Restring Your RV’s Pleated Shades Yourself & Save Lots of Money!

Pleated day/night window shades were a common feature in just about every class of RV. The design relies on thin fabric cords sliding across hard plastic parts, so (DOH!) cord wear and breakage is not only a distinct possibility but a fairly likely probability. Fortunately, restringing RV pleated shades is an easy DIY job… IF you know how.

So, we aim to save you lots of money and frustration by showing you how to restring RV pleated shades yourself. Armed with the instructions in this post, plus our step-by-step video and the downloadable PDFs we provide below (with diagrams for restringing 2-string, 3-string, and 4-string shades), you’ll be a pro in no time flat. So, let’s get to it!

More of a visual learner? Skip down to the video and watch, instead of reading!

Why Do My RV Pleated Shades Break?

We lived, worked, and traveled in a diesel pusher motorhome for more than 20 years, during which time we had to restring shades an average of once or twice a year. The issue was in the design, which calls for enough tension on the cords to hold the shades in place (preventing them from falling on their own). However, keeping tension on the cord also increases the friction against the hard plastic parts as you open and close the shades. So it’s a delicate balance that sooner or later leads to broken cords.

What Do I Need to Restring My RV Pleated Shades?

Knowing how to restring RV pleated shades is about 99% of what you need to get the job done. This is not only an easy project but also an inexpensive one. The single item required to complete the job is a spool of replacement cord, which is cheap and readily available. Very minimal mechanical skills or tools are required.

You can buy the cord on Amazon, as shown below, or you can purchase it at a fabric store or through the manufacturer of your shades. Having a spool on hand will ensure that you’re prepared whenever one of your pleated shades needs restringing (and trust us… they will).

NOTE: there are a variety of colors and diameters available. Our blinds used the 1.4mm diameter string, but be sure to check your old string (in a non-frayed section) to see if yours is different and order accordingly.

How to Restring RV Pleated Shades

The following steps, some cord (available on Amazon using the link above), and a little time, patience, and care are all that’s needed for this task. There are a lot of steps listed below, but fear not… we’re just being detailed, it’s really not that hard of a job!

Remove any decorative window treatments.

If your RV has any kind of window treatment (also known as a valance or “lambrequin”), it’s best (or even necessary) to remove it prior to working on the blind. The strings for the blind are held in place at the bottom by screws inside small spools, which may be hidden or hard to access with the window treatment in place.

Here you can see a frayed string that is just about to break.

Unscrew the cord anchors that hold the strings in place.

Once those are loose, the only thing holding the entire blind in place are the clips at the top of the shade.

Note: We’ve heard from other RVers that their pleated RV shades came with different cord anchors than ours did. Yours may be the kind that looks like a small spool. They accomplish the same task, but require you to tie the cords to them, making it harder to adjust the tension on the cords if needed. If you want to replace your spool-style cord anchors with ones like we had on our rig (that hold the cord tight by clamping down on it), they’re available from Amazon:

Unclip the top of the shade and remove it from the wall.

This is typically done by gently twisting the header bar of the blind up and away from the wall, while simultaneously rotating the back of the bar (the part that’s closest to the wall/window) downward and toward you. This should pop the shade’s header bar loose from the brackets. Just be careful doing this until you’re sure how it will pop loose… you don’t want to damage the header rail or mounting brackets.

Once the shade has been removed, you’ll need to note how it’s strung, especially if you don’t have the restringing instructions from the manufacturer. You may be working on 2-string, 