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Rout Options for Wood Blinds

Wood blinds, like all other blinds, have rout holes through which strings pass to allow you to control the lift, lowering, and tilt of the slats. These routs, however, can often let in tiny pin pricks of light when the slats are tilted shut. Not only can this light disturb the ambiance of the room, it can also cause unwanted glare on televisions or computer screens. As a result, manufacturers have created rout options that decrease the effects of rout holes or eliminate them altogether.

In general, most manufacturers give you three different options for routs:

If you want the look of traditional wood blinds and aren't too concerned with the small amount of light that peaks through the rout holes, than you may want to stick with conventional wood blind structures. If you want to preserve the detailed elegance of plantation blinds and shutters, you may want to order wood blinds with the usual routs. Otherwise, you can choose between routless and cloth tapes.

Routless wood blinds have notches on both the front and back of each slat. The cords and strings that are used to adjust the blind run along these notches and underneath each slat to control them the same way you control conventional wood blinds. They still have the same general look and feel as regular wood blinds but there are no holes and no light seepage when the slats are tilted shut. Also known as NoHoles or de-Light, routless wood blinds are great if you want to minimize light but maximize the appearance of your wood blinds.

You might also want to consider cloth tapes. Instead of removing the routs altogether, some manufacturers offer the option of covering the routs and cords on either end of the shade with a decorative cloth tape. Cloth tapes and decorative options are covered in more detail in another article on this site.