Many of us have invested in Silhouette® blinds, manufactured by Hunter Douglas. Have you had yours at your home for years, or are they a new purchase? The Silhouettes® offer so many great features, they’ve become one of the most popular window shadings on the global market. It is estimated that over 200 Million homes have installed Silhouette® blinds.
As designers, we show clients the benefits of selecting the Silhouette® family of products for their home. One of the most important features is being able to see through the sheers on the back and front, allowing a filtered view, light, and superior insulation all at the same time. For a truly clear view, the Silhouette® blinds easily roll into a headrail at the top of the window. Or the vanes may be closed for privacy. When the Silhouettes® are covering the glass (in the down position), they keep out about 60-65% of the heat in the summer and the same amount of cold in the winter, making them a very good insulator, while they preserve your view. UV protection is 88% when the blinds are in the down-open position. When the Silhouettes® are closed the UV protection is 99%. To get that kind of protection, insulation and a view at the same time is impressive.
Over time, bugs and debris make their way into the vanes and get stuck inside the vane openings of the shades. There are many “homemade” solutions to get the bugs out of the blinds which are often ineffective or harmful to the shading. Masking tape on a yardstick with the sticky side out is one of the solutions. A hair dryer on the cold setting, a vacuum used for upholstery cleaning with a hose, and canned air are some of the solutions people have used in the past. Lou Manfredini, host of Chicago’s WGN Mr Fix It Show mentioned that our CamilyWand™ was better than using a leaf blower to get the bugs out of the openings during one of his New To Lou Too segments .
Silhouettes® are a relatively durable window shading. However the edges on the Silhouette® product itself are laser cut and are able to fray if abused during the bug removal process. Our CamilyWand™ is a simple, safe, inexpensive solution to the sticky, bug removal problem.
Lynn Severson, our owner/inventor has worked on her CamilyWand™ for a decade. She is thrilled to hear all of the comments from homeowners, designers and manufacturers singing praises for her sticky bug removal tool. Camily, LLC, her company, holds the patent for CamilyWand™.
We have heard of a myriad of uses for our tool beyond the window covering arena. It’s a great overall tool to have in your home. It reaches lightweight items or spiderwebs and debris from inaccessible places. The list of chores it will do is never-ending.
We have a demonstration video that thoroughly explains the tool, how to use it, how to clean it and shows additional uses beyond removing bugs from the Silhouettes®. We know you’ll enjoy learning about our cleaning tool! The video is on our website at the bottom of the blog posts, the “About Us” and “Home” pages.
10 replies on “How to Get Bugs out of Silhouettes”
CamilyWand works by attaching our CamilyTip to a bug, moth, insect of piece of debris that have lodged thmeselves inside the vanes of silhouette blinds, to remove the bug from the sheer and vane openings. It’s a simple solution to a grave problem. Once the bug is gone the view is restored!
Little gnats are often lodged at the front edge of the Silhouette vane. The vane is sealed to the sheer on both the front and the back of the opening. Somehow they get in the crease. Our Camily Wand Sticky Bug Removal Tool had a cylindrical shaped tip, to roll right into that crease, lift
the gnat, and bring it carefully out of the vane.
Many bugs will leave spots in your blinds. If you remove the bugs from your Silhouettes, they won’t have a chance to stain the fabric. You should never close the vanes tightly or roll them up into the headrail with a dead bug in them. Stains are much more difficult to remove than it is to remove the bug
with our CamilyWand Bug Removal Tool.
Stain removal from your Silhouettes or other window blinds is best achieved by using DISTILLED WATER and a white cloth. You wet the stain, then BLOT it with a clean WHITE cloth. You may do this repeatedly until the stain in gone. If it is a stubborn stain, you may add a small amount of liquid woolite to your distilled water. My clients say it works well. If you eliminate the bugs from your blinds with our CamilyWand, they will not stain your fabrics.
When you see the bug or debris in your shade, it is the time to remove it from your Silhouette blinds. It’s easy with CamilyWand. Inserting the wand into the blind without touching the sides with the very sticky CamilyTip until you get to the bug is how to get bugs out of Silhouettes. Then you remove the wand again without touching the sides or vanes of the shades to keep the tip securely attached to the pole. Simple, easy and cost effective!
There are many shades on the market similar to Silhouettes by Hunter Douglas. Nantuckets and Shangri-La “brands” are very similar to Silhouettes, as are many other products made by several manufacturers. The bllind structure is the key. There are sheer fabrics on both the front and back of the shading with vanes connected to both front and back sheers. From the side view, it forms a rectangular shaped opening, with 4 sides. The CamilyWand Sticky Bug Removal Tool is just the ticket for easily removing bugs and debris from these style blinds.
Silhouette shadings were designed to preserve views while allowing maximum insulation for a shading of this type of construction. Because the vane openings are large & and the light is attractive, bugs, flies and other insects get into the side openings of Silhouettes, Nantuckets, Shangri-La and other similar shadings. Our CamilyWand with its sticky tip will remove them easily, protecting your view & insulation.
Bugs like getting into the openings of Silhouette blinds because they love the light. Silhouette has an ingenious way of refracting light. The vanes are designed in an S-curve arrangement as they are attached to the sheers in the front and back of the shading. The light coming in and then refracting into the room is truly amazing. The bugs enjoy checking it out. So we have developed our sticky bug remover to get rid of them.
How does one obtain your bug-cleaning tool for silhouette shades?
Hi Barbara, My humble apologies for not catching this earlier – I’ll send another email through regular channels. You may order online at my shop at http://www.camilywand.com or phone me at 719-598-1018. I am able to help you there.