Before You Buy
What to expect from your blinds and shutters
Every product has its own characteristics, along with a few points on use and care, that are worth knowing about before you choose. The British Blind and Shutter Association (BBSA) sets them out in a guide for each product. Here are some of the main points, with a link to each full guide.
Interior shutters
- Shutters filter light rather than shut it out. If you want a darker room, a room darkening blind can be added behind them.
- Wooden shutters are likely to show natural characteristics such as knots and grain patterns.
- Wooden shutters aren't recommended for high moisture areas, as wood can warp or twist slightly over time.
- Unless a shutter is designed for high-humidity areas it should be kept dry, and condensation should be wiped away to prevent damage.
- A shutter is made square, but window reveals often aren't.
Duette and other cellular blinds
- Whatever the fabric, some light will always get in round the edges of the blind.
- Pull them up for a few hours each week, as this helps them keep their pleated shape.
- The alignment of pleats on neighbouring blinds can't be guaranteed.
- Roof blinds may have holes through the fabric for operating cords and tension wires, which may show when the blind is retracted.
Duo Roller (day and night) blinds
- With opaque fabrics you'll get a good degree of dim-out, but light will still come in round the edges.
- The stripes may not line up exactly with the blind next to it, especially where the drops are different.
- With some fabrics the blind may not run absolutely square, which can leave the hem bar slightly out of level.
Roller blinds
- With opaque fabrics you'll get a good degree of dim-out, but light will still come in round the edges, more so when the blind's fitted inside the window recess.
- The fabric is always narrower than the overall width of the blind, to leave room for the operating system and brackets.
- Slight curving of the fabric at the edges may occur, typically because of changes in humidity.
- On wide or heavy blinds the roller tube can bow slightly, so the fabric may not sit perfectly flat when lowered.
Cassetted (framed) dim-out blinds
- With a fabric that light can't pass through, this style gives the highest degree of dim-out of any blind, and fitting it outside the recess typically improves that further. A very small amount of light will still get in round the side channels and possibly other areas.
- Don't leave the window behind open with the blind lowered, as this can suck the fabric out of the frame.
- The fabric might not look totally flat, as it's held on all edges and expands and contracts as temperatures change.
- A cassetted blind must be fitted square, but window reveals often aren't, so a timber frame or packer may be needed inside the reveal.
Vertical blinds
- When the louvres are fully closed there'll always be a slight gap between them.
- With opaque fabrics you'll get a good degree of dim-out, but light will still come in round the edges and where the louvres close.
- When fully retracted the louvres stack to one or both sides, and the wider the blind, the bigger the stack.
- The louvres need clearance from the sill or floor to work properly, typically 5mm to 15mm, measured at the shortest point of the window. If the sill or floor isn't parallel to the fixing point, the gap could be greater.
Wood Venetian blinds
- Real wood is likely to show knots and grain patterns, and natural shade variation can occur on stained finishes.
- Wood blinds can be heavy, so raising them may take some effort.
- There'll always be some light filtering through the slats.
- They aren't recommended for high moisture areas, as wood can warp or twist slightly over time.
Faux wood Venetian blinds
- They're made from a synthetic material, typically PVC, and can be heavy, so raising them may take some effort.
- Slight dipping or bowing between the supporting ladders may be visible.
- They're more suitable than real wood for bathrooms and kitchens.
- On exceptionally hot days, particularly on south facing windows and in conservatories and sunrooms, heat building up behind the blind can permanently twist the slats. It's recommended that the slats aren't fully closed, so some air can flow through. In those conditions a closed curtain or other covering over the blind isn't recommended either.
Aluminium Venetian blinds
- There'll always be some light filtering through the slats, and any gaps between fully tilted slats will be greater towards the bottom of the blind.
- The head and bottom rail are steel, so they may not be an identical colour match to the slats.
- They're suitable for rooms with high humidity, as long as there's adequate ventilation and no direct water contact.
- The exact drop may not be possible, so an extra slat may be added, leaving the blind slightly longer than ordered.
Folding arm awnings
- A wall-mounted awning with no other support is a sun shading product. It isn't designed for adverse weather.
- It must be retracted when the wind speed goes above the wind resistance class stated by the manufacturer, and it's important it's fully retracted before strong winds arrive, as retracting it in high winds can cause damage.
- Wind sensors aren't a failsafe, and some may not work unless the awning is fully extended, so it's ultimately your responsibility to make sure it's retracted. If the awning is operated automatically via a sensor, any limits set on it mustn't be changed.
- Some waviness around the seams can be a characteristic of awning fabric.
Child safety with blinds
Blinds with cords or chains could pose a risk of strangulation to young children. The BBSA recommends inherently safe products, meaning safe by design. If you choose a product with additional child safety devices, these must be securely fitted as advised. There's more on window blind safety at makeitsafe.org.uk.
How to judge the finish
The BBSA guides also set out how to check a product's appearance. Stand 2m away from an interior product, in lighting suitable for normal room use, or 3m from an exterior product in diffuse daylight. Look straight at the surface, with the naked eye and any glasses you normally wear.
Wondering how dark a room can really get? See our guide to room darkening.
If anything here raises a question about your own windows, call us on 0800 086 2989.