What are Roller Blinds? And Uses
For the uninitiated, a roller blind is a flexible window shade. It is made flexible because its main component is fabric or vinyl material that is wrapped around a long drum within a housing that sits on top of the window. The fabric hangs down and covers the window. At the bottom, the fabric is attached to a thin weight of the same width as the roller blind. The weight helps the blind to unfold and stay in place. The purpose of the drum at the top is to roll up the blind when not required and provide you a clear and unobstructed view of anything that is on the other side of the window. Because the roller blind is usually made from fabric or vinyl, it is available in almost unlimited variety of shades, designs and patterns.
You can find a roller blind to suit almost any room, both in terms of colour as well as decor. Made from a single piece of vinyl or fabric material, there is no interference from seams or hems. This makes roller blinds snag-free and incredibly smooth to operate.
If the window you intend covered faces the sun, a vinyl roller blind would be best suited for it. Vinyl blocks the sun’s UV light well and its colours also hold up to constant exposure to sunlight. Fabric on the other hand, provides you with an almost unlimited variety of shades, designs and patterns.
A roller blind is usually lowered or raised by pulling on a cord that hangs on the side of the blind. The cord rotates the drum which in turn, depending on the direction of the rotation, will either lower or raise the blind.
Cordless varieties of commercial roller blinds are also available. In the cordless roller blind, the drum at the top is equipped with a spring tension whose function is identical to the spring in the hand-wound watch or clock. The spring is tensed when the roller blind is fully extended (opened). This type of roller blind usually has a hook to lock it open. The hook is located at the bottom of the window. When the blind is unhooked, the spring in the housing above rotates an internal drum that rolls up the blind.
The spring system eliminates the need for a cord and also eliminates dangers of having a cord dangling at the side of the Roller blinds Sydney. For this reason, cordless roller blinds are preferred when there are kids in the house. Obviously, the spring mechanism makes a cordless roller blind slightly more expensive than a corded roller blind. The only downside is that over time, the spring can lose tension or come loose. Fortunately, the Roller blinds suppliers you bought the blind from, will have replacements available or alternatively (since it will only happen many years down the line), you could use the opportunity to buy newer model roller blinds.
At the bottom end of the roller COMMERCIAL BLINDS, you have the option of selecting a blind with a weight (usually a thin, long piece of wood or metal or heavy rubber) or a blind with a hook. The advantage of the former is the roller blind can be raised or lowered half-way. The disadvantage is that if the window is open, the breeze can cause the weight to create a racket as it bangs against the wall.
The roller blinds that have a hook at the end are usually cordless variety and they do not create a racket even with the window open. However, you cannot open the blind half-way. It is either fully open or fully closed. Choose therefore, Vertical Blinds with the third option - a weight and a hook. These however, are only available with cord.
