Curtain cords and tie-backs: the other cords at the window
Most blind cord advice is about blinds. But the window usually has other cords too: the pull cord on a curtain track, the rope or cord tie-back that holds a curtain open, the tassel on the end of it. They get far less attention, and they are easy to check once you know what to look for.
What the official advice says
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) says on its strangulation and asphyxiation page that looped blind cords have been involved in at least 35 deaths in the UK since 2001, most of them children aged between one-and-a-half and two. Its advice covers curtains as well as blinds: keep cords on curtains and blinds short, and use cleats, cord tidies, clips or ties to keep them out of reach. The page gives no separate figures for curtain cords, so we are not going to invent any. The advice is simply that a cord is a cord.
The cords to look for
- Curtain track pull cords. Some tracks have a looped cord that draws the curtains. Look for a loop that hangs to a child's reach, particularly behind a sofa or a bed.
- Tie-back cords and tassels. A long rope or cord tie-back that hangs loose is a dangling cord at toddler height, even when it is decorative.
- Curtain wands and loops. A wand with a cord attached, or a cord loop used to hold a heavy curtain, is easy to overlook.
- Blind chains behind the curtains. A blind and curtain in one window hide each other. Draw the curtain back and check what is behind it.
Simple fixes, curtain by curtain
- Swap a long cord tie-back for a fabric one, or a magnetic or hook tie-back fixed high on the wall, so nothing hangs down.
- Shorten a pull cord, or replace it with a wand fitted high up. Do not cut a looped cord: RoSPA warns that cutting a blind cord can make it more dangerous, and the same caution applies to anything that was made as a loop.
- Where a loop has to stay, hold it up out of reach with a cleat, cord tidy or clip fixed to the wall.
- Keep cots, beds and highchairs away from the window and its curtains, as covered in our guide to furniture near windows.
Where a blind chain winder fits in
A stick-on winder does one job: it takes up the loose loop of a blind chain or cord and holds it against the wall, with no drilling. It does not change a curtain tie-back, and we would not claim it does. For the blind behind the curtain, it is a quick way to stop the chain hanging; the curtain cords above are fixed with the swaps and shorter cords listed here. If you are working through the whole house, our ten-minute room-by-room check includes the windows in each room.
Quick test: stand where a toddler stands and look up at the window. Anything hanging that you could put a loop around, they could too.
Related guides
- A ten-minute room-by-room check — every window in the house, in one pass.
- Blind cord safety rules by country — what the rules cover, and what they leave out.