Blind XPress Window Blind Recall Issued After Child Strangled to Death

Almost a half a million custom window blinds manufactured by Blind XPress have been recalled after a 2-year old girl strangled to death in the loop of a vertical blind cord, which was designed to hang freely from the wall.

The Blind Xpress window blind recall was announced by The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on September 6, after determining that the design may pose an unreasonable risk for children, who can become entangled in the cord and strangle.

Custom-made vertical and horizontal window blinds sold by Blind Xpress of Livonia, Michigan are impacted by the recall. The products all have an adjustment cord that forms a loop, and does not have a cord tensioning device that attaches to the floor or wall.

The horizontal blinds do not have an inner cord stop device to prevent the inner cords from becoming accessible and in most blinds there are weighted devices, which allow the cords to hang low to the ground creating serious risk to young children.

In recent years, the U.S. CPSC has recalled millions of window blinds and shades made by different companies due to design problems with the cords after young children were strangled, and in some cases died, after becoming entangled in the cords. The recalls have hit different designs of vertical blinds, horizontal blinds, roll-up shades, Roman shades and other designs.

The recalled Blind Xpress custom-made blinds, which were manufactured in the United States, were sold in various specialty stores in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana from January 1995 through December 2011 for between $16 and $380.

The CPSC urges consumers to immediatley stop using the window coverings and contact Window Covering Safety Counsel (WCSC) to receive a free repair kit or to use cordless window coverings in homes. For more information you can call WCSC toll-free at (800) 506-4636 or visit the website www.windowcoverings.org