first pocket which is usually half of the length between your remaining pockets. Just make sure to mark all these measurement clearly. Repeat it a few times to make sure that you did not make any mistakes.

Next you need to plan for the pockets where you want the rods to be inserted. Use the fabric and cut into strips to make the pockets. Make sure you leave an opening to insert the rods. You will then need to sew plastic rings on each pocket but please do not sew them on the lining or the shade. There are usually a row of the rings on each side of the shades. Once all these are done then insert the slats or rods into each pocket. Make sure that the rods are shorter than the length of the pocket.

Attach your shades to the head rail and bottom board. The cut some nylon cords and tie the knot at the bottom ring and go through the rest on the same row and the next one as well. Once this is done you can hang the shades up and test the mechanism to ensure that everything is working fine.

Roman shades are great as they can keep the sunlight out so they are most suitable to be used in bedroom and in places where you want more privacy. In addition installing this type of shades is not difficult. Below are 6 easy steps that you can follow to install your roman shades.

Step 1: You need a manual screw driver or a cordless one with quarter inch hex head bit a measuring tape and a hammer.

Step 2: Then unpack your blinds from the box. Make sure that you take out all the accessories that come with it. Please also read the manual that comes with it just in case they are any special instructions required.

Step 3: You should start with the mounting bracket which goes at the top of your window. Measure and mark around two and half inches in from each site of the window. Line up the bracket on the mark area to make sure that they are even.

Step 4: Then use a starter screw to mark where the mounting screws will go into the bracket. Tap gently using a hammer. Finally fasten the screw in tightly.

Step 5: It’s time to fasten the blinds into the brackets. Just push the head rail of the blinds into the bracket until you hear a clicking sound.

Step 6: Test the blinds by lowering and raising it to ensure everything is fixed properly.

You can also refer to the video below if you need a visual guide on how to do this the right way. Believe me it is not difficult and in no time you will be an expert in this.