TIL miniblinds with pull cords to raise and lower them are now illegal to sell in the United States - eviltoast

Replacing a broken set of blinds in my house and apparently no one sells the old standard kind where you pull the cord to raise them, I guess because kids and/or pets could tangle in the cord? Bit of an education in miniblinds today.

  • curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    34·
    2 months ago

    They aren’t illegal to sell.

    Manufacturers can’t make them any longer, existing inventory is permitted to be sold off. So they can be found on amazon, ebay, and a bunch of other places still. Just won’t see any new stock coming in, and places that have less stock (as in, not gigantic warehouses) haven’t been getting new ones in for some time. Nearly a year now I believe.

      • curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        20·
        2 months ago

        I’m not sure you should have a Lowe’s Associate as a legal advisor.

        Here’s Home Depot covering it

        The relevant text:

        Corded blinds are dangerous to children and pets. Roughly one child per month dies from blind cord strangulation, and more than 600 children per year are injured. That’s nearly an average of 2 preventable injuries to a child per day. Between 1990 and 2015, more than 16,000 children were injured.

        New Voluntary Standards

        • The Window Covering Manufacturers Association decided safer standards in January 2018.
        • Manufacturers adopted the new standard on cordless blinds in December 2018.
        • In 2019, all standard model window blinds were expected to be cordless.

        Cordless Blinds & Law

        • Corded blinds are not regulated under state or federal legislation.
        • New, safer guidelines allow for cords on custom-made coverings.
        • Per WCMA standards, custom cords should not be longer than 40% of the window height.