Woven Wood Blinds - The Ins And Outs

I love wood woven blinds because they are the same as bamboo blinds. These are
blinds that I experienced when I was growing up. Grandmother and Grandfather had woven wood blinds installed on their large front porch. They were necessary in order to shade us from the bright western sun, which would shine in our eyes without it. The porch was a welcome retreat in the days before air conditioning or evaporative cooling so we always lowered it late in the afternoon. I grew up with the outdoor woven wood blinds.

Woven wood blinds are extremely heavy because they are made from bamboo. These bamboo slats are more numerous than the wooden slats made from hardwood. They are woven through highly strong polyester fiber stands, which are many. The bamboo is split in half and may in some sizes and models be heavier than a hardwood or basswood blind. This is because the bamboo may be thicker than the wood blind. These woven wood blinds may appear no different from a bamboo rug or mat. Some of them may not have any more light adjustment ability than a bamboo mat either.

Woven wood Roman blinds are used best inside homes where there are large picture windows. Woven wood Roman blinds are made into 6” to 8” panels. These panels utilize a sliding movement behind one another by means of control cords. These are separate from the vertical polyester bands and allow the easy movement of the blind. These woven wood blinds are made in various patterns involving different natural shades and unique designs. Many of them have immensely artistic geometric designs and would greatly enhance the interior design of any den or bedroom. The other method of moving the blinds to adjust the light is through rolling the blind from the bottom to the top. This wears on the woven wooden blind greatly and can cause them to fail. Their strapping eventually fails and cannot be economically repaired. There are some variations on the vertical wood blinds where bamboo is constructed into 6” wide vertical slats that are mounted on reliable hardware located on the sill and the headboard of the window. Bamboo is certainly a plentiful material. I have enough growing outside my backdoor to construct several houses worth of woven wood blinds if I so desired.

Bamboo is extremely tough. Perhaps this is the reason behind why the strapping fails. The bamboo is harder and tougher than the polyester fibers used to weave the horizontal slats of bamboo. It simply wears the more flexible fiber out. After all in Southeast Asia bamboo mats are used to construct entire houses, They, in various thicknesses are used for floors, walls and the bamboo leaves are used as thatching for the roof. Bamboo gains its strength from its high silicon content. This also became the original “Rouladen” or “Roulades” of the Germans. Woven wood blinds could even surpass other forms of blinds in providing physical security; particularly in preventing damage or injury from flying glass during storms or during wartime.