Hi All, just packing up from our last outing this year. Car nearly full! Do you leave roller blinds up or down when in storage? Does it weaken the springs in either position? TIA.
If you leave the blinds up in summer the strong sunlight can fade the soft furnishings over time so best left in the down position. Also, leaving the blinds down stops other visitors to the storage from looking in to see what is stored in the caravan. It's a matter of choice as some people leave the blinds up and some don't.
Good suggestion from camcroft to use the curtains instead of pulling the blinds down, if the return springs are left under tension for months on end it tends to weaken them and the blind is reluctant to roll back up fully afterwards.
I'm lucky that where I store in the garden it is in the shade of next door's garage so I have never bothered with either.
Dave.
------------- Never argue with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level and beat you on experience.
Mark Twain.
Blinds up and curtains closed for me. I've not long bought a Coachman Pastiche which has sat on someone's drive in all weather's for well over a year. The blinds were down. I've had a terrible job trying to get the blinds to work again. All done now and working well but never again.
Erm… if our blinds are pulled up, the blinds are closed (work bottom up). If our friends’ MH blinds are pulled up, they’re open (blinds work top down).
Seems the advice is to leave the blinds open & close the curtains.
Never touch our curtains. And honestly surprised to learn they may be usable as such. Thought they were 'decor' only, and woudn't expect them to meet in the middle. Blinds are closed through summer to stop fade. Open in winter when the covers on.
If you have to close them in storage yards to stop 'prying eyes', you are using the wrong storage yard. Ive unknowingly left our van unlocked before today, and nothings ever gone missing.
We leave them up, and drape some dust sheets over the furniture,and anything that may be visible, tho ' ours is stored on our drive and as we are up a dead end road ,not too many prying eyes
------------- That's not a dog....... That's a Schnauzer
As with many things, I DID read the caravan users manual, and that states leave the blinds up (retracted) in storage to prevent weakening of springs and future retraction problems, and pull the curtains to shade interior from sunlight.
Worked well enough for me over past 4 years.
In a large secure and accredited storage yard with 300 or so vans, you don't think that by the law of averages there will not be someone a little shady who would take an interest in the contents of your van? ... and they would have legitimate access to the compound!
Hi All, Again, many thanks for your replies. I was mainly concerned about possible loss of tension in the blinds spring mechanism. We strip the van of EVERYTHING after our final outing of the year, so even if some unscrupulous bu**er wanted to look through the gap in the curtains they'd literally find nothing to see (or steal) here. Hopefully! Thanks again everyone.
I cut cardboard to size of windows and jam that in behind curtains.
A bike shop will have large bike boxes and glad for you to take them away.
Result: no weak springs and no faded curtains or upholstery.
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Topic: Blinds: Up or Down??
via mobile 26/9/2022 at 10:42am
