section on this page since woven curtains are slightly different from your everyday garden variety vinyl curtains!

Note important: 
Please also read Customer Advice. Morsels of information from errant orders.

O.K.... just a Reminder ( as per some of our customers requests.) 
You can always turn off the music by lowering the volume on your speakers!!! Right click on the speaker icon on your computer OR  turn down the sound volume controls on your speakers. 

Stuff You Should Know
Over the years of selling our bamboo curtains we have boiled down some of the important bits of information that you as an informed customer should know prior to considering a purchase.

Click on any of the topics below for more information:

Get the insider information on how to buy your blinds at the  lowest price. Get details on all the sales gimmicks and teasers that you will see on the web!

Raising Style

There are currently six styles of draw string Bamboo curtains. The two most common are Roll Up and Roman Style. These raising styles are very very different from normal 2" wood blinds. We have sold both styles of curtains, your choice will depend on the decorating motif you are trying to achieve. There is no difference in prices between the two styles. 

 RollUP Style
            
This is probably the oldest and most traditional style for bamboo blinds.  Long ago in the cave man days, when there where a hole in the wall called a window, this is what was used!!. Sounds ancient! well it is!.... 
Basically, the blind rolls up from the bottom.
Pro's: Its a very very simple mechanism, 
Con: Pull Cords are exposed in the front of the blinds. If privacy liner is used, the liner will be exposed when the blind is rolled up.
RollUP style was used in conjunction with cord cleats to manage the blinds.

On another note:
Recently most of the manufactures in the U.S have abandoned the rollup style in favor of of the roman style only. This was done at the recommendation of the of the window covering safety council association due to a rash of strangulations of children under 5 years. Please see the attached link for more information. http://www.windowcoverings.org/60.htm.
The original premise of these instruction was to remove cord loops from blinds but was later extended to rollup blinds as well.

For the record; We do not agree with this decision.
If you have young children under 6 years old, do not buy or expose them to the rollup style blinds. Eliminating a style that has existed for the last 1000 years is a silly knee jerk reaction. More importantly, the rest of the world has not abide by this by this recommendation, so what have they learnt that we have not?
 

Roman Style  
This is a relatively new style (well....... 60-70 years!! ).  Basically, the blind pleats up from the bottom every 8" 
Pro's: Pull Cords are not visible
Con: a more complicated mechanism with more points of failure.

Please Note: This style is NOT available in the South Africa and India Collections. Both collections are from very old cultures, they ONLY make blinds in Rollup style as per their traditions.

  Top Down Style  
This is a very new style, that was developed in the U.S. Its essentially a roman blind that raises from the bottom instead of the top. Therefore as the blind is lowered, the opening begins from the top not the bottom like traditional blinds.
Pros: Excellent for morning sun applications
Con's: Much more complicated and prone to failure than the roman style. There is an additional charge for this style.

                                                   
 Rollease       

Instead of normal pull cords to raise and lower your blinds, Rollease is a replacement for pull cords.
Its a clutch chain mechanism or "Rollease", t is also commonly known as a "continuous loop" mechanism. There is a surcharge for this option the head rail is widers ~ 2 1/2", ie you will need a deeper window for inside mounts.

Please Note: This style is not available on the South Africa, India and Thailand Blinds.

Top Down/Bottom Up
Same a top down system, but in this case you can raise the blinds from the bottom AND lower it from the top!

Verticals        

Hobbled

Old Roman

Mounting Style

There are two mounting styles available. (your curtains will come with both options). Inside (recessed) and outside window frame mounting. 
An inside mount is often used to provide a finished, built-in look without covering your window molding. 
An outside mount can make your window appear larger, provide a more open view or even hide an unattractive window or molding. (Choice of style usually depends on the window type and decorating style, for example, large top window overhang makes outside mounting difficult). (Following the Far East traditions, we opted for the outside mounting as have most of our customers.) 

            Inside Mount                    Outside mount
                                             

    Advantages/Disadvantages of Inside and Outside Mounting

Bamboo ratings description

Category	Low          High
Uniqueness
Cost $
Quality
Privacy
Delivery Speed

O.K so what does this mean............
Based on our 11 years worth of bamboo blinds experience, we have come up with a rating system to help you select a blind style.
Uniqueness: How unusual the style is compared to what's out in the market.
Delivery speed: A number of our blinds are actually made in other countries and air freighted to the U.S. Delivery times can be low (2 weeks) and high (8 weeks)
Quality: An elusive qualitative description. There are some blinds that are extremely unique but do not have good quality. (For example, the blinds from Thailand are average in uniqueness but one of the best quality blinds we have seen thus far)
Privacy: For Bedrooms, bathrooms etc, select a blind that is high on the privacy scale.

A blind is initially manufactured as a bamboo mat and then fabricated into a blind. Hence the discrimination between country of manufacture and fabrication. The large portion of our bamboo blinds is manufactured overseas as bamboo mats and fabricated in the U.S. into blinds. In either case Transferable lifetime warranty is supplied by The Callaloo Company.

 

 

 

Cloth Edging

Cloth edging is a border of cloth material that is sewn permanently around the edges of the curtain to prevent damage or frayed edges. Not only does it protect the end of the matchsticks from damage, it also protect the paint on your window walls from damages caused by the matchstick ends rubbing against them. (Another Far East tradition)

From experience, we strongly recommend this option, for all the window blinds. (We have a two year old with little fingers that have pincer like qualities. These fingers seem to gravitate directly to the exposed curtain edges, click here to see what cloth edging looks like). 
Cloth edging is maximum of 1" wide and is required when privacy liners are used. We have a large color selection for cloth edging, to match your decorating tastes. 

If cloth edging doesn't suit your decorating style, then a simpler top and bottom rails may be the answer.

Please Note: This option is FREE with the Thailand Collection and not available with the S. Africa Collection. All other collections have this option available at a surcharge

Window Frame Depth

Window frame depth is only important on an Inside Mount.  This window depth is required to mount the blind header securely to the window frame. Some windows have little or no window depth (like double hung windows), in this case the only option is an outside mount. 

Thailand, India Collection
Minimum of 1 1/2" of depth (window frame) is required for an inside mount installation. The actual width of the blind including the header bar is 1".

All Other Collections
Minimum of 2 1/2" of depth (window frame) is required for an inside mount installation.