The Callaloo Company

                                                          Blind Basics Page

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Basic Components

Our woven/bamboo curtains has a very simple construction with three major components. (The pictures we are showing is a Singapore Blade design with off white cloth edging. It has a roman style raising mechanism. The pictures are a little blurry, but I think it gets the point across, the photos are  actually of our backdoor!!)

(1) Bamboo Mat

The major component of bamboo blind is the bamboo mat itself. The bamboo Mat is made up of wood slats, bamboo matchsticks or a combination of both (depending the bamboo style you have chosen). The mat itself is made as one piece by threading together the different types of wood or bamboo with polyester or nylon yarn.  Different thread patterns and colors can be used depending on the blind style chosen. The valance (6-8" long) is made as part of the mat.

A cloth edging is stitched on and used to cover the ends of the bamboo. This is done to protect the edges of the mat itself or the window from damage. (You can choose the blinds with or without this option.)

(2) Header Bar

When the valance is lifted, the wooden header bar is revealed along with the pulleys. Two dispersion pulleys and a locking pulley for the blinds are screwed on to the header bar. (All the pulleys are made of strengthened plastic and brass). The dispersion pulley are used to convey the pull cords over the width of the blind. There will be a minimum of 2 pulleys and sometimes more depending on the blind width. The locking pulley is used the lock the blind in the opened (raised) position. (note that the pull cords pass thru to the back of the blinds thru two reinforced holes in the bamboo mat)

6-8 inches of the bamboo mat is folded over the the header bar, this comes the valance!! On certain design's bamboo blinds also have a lower wooden rail.

The wooden header bar is also used to anchor the blind itself to the wall. (with 2" wood screws). It has predrilled holes on two sides of the bar. The lower holes is for inside mounting (ie drilled upwards) and the parallel holes are for outside mounting (ie drilled sideways).

Important: to lock/unlock the blind

Raise (open) the blind to any position. Angle the cord to about 60 degrees to your right, this will activate the locking mechanism and hold the blind in that position. To unlock, angle the pull cord ~60 degrees to the left and this will free the locking mechanism.

(3) Pull Cords

Pull cords are made of nylon or polyester. In general there are two pull cords terminating at a series of wooden beads. Please grasp the beads when raising or lower the blinds. Pulling the cords separately will cause the blind to be raised or lowered in a lopsided fashion.

The pull cords start from the wooden beads (shown above) pass thru the locking pulley, thru the dispersion pulley and thru a hole in blinds to the back of the blinds. The pull cords then, are run thru a series of retaining rings and terminated at the bottom of the blinds.

Therefore by pulling on the wooden beads on the pull cords, you will be effectively raising the bamboo mat from the back and bottom of the blinds. While raising the blinds, each time the retaining rings are encountered, a pleat is formed and the blind folds upwards like an accordion. (ie roman style!!). The number of retaining rings control the number of pleats.

ROLLUP Style is almost identical in design except that the raising cords are in front (roman style the cords are behind the blinds) and the bamboo mat is rolled up like a fire hydrant hose to the top of the blinds. All other mechanism are the same.

And that's all there is to it...................  If they are any questions or some explanations were not clear, please Contact Us we are here to help.

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