An Essential Guide When Choosing Bamboo Shades - By: Allan Michael Taylor

Bamboo window shades are slowly creeping up in sales, especially among people who want to maintain a green living environment. Not only are bamboos relatively less expensive than other wood products, but these are also especially known for their strength, their lightweight construction, and the fact that bamboo products are very easy to maintain. Having bamboo shades in and around your home or office lends the space an air of comfort, especially now that there are more eye catching designs available.

But the real question that should be asked is: are all bamboo shades the same? Apparently not – as you could clearly see in the differences in the price tags. It is essential to know what differentiates good bamboo window shades from great ones, if only to make sure you get your money's worth. Here are a few essential elements you should know.

1. Faux Bamboo. Not all products labeled as bamboo are actually made from bamboo fibers. One of the most basic things you should be on the lookout for are faux bamboo products. These are flooding the market like crazy. You should bear in mind that price is never an indicator of whether or not you are holding faux wood. There are some models that are priced quite cheaply while others can have price tags similar to high-end shades.

Check out product details or "made out of" tags attached to the shades. Anything that says: polyvinyl chloride or PVC, polymer, polyurethanes, resins, or similar descriptions are obvious fakes. In terms of tensile strength and durability faux bamboo shades are just as strong as vinyl, but definitely not biodegradable.

2. Grass Weaves. Grass weaves are 0% made from bamboo, but that does not mean that these are not good options. Technically, bamboo is a type of grass, only with hardier stems. Grass weaves are made from woven pieces of reeds that are film-laminated to add to their strength. These are as biodegradable as most other bamboo products. The only difference really is the price. Grass weaved shades are the most inexpensive among green shades and are therefore easier to acquire.

3. Matchsticks. As the name suggests, these shades are usually made from bamboo fibers that are shaved as thin as matchsticks. Thread is used as its binding agent so it is not uncommon to see multicolored shades made from bamboo matchsticks. These are usually constructed lightly and are best suitable for indoor use.

4. Raw bamboo slats. Shades made from raw bamboo slats are not really raw or fresh. Rather, these are larger pieces that are dry or chemical treated to showcase off distinguishable features of the bamboo like its inherent color, the wood's natural contours, the natural streaking on the culm (stem,) etc. These shades are also referred to as tortoise shells.

5. And finally, there are the tubes. Tube shades are made from very young growing bamboos. At the earliest stages of its growth, bamboos look like tubes or thick reeds. These tubes are carefully matched so as to provide both aesthetic appeal and a measure of privacy. These have undergone the least amount of processing, and therefore the most biodegradable among the lot. It is also by far the most expensive and thereby not very easy to acquire.

About the Author

Jennie Keithson is a decorative type, a designer who loves to write and is a trained home and office designer, who discusses bamboo shades, with all of her window shades customers. Check out her online shop for more info.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Allan-Michael-Taylor/45501

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