Things you need to know about Venetian blinds

Choosing a blind for windows is a task. You need to know your priority while choosing a blind for your home or office. Are you looking for privacy, banning the entry of sunlight, diffusing light, and perfect look, ease of use or combination of two or more or all of them? Well, Venetian blinds give you all. They offer your space a great look. They are easy to operate and they also offer sun protection as well as light diffusion. So, you can choose Venetian blinds for your space. However, it is in your interest to know few essential things about Venetian blinds. Here are those points.

  1. Types of Venetian blinds

More popular types of  Venetian blinds which are used for offices and now homes as well are wooden Venetian blinds, aluminum blinds and PVC Venetian blinds in which slats of the blinds are made of wood, aluminum and PVC. Wooden Venetian blinds are more preferred in homes. But they are expensive among all types but they also add exotic look and feel to your room windows. Aluminum blinds are light in weight, they are durable and they are also fire resistant. Aluminum Venetian blinds are also very popular because they also add elegance to your space. PVC blinds are used for bathrooms because of the ability of the blind to sustain steamy atmosphere of the bathrooms.

  1. Sizes and measurements

It is important for you to have a right fit of Venetian blinds to your windows especially if you are going for customized blind option. So, you need to measure inside and outside mount size/s of your window/s and then check if there is matching size/s available in ready-made options. Depending upon the size and availability you can decide.

  1. Benefits of Venetian blinds

Venetian blinds are great as they offer lot of style, look and feel value to the interior décor. Apart from this, you can suspend Venetian blinds to control how much you want the external light to enter your room. If you want more or less light to enter your room to keep it warm or cool, then you can tilt the slats forward and backwards of the windows. You can also maintain privacy as per your liking.

  1. Expenses

Venetian blinds are expensive. Also, if you go for made to measure option then it will be more expensive as compared to ready-made Venetians. This is because customizing Venetian blind’s size as per customer’s requirement is quite difficult job technically. So, you need to decide whether you want to go for ready-made option or a customized piece.

  1. Care and maintenance

Washing Venetian blinds is not easy. If you want to wash them then you need to be sure about it and also follow the complete procedure accurately else blinds can be damaged. Maintaining Venetian blinds is required because they are exposed to external dust, moisture and other harmful elements more often. Also because they are made of wood or aluminum so when you try to clean them do it carefully else you may injure yourself because of sharp edges.

 

Roller blinds vs Roman blinds

When you are choosing blinds for your windows of your rooms at home or office then you may face the
confusion of choosing between roller blinds and roman blinds. Generally when decorating a new or old
house or office, people tend to keep windows treatment at the last of their priorities list. As much this
should not be the case as window treatment is equally important. However, it can be confusing also. So,
how do you decide whether to choose roller blinds or roman blinds for the windows of your house?
Well, here are some properties of the two that will help you decide which one should match your
requirement.

1. Affordability
Cost is an important factor while choosing a blind for your windows. If you are the one who loves to
decorate your space on regular basis then you would like blinds which are more affordable than the
other. So, in this senses you can go for roller blinds because roman blinds are costlier than roller blinds.
But if you want to add luxurious feel to your rooms then you can go for roller blinds.

2. Maintenance & customization

When it comes to maintenance, rollers blinds are easier to maintain. They are light weight and you don’t
need to customize the size of roller blinds to fit your windows. On the other side, roller blinds generally
have to be customized. So, if you have different sizes of windows and you don’t want to customize all
your blinds then roller blinds should be your choice but if you are fine with customization then you can
choose roman blinds. Roller blinds don’t get dirty too soon so they are easy to maintain while roman
blinds get dusts between the layers so cleaning them could be a tough job.

3. Privacy

In many ways roller and roman blinds are same. For example, they both can be pulled up or down.
However, when it comes to blocking sun light roman blinds can block light completely because they are
heavy fabrics. On the other hand roller blinds cannot block sun light completely. They are made of light
fabric and so sun light is still able to filter through the blind keeping your room warm. But this way,
roman blinds offer you more privacy than roller blinds.

4. Styling

Roman blinds are available in different types of fabrics giving you plenty of options to choose from. Silk
and linen are two most common fabrics in roman blinds. This is why when it comes to giving style and
elegance to your room; you are spoilt for choices with roman blinds. They are made of heavy fabrics and
they are also available in many designs. So, you can enjoy great look, drama and privacy at the same
time by choosing roman blinds. On the other hand roller blinds are more useful in offices because of its
business like looks.

5. Space usage

If you are concerned about space taken up by rollers then you can choose roller blinds because they
take up less window space. This allows more light to come into your room. On the other hand roman
blinds because of their structure, hang in fold blocking light more. So, as per your requirement of space
and light you can choose between roller blinds and roman blinds.

