Safety
The hazard we designed out.
The documented danger in window coverings is not the shade. It is the cord. Federal data attributes about nine deaths of children under five every year to window covering cords, and a 2024 safety standard removed free-hanging cords from custom window coverings altogether. Every shade we install is cordless and battery or solar powered, so there is no cord and no mains wiring in the wall. Below is exactly what that means, and exactly how we mount and check every installation.
What is not there
No pull cords - the hazard federal rules target
No continuous loops - nothing forms a loop at a child's height
No mains wiring - battery and solar, nothing live in the wall
No dangling wands - nothing to grab, pull or chew
Cordless is not a feature we added. It is the reason the category exists.
What the federal data says
- CPSC data attributes an average of about nine deaths of children under five each year to window covering cords
- Between 2009 and 2021 there were more than 200 recorded incidents involving children up to age 8, and 48% were fatal
- Non-fatal outcomes ranged from marks around the neck to quadriplegia and permanent brain damage
- CPSC determined that accessible operating cords longer than 8 inches pose an unreasonable risk to children aged 8 and under
- The ANSI/WCMA A100.1-2022 standard, effective 1 June 2024, eliminated free-hanging operating cords on made-to-order window coverings
- CPSC identifies cordless motorized window coverings among the safer technologies addressing this hazard
Read the CPSC guidance at cpsc.gov/gocordless
Pets, too
Cats and dogs get tangled in cords and chew the ends. Cordless removes both. There is nothing hanging within reach and nothing to pull down.
How we mount
- 1
We find structure.
Brackets go into studs or header framing wherever the opening allows.
- 2
Where there is no structure, we use rated anchors.
Selected for the substrate, not whatever is in the van.
- 3
Fixings are set to specification.
Not over-torqued, not under-fixed.
- 4
We load-test every bracket before we leave.
We apply a deliberate downward load well beyond the weight of the shade, in front of you, on every opening.
- 5
We document it.
You receive a handover checklist listing every opening, and you sign it once each shade has been tested and demonstrated.
This is our installation standard, not a claim about what a shade will withstand in misuse. Like any fixture in a home, a shade is not play equipment and should not be climbed or hung from. What we can tell you is precisely how it was fixed, that it was tested in front of you, and that it is documented.
What we ask of you
- Treat shades as fixtures, not play equipment. Children should not climb or hang on them, as with any blind, curtain rail or fixture.
- Keep cribs, beds and climbable furniture away from windows.
- Tell us if anything ever feels loose. We come back and check it, at no charge, for as long as you own them.
If something is not right
Call us. We return, inspect and refix at no charge. We would rather drive out twice than have you wonder.
Information on this page about cord hazards is drawn from published U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission data and the ANSI/WCMA A100.1-2022 standard. Cordless window coverings remove cord-related hazards; they do not make a window opening hazard-free. Window coverings are fixtures and are not designed to bear the weight of a person or animal.