Repair damaged Pull Cords on Horizontal Blinds

If you live with a cat, chances are the cords on your horizontal blinds have been used as a chew toy. This damage may even have rendered your blinds unusable as either the cords are now too short or there are knots that block it.

I had five sets of blinds with this problem and set out to fix them rather than having to buy new ones. And I'm gonna show you how I did it. This may sound like a daunting task, but it is easy and worth it to repair shades that have nothing else wrong.

Step 1 Supplies and Tools

Replacement Cord
we searched several places looking for suitable cord. Lowe's and Home Depot didn't carry any and suggested the Blind specialty store which we avoided because they'd probably charge a bundle for it. We eventually went to Joann Fabrics and checked their upholstery/decor fabric section and found some polyester cord in the right size. It was white and didn't exactly match the color of our blinds but we don't care.

Pull Ends
Use the ones from your old cords. If you lost them, you can use pretty beads or decorative knots or a combination of these. They add weight to the bottom of the cords so that they hang right and provide a grip for pulling.

Scissors
They cut things.

Lighter
For sealing the ends of the polyester cord

Paperclip Hook
Used for pulling the cord in tight places. So much easier to use this then try to thread the cord.

Pliers/Nail file
Used for popping the end buttons off. You can use regular pliers, I just happened to have channel locks handy.