Easy Ways to Clean Your Curtain Fabric

You may not clean your curtains on daily or even weekly basis, but that does not mean they don’t need to be cleaned. Your curtains gather lot of dust, dirt, moisture, spots and stains that looks dingy. It is also not good for inner environment of your house. So, you need to clean your curtains on regular basis. Curtain cleaning is also required for better inner air quality and allergic aversions. However, you know that curtains are made of different fabrics and cleaning curtains depend heavily on curtain materials. So, how do you clean your curtain fabrics? Well, here are some easy ways to clean your curtain fabrics.

  1. Cleaning in washing machine

Washing machine is a good option for cleaning curtains depending upon the material of curtain. You should use washing machine if you have light weight fabric. Heavy fabrics should be avoided from washing machine cleaning because heavy curtains retain water. When you use washing machine you need to be sure about how to use it for cleaning. You can choose a normal cool wash with normal laundry detergent. But if you have fabric material that may shrink if washed in washing machine then you should better avoid washing them in machine. Also, in machine wash some fabric materials require special attention otherwise they may lose their quality. For example, if hot water is used for delicate cottons then fabric may shrink.

  1. Hand wash cleaning

Hand wash may be effort taking activity but it is better and safer option many a times.  Hand wash is a good option when you have delicate material and when there is a chance that fabric may shrink like in case you have 100% cotton curtain fabric. You cannot hand wash heavy materials because it is difficult and also removing all the water just by hands is not always possible. As a result, drying will also take longer time than desired. So, you should use hand wash for light weight fabric and delicate material.

  1. Steam cleaning

When cleaning heavy material curtains which if washed would take long time to dry, steam cleaning is an excellent option. Also curtains which are positioned in pace from where it is difficult to pull them down from the roll like ones in your living room, can be quickly cleaned by steam cleaning. If you have high quality steam cleaner then you can use it cleaning your curtains quite frequently.

  1. Dry cleaning

There are some formal or lined curtains, which can be best dry cleaned only. Especially if you have expensive curtains and you are not sure about how to clean them, you should better take it to the experts, dry cleaning house. Don’t try to clean ‘Dry clean only’ curtains on your own, but if you want to try by all means then try your hand on one panel of it first, so that you don’t end up ruining your entire curtain.

So, these are some easy options or ways to clean your curtain fabric. You need to maintain your curtain on regular basis so that they are in shape, size and quality as desired. You can also ask your curtain manufacturer if you have any doubt about how to clean your curtain fabric.

Some effective tips on curtain care

Curtains are integral part of your home. You buy different types of curtains for doors, windows and other spaces. You not only see their functional part but you also choose curtains to enhance interior value of your space. However nothing remains beautiful and fresh if it is not taken care of. You can maintain quality of your curtains by following some useful tips on curtain care. Here are some of them:

  1. Care for window curtains

Before you wash curtains, you should remove all hardware from them. When you wash curtains, make sure to check the care label first. If you have any kind of doubt then you should initially test by washing a small corner of the curtains, with a mix of water and a small amount of liquid laundry detergent or liquid dish soap. Generally most curtains which are washable are needed to be washed in cold water with a small amount of laundry detergent. If you have curtains with delicate lace or you have sheer curtains then you may wash it with hands or machine inside a mesh bag.

  1. Don’t wash always

You cannot wash your curtains always. There are many reasons for not to wash curtains. There may be lining, or any trims and embellishments which are not washable or drapery and lining may be made of different fibers. So, if you go for washing then the fabric may shrink and your curtain would hang stiff and poorly. If the fabric has weakened because of sunlight then also you should avoid washing. Sometimes, your curtains may be too large for your washing machine also.

  1. Press when necessary

After you washed your curtains you need to press them. Apart from this other curtains which you have not washed like that of your living room or bedroom curtains, you can occasionally iron them also to keep pleats looking crisp and to keep the fabric fresh. You should keep in mind when you iron that you don’t damage the fabric. For this when ironing, you can always turn them inside out, put your iron on a low setting and glide the iron gently over the fabric and material of the curtain.

  1. Caring for Lace

You should use dryer on the air cycle to remove dust from lace curtains. If you have lace curtains then check if they are hand- or machine-washable. If they are then you can follow the directions given for the wash on the label or you can gently wash in cool water. You can use detergent that comes for fine washables.

  1. Taking care of sun light

Sun is damaging to curtains. Dust and grime are also destructive to curtain fabrics. If you have light-colored fabrics of your curtains then they generally reflect sunlight and resist fading. And if you have dark colored fabrics then they absorb light and fade. So, to protect curtain fabrics from sun you can use lined window treatments, blinds, or shades.