A lot of older RVs come with mini blinds on the windows. While mini blinds are very useful and versatile, the wands used to open and close the blinds usually need some improvement.
Not only are the wands typically on the ugly side, being made of clear plastic, but they also bounce and swing while the rig moves down the road.
Their constant movement eventually leaves marks on the mini blinds itself or a mark on the wall from the same constant motion.
While mini blinds work well to keep out light and heat, the wands used to operate them can be a hassle.
All photos by Live Small | Ride Free
One way to prevent RV interior wall damage and minimize the actual mini blinds being scuffed up, without spending extra money to replace the blinds with something else, is to shorten the actual length of the wands.
The trick is to make the wands short enough that they can’t reach the interior walls when they bounce around while the RV is on the move, but still long enough that it’s easy to continue using them.
Shortening your RV’s blind wands can prevent scuffing of walls and blind material.
Here’s a quick and easy DIY on how to shorten RV mini blind wands. It’ll take less than an hour depending on how many windows there are inside the rig.
Tools needed for this project:
- Marker
- Measuring tape (optional)
- Hacksaw or Dremel tool with cutoff wheel
- Sand paper (220 grit)
Steps to shorten your RV’s blind rods:
1. Measure or use the blinds as a reference for the length you want the new blind wands to be.
2. Mark the wands where you want to cut them off.
3. Remove the wands from the blinds.
4. Mark on the wands which window they’re for (in case they are different lengths).
5. Using the hacksaw or Dremel tool, cut on the line you drew. (Use a slow speed on the Dremel to avoid melting the plastic sticks.)
6. Sand the freshly cut sticks.
First, sand the cut end so that it’s smooth and flat. Then sand the cut edge of the stick so it’s not sharp. To sand the stick, put the sand paper on a flat surface and rub the stick across it, rather than trying to hold the stick and move the sandpaper. Rotate the wand in a circular motion while moving it up and down on the sand paper.
7. Clean off the sanded edge using a little bit of water.
8. Reinstall the wand on the window blinds.
9. Repeat until all are complete.
Voila! Short mini blind wands that don’t get in the way but are still useable.
