Have you ever bought a product and said to yourself ?Now I have to learn how to use it?? There are so many controls? The same reasoning can apply whenever purchasing horizontal window blinds. Oftentimes I have been to a restaurant and observed that the window blinds covering the windows have these strings and wands hanging down from the head rail and wonder what they are. These wands and strings are what make the window blinds do what the user wants them to do in a very specific manner according to a very specific need at a very specific time. Have I confused you yet? Is the person who installed your blinds took the time to explain to you how to operate it and get the most benefit out of the product? If you installed your own blinds, a very common occurrence in today's world, did you bother to read the operating instructions that normally accompany the product? If you are anything like me, you most likely did not and I welcome you to the club.



Unlike vertical blinds, window blinds are made up of wood slats in a horizontal position with a tilting and lifting mechanism, built in the head rail, which allows the end user to tilt the slats back and forth and lift the slats completely out of the way.

The component that allows the user to tilt the slats back and forth is called the tilter. This tilter mechanism can be either cord or wand operated and does the fabricator of the wood blind usually make a choice unless specified by the consumer at the time the order is placed. Depending on which cord is pulled or in which direction the wand is rotated, the slats will tilt either back or forth thus allowing for the preferred setting according to a particular need for privacy or light control.

One should always be careful whenever rotating the wand tilter or pulling on the tilter cords not to overpower the component mechanism, albeit there are built in safety limits, overpowering could cause damage and will require replacement and thus a monetary expense to bring back the wood blind to operating condition.

On the other hand, lifting mechanisms are always cord operated with a white or color coordinated cords that run through all the horizontal slats and the bottom rail of the wood blind. These cords are laced through a ?cord lock? which allows the operator to either fully raise the wood blind or to partially raise it to a specific point. This type of lifting mechanism is found on most horizontal window blinds with the exception of motorized window blinds or window blinds with a premium continuous cord system. For child safety reasons, window blinds equipped with the optional continuous cord loop must be installed with a safety pulled attached to the wall or window casement by US law.

As often stated in the installation instructions, window blinds are tightly packaged in the raised position. In order to free the slats downwardly, once the blinds are installed and locked into the end mounting brackets, simply pull on the cord lock strings towards the center of the blind and this action will open the cord locking mechanism and release the slats downwardly. If your window blinds were ordered with the optional continuous loop cord, simply pull the cord in the direction that will allow the slats to move downwardly.

Now that you are an expert in the operation of a horizontal wood blind and all its components and functions, on your next visit to a restaurant, commercial setting or just perhaps a friend's house, you will be able to walk up to the blinds and adjust them in a way to express the best of warmest appearance for the benefit of all present. Should you be asked what is it that you are doing, just let them know you finished in the upper 3% of the ?How to Operate a Wood Blind? class and you'd like the world to know it.