Walmart Recalls Roll-Up Blinds and Roman Shades Due to Strangulation Risk

Plain-English summary

Walmart Stores Inc. is recalling approximately 1.1 million roll-up blinds and Roman shades, including 600,000 roll-up blinds and 500,000 Roman shades. The recalled products include all styles and sizes of fabric, bamboo, and jute window coverings. These items were sold at Walmart stores nationwide and online at walmart.com and samsclub.com from January 1999 through September 2009 for between $6 and $30. The products were manufactured in China and Thailand.

The recall is prompted by the risk of strangulation. For roll-up blinds, strangulation can occur if lifting loops slide off the side and a child's neck becomes entangled, or if a child places their neck between the loop and the blind material. For Roman shades, strangulation can occur when a child places their neck between the exposed inner cord and the fabric, or when a child pulls the cord out and wraps it around their neck. While no incidents or injuries have been reported involving the specific Roman shades sold by Walmart or the roll-up shades, the CPSC is aware of the death of a child from one of these Roman shades sold by another retailer.

Consumers should immediately stop using the affected Roman shades and roll-up blinds. To obtain a free repair kit, consumers should contact the Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) at (800) 506-4636 or visit www.windowcoverings.org. For additional information, consumers can contact Walmart at (800) 925-6278 between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or visit www.walmartstores.com.

The recalled product

Product

Roll-up Blinds and Roman Shades

Manufacturer

Walmart Stores Inc., of Bentonville, Ark.

Category

Consumer Product — Window Coverings

Hazard

• strangulation

Affected units

600,000

Distribution

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