Venetian blinds - safety questions re cords?

[windandrainy]

Our living room bay and side windows currently have Venetian blinds that are over 25 years old. On the left of each blind are two long cords, they change the angle of the blind. On the right of the blind are two more long cords which you pull on or release to lift the blinds up and down.

We have a 12 month old who isn’t independently mobile yet but who is very interested in the cords. We know we need to replace the blinds to meet current safety standards.

I had a blinds fitter out for a measure and quote, I asked if we could have a ‘twiddle stick’ (sorry I don’t know the proper name!!) instead of the cords on the left. He said these are only for metallic blinds and our windows are too tall anyway for a twiddle stick to work..(?)

It seems any replacement would still have cords? I feel as though I’m missing something?

(Unfortunately, curtains won’t work. The windows are over 6ft tall and face south and east. In the summer sunshine it would be unbearable without the blinds.)

Could you just put a hook on the wall and hook the cords up out of reach of the toddler? Or cut them shorter.

Shutters?

So, the tilting strings are 'circular/closed' and the opening strings open!? If that is the case the tilting strings are the danger and need attaching to the wall so they run through a fitting. These are readily available. Then they cannot be used for any game etc. You can open them as normal. The dangling lifting ones are not as dangerous but can be looped up

No, they are all straight / dangling cords. They’re very old so I think were designed and installed before the ‘looped’ safety regulations?

Shutters wouldn’t work I’m afraid.

Just hang the cords higher up (out of reach) and unhook to adjust the blinds.

You could install slatted shutters instead.

Hook the cords high up so your child can't reach them. If the window frame is wooden it should be easy to screw a hook in

We've had roller blinds installed on our bedrooms and they have plastic string things that are attached to the window frames. Might that work?

Or drill hooks higher up and make sure to wrap the cords up each time?

The problem with shutters is that you can never have a bare window, the windows are lovely and large and it would be a shame to cover them up in that sense.

So it seems like the solution is not to spend money on new Venetian blinds as there would be no new safety features with them, and just to use hooks to loop up the existing cords.

The cords on my newish blinds (not Venetian) pop out of the fitting at the top if any pressure is applied to them, so if anything/one got tangled in them they come loose. Which can be annoying but having been witness to my cat managing to get his back legs caught in the cords on my old blinds I’m more than willing to put up with. I really don’t know what would have happened to my cat if I hadn’t been there as he was suspended by his back legs in mid air (he’d been jumping from the window sill onto the sofa and got his legs caught).

The cords are also metal beads which I think may break under greater pressure.

I've just had new blinds fitted and they have similar cords. The length of cord on one was quite long - I checked with the fitter and they said it would be fine to trim the cord to shorten it. Blinds also came with a plastic hook that the excess cord can be looped on to prevent it dangling. You could do the same?

Yes, you need a wand on them OP. Rol Lite and Luxaflex blinds both offer these for venetians (wood and metal). I work in the trade. And you could go for motorised versions which would be completely cordless. I think Luxaflex are offering a free motorisation upgrade over the next month or so...