When looking to decorate our windows, cover them for privacy, or simply complete our rooms, we usually only look at the colors of the choice products. However, there are a great many innovative control systems for the window treatments on the market. These developments make our window coverings work better and last longer. Roller shades are a traditional product in window coverings, one which goes back to before the turn of the century. With internal springs to help retract them, pull shades have finally met their match, the chain, or clutch, drawn roller shades. Roller shades made with springs would be lowered manually, either by the pulling down of the roller shade or a tassel attached to the bottom of the shade fabric, to lower them.
To raise spring roller shades, one would tug at the bottom of the shade, or if there is a tassel- tug the roller shade tassel. However, one can see that there would develop problems in roller shades that are manually manipulated. Roller shades could become dirty with the ongoing touching that is required to control the shades is regular touching of the fabric. Shade fabric can tear, bend or become otherwise damaged with this constant stretching and pulling.
Finally, control springs can break over time, cause roller shades to not roll up properly, sometimes not allowing them to be controlled at all, without consumer intervention. So, to fix this concern, innovators in the window treatments industry have developed innovative control systems for roller shades. These systems are called chain-driven, or clutches.
Shades controlled by these new controls would be manipulated by the pulling on the front, or back, of a chain hanging from the top of the roller shade. This chain can be made either from plastic, or metal, and both are strong products. Chains manufactured from plastic are actually stronger and more durable than that of the metal kind. However, many prefer their roller shades to be controlled by metal chains.
In the end, both are high quality, and roller shade manufacturers usually only choose based on price; they mostly consider quality or performance, so they have good intentions in making quality roller shades. The benefits of chain controlled roller shades are countless, but we will consider a few here. The first such benefit is more accurate shade positioning. Consider how difficult it would be to adjust a spring roller shade to an exact height. When positioning spring shades, you always would have to accept the spring's "suggestion" on where to leave it.
However, when chain roller shades are what you have, you can set the height of the shade to be exactly where you want it. Another benefit of chain roller shades is that the roller shade fabric can stay in the same great condition as when it was installed. This is because you will no longer need to physically touch the fabric on the shade to raise it or lower it. This can add years of life and beauty to the roller shades. Imagine that you no longer need to wash finger prints off your roller shades- all because you have a control chain instead.
Roller shade chain systems are substantially more durable, and can lift heavier shades, compared to the spring systems of the past. This is because of different kinds of springs in the roller shades. The new styles of springs are built into a sealed case, and the purpose of the springs is to resist the shade from sliding. That is not much different from what you had in a spring roller shade, but the difference is that the spring roller shades are not reliant on the same weak springs as in older spring shades.
The new shade systems have special designs to allow them to control larger shades- often as big as 8 feet wide and 10 feet tall. These large roller shades would never have been possible with spring roller shades. So, if you want roller shades to last longer, stay cleaner, or be large enough to cover your large windows- in a single roller shade, you should consider chain controlled roller shades. They will provide the long life and beauty that you want in your window treatments.
Imagine that, innovations in medicine also work for longer life and beauty.
Judith Persit is an interior design student concentrating in home design. Ms. Persit writes about roller shades. Learn more at roller shades, solar shades, rollup shades, decorative roller shades, fabric roller shades, vinyl shades.
