Venetian blinds originate from all the way back in the 1770’s when Venetian merchants were travelling in Far East countries. I can safely say that since then they have evolved quite a bit!
Venetian Blinds are made from horizontal slats connected by guide wires. The slats are usually 25, 35 or 50mm. When completely closed the slats slightly overlap each other to block out the light.
Controls
Venetian blinds are controlled using two chords, one which raises and lowers the blinds and one which tilts the slats to control the light. Depending on who you purchase your blinds off you may have a choice of control side, alternatively you may have the choice and be stuck with tilt left, raise right or visa versa.
Materials
• Aluminium – If you are looking for a venetian blind at a bargain price then aluminium is probably the best material to choose. Aluminium is cheaper than wood for many reasons; cost of raw materials, transportation, deforestation. Although if you are really set on wood then you might be interested in wood-effect venetians. From a distance they are identical to real wood blinds and there is a good choice of colours on the market.
• Real Wood – Many people will say there is no comparison to a real wood blind, and I can partly agree with this, they do provide a truly stunning effect. Sometimes though real wood can be just a bit too expensive, although prices do seem to be falling lately. Also wood blinds can become brittle if they receive too much sunlight which is a problem that aluminium doesn’t suffer from.
Cleaning
• Wipe Clean – Blinds, especially venetians, are notorious for collecting dust and grime. Luckily both wood and aluminium blinds are wipe clean materials, which means you can simply wipe the dust off with a standard cloth. If you would like an easier solution ostrich feather dusters are available which ease the cleaning greatly. For more stubborn stains you will probably need to use a warm damp cloth.
Sizes
Obviously the sizes available largely depend on the supplier you purchase your blinds off, that being said aluminium venetians are usually available in larger widths as it is much easier to get long lengths of aluminium than it is real wood. That being said it is not hard to find suppliers of real wood venetian blinds at up to 2.5 meters of around 8 foot. But if you have extra wide windows aluminium venetian blinds can span up to around 4 meters.
Tags: cleaning, controls, materials, sizes, Venetian Blinds