With the Right Tools

Tools needed to change cord in mini blind

I checked on line.  Oh, Fount of All Knowledge, guide me. For some of the Things I get to do today, I like FAST. How do you change the draw cords on mini blinds? Usually there are a few quick tips that can save hours of frustration. I knew how I wanted to do it. What I was really after were the quickies. Three or four sites all said the same things. The videos had guys doing the job.  One source said allow one hour for the first blind and forty-five minutes for each one after with lots of threading this through that and taking things apart. At that rate it would save me money to go buy new blinds. So I headed out on my own.

Pull the knotted end of the old cord out the hole
where you see the little white tail.

It is pretty logical in the mind of Handy Andy that if one starts on the bottom slat of the blind, cuts off the knots on each cord, attaches the new cords, then pulls on the old cord, the new cord will easily and automatically thread through.  Done.  So that's what I did. All three blinds in the recently painted office space now have clean, white cords--all three done in less than forty-five minutes--about 12 minutes each.

Faster to loop the cord you are
ready to cut.

Cut the cord and immediately
flame-seal both end

Here are a few tips to make it go more smoothly:  1)  Release the cord so that blind hangs down about 6 inches.
 2) Take the blind down and work on a comfortable surface.

3) Pull the knotted end out through the bottom slat.  4)  Cut off the knot and flame-seal the end.  Caution--melted nylon on your skin hurts like the dickens, so let it cool a second before touching it.

Loosely sew the ends together.  When pulled tight
the cut ends lined up and butted together making
a smooth transition

  5) Use a needle and thread to attach your new cord loosely to the old cord.  6)  Pull it through.  7)  Cut to length matching the old cord.  Knot the new cord at the end that will once again pull up into the bottom slate.  8)  Wait to knot the pulling end with its bobble until you have the blind up back up, then even the cords, put on the bobble and knot the cord.  Done.

Vile is not a word I use often, but it best describes the
old cords.  Pulling the blinds up and down for 20 years
imbeds them with aluminum as they travel through the
housing--can't be washed out.

Takes longer to write the blog than to do the project.







I figure what took the guys so long is that they didn't consider a needle and thread to be tools they could use. Their suggests for attaching the new to the old cord created such a fat wad that it could not be pulled all the way through--hence all the extra time and tools.