# Vinyl or aluminum blinds



## dinosaur1

We need to replace our mini blinds in our bedrooms and the rest of our home. Which should I get and why?


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## Jay 78

I personally like vinyl. 

My house had some aluminum ones when I bought it. It seems they get creases and bends in them that the vinyl ones are immune to. Plus the _sound_ of aluminum blinds kinda makes my skin crawl. Maybe I'm just weird. 

I have never comparison-priced the two, but I would imagine vinyl is cheaper. I paid less than $5 for some 27" vinyls. Can't beat that. I suppose it might come down to how much light filtering you want, although that may be a moot point if you have curtains.


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## dinosaur1

Jay 78 said:


> I personally like vinyl.
> 
> My house had some aluminum ones when I bought it. It seems they get creases and bends in them that the vinyl ones are immune to. Plus the sound of aluminum blinds kinda makes my skin crawl. Maybe I'm just weird.
> 
> I have never comparison-priced the two, but I would imagine vinyl is cheaper. I paid less than $5 for some 27" vinyls. Can't beat that. I suppose it might come down to how much light filtering you want, although that may be a moot point if you have curtains.


I am leaning towards vinyl also. I like that it doesn't bend.


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## roundbox52

We bought vinyl blinds for our house because of the price. They were very inexpensive at the big box store. We also have two small children, one who is constantly grabbing at the blinds. They do not bend and make creases like the aluminum ones did when I was a kid, but pull hard enough and you will have some distortion in them. If you buy stock sizes they will most likely come with extra slats for replacing damaged ones. The only reason I do not like them is their inability to block out sunlight. We have balloon shades in both the kids rooms so the blinds are the only thing to block out light. The aluminum blinds do a better job at this since they're opaque.


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## klie-de-sys

*Do not buy (LEVOLOR) vinyl blinds*

Levolor intentionally make weaker cords than in the past so the cord breaks soon and easily and you buy new blinds every few months or so. Instead, buy lighter, aluminium blinds or go to LOWES or HOME DEPOT or where you bought them from and ask for free replacement. Always keep your receipt, but the store should be able and willing to replace the blinds for you for free even if you got no receipt and if they got the same blinds still for sale. For peace of mind buy aluminium blinds of another manufacturer.


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## DIY-Her

I guess its just me, but I always disliked metal blinds. Probably because I grew up with them from the 50's until the 70's

When we moved to the house we are at now, I wanted privacy shades of some sort, and didn't want metal blinds or the roll up/down plastic shades my parents also had put in some of our rooms as a kid.


What I liked about them was you could still get sunlight coming through the shades even when they were closed and still have privacy. Or if you wanted to block more light, you have them add a light blocking backing to them.

The bottom up/top down cordless option was great. I can pull the shade down from the top to leave the windows open for light and air and have the bottom half of the shade still cover the window for privacy, or vice versa.
I bought them back around 1996 for all the bathrooms, bedrooms and kitchen. This year I am going to buy some for the family room and the 2 back bedrooms I never bought them for years ago.


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## user1007

Definitely shop online for best prices. Or shop with a local blind franchisee. Box stores give nothing back to your community so you need not feel guilty. Many online places will ship within 24 hours. They will cut or make blinds to exact dimensions. They often run sales or have coupon codes. 

Vinyl blinds can get brittle over time and they seem not to be as colorfast as aluminum blinds. Deeper colors look chalky after a time. They also tend to come in more limited colors as the colorant is in the vinyl and not on it. Aluminum blinds are painted or otherwise coated and you can get them in just about any color you can imagine.

You sort of get what you pay for with either vinyl or aluminum. At the lower end they are not that different in price. You can get the slats in different thicknesses so they do not bend or crease. As mentioned in other posts, consider how much wear and tear you are going to put on on pull cords, rotating mechanisms, etc. Cheaper blinds have cheaper hardware. There is nothing more frustrating than blinds that will not go up and down or rotate easily. 

Speaking of which. Spare yourself some anguish and toss away the screws and anchors that come with any blinds. They tend to break and buying better ones is worth the $2!

Obviously think through what you want your blinds to do. There are many options out their ranging from honeycomb blinds that let light through, blinds that open from the top, to blinds that are near complete light blocking for those bothered by light sneaking in at night.

MEASURE CAREFULLY and read how to do so for blinds on one of the online sites!


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