The drawstrings on my velux blinds have frayed and the blinds will no longer pull down and stay down. Help! Any ideas of how to mend ?

jessica finch, September 2012

Hello, Just wanted to thank you all for you advice. Just followed it to repair my VELUX blind for approx £3. Cord had broken and then I had to re-tension. Works excellent. Saving Money ! Saving Landfill ! Saving Environment! x

Flo, January 2020

Many thanks for the earlier answers. They saved me having to buy a new blind. My fix had a couple of variations. I could not create a join that was flexible enough to pass through the blind's tunnel easily enough. So I made my joint very close to the sprung loaded plastic end so that the join itself does not move through the blind. My second variation was due to spotting that my cord's problem had been caused by the cord wearing out a channel in the plastic at either end of the tunnel (which the cord uses to cross from one side to the other). I glued a pair of rounded washers to these plastic ends to re-enforce them and prevent the chaffing which had broken my cords. Too early to say if these will do the job long term. All fine so far.

Alex H, September 2019

Brilliant instructions, thanks.
I've replaced the cord in my Velux blackout blind without much trouble. I used the whipping and superglue method to join the new piece to the old where it comes out of the sealed capsule at the top and left all the length on until fitting the bottom bracket back onto the window when I could tension the cord appropriately.
Now it works better that ever as I was also able to realign the lugs on the sides of the blind back into the channels. Saved £150 UK which was the store's estimate for repair.
Couldn't have done it without these instructions.
Thanks again.

Sharon L, September 2018

Yes you can repair the cords if frayed or broken.
Remove the blind by taking off both metal trims and unsnapping the plastic parts that hold the string to the side trims. Remove the main blind by pushing your fingers between the blind and the window on the LEFT HAND SIDE and pulling towards you firmly untill it pops out. Only the left side clips in so once you get the left side out it lifts out of a recess on the right side.
The cord on each side is fixed to a sealed part which is sprung to allow give when you open and close the blind. This makes it impossible to replace the whole string but Its simple enough to cut off the broken length and tie a new length on. Because the cord on each side then passes through the blind to fix the opposite side you do need to tie or lash the pieces together to ensure it will still fit. I used a method by which you take the two pieces of cord, twist together and wrap strong cotton around both to join. you then seal with super glue bonding the two together. You can then refit the plastic fitting ensuring both lengths are the same before refitting the blind. Hope this is helpfull.

Simon, January 2013