Shading Your Conservatory With Pinoleum Blinds

Shading a conservatory, especially one that is south-facing, can be a problem in summer and even on bright winter days, so here's a short history of pinoleum blinds, probably the original conservatory shading material

While there are a number of businesses making pinoleum blinds today, the French company Ballauff were the original pinoleum blind makers having started doing so in 1872 in their factory just outside Paris. Ballauff still make blinds today, together with a range of other products such as sliding panels, but still using the same traditional materials. Their original blinds were popular with Victorian conservatory owners in the 19th century and if you are building a Victorian conservatory today, for authenticity...and effectiveness, you should consider using pinoleum.

Pinoleum is the name given to thin wooden strips, or reeds or bamboo woven together horizontally. Traditionally the pinoleum was left in its natural finish or stained or varnished and by using different shades and thicknesses of material, in combination with different weaving patterns, the finished pinoleum could be close-knit making almost blackout blinds ranging to a light and airy open weave blind still much favoured today.

This is due to the fashion for traditional finishes and natural materials as well as to the properties of pinoleum as it filters natural light through the small gaps between the strips, creating a dappled lighting effect on the interior of the conservatory. The blinds will also reflect and absorb some of the heat as well.

Pinoleum blinds come in Roman or roll-up style and can be edged in a complementary binding although many people prefer styles without this finish. They are ideal as roof blinds since they will not sag like a fabric blind.

In recent years an increasing number of pinoleum blinds have been made in a colour to match the interior design or the furnishings of the conservatory.

Ballauff claim that all their pinoleum blinds use hardwoods from sustainable forests and that the bamboo and reeds they use come from managed and certified sources in Vietnam where the crop is carefully harvested to ensure the minimum environmental impact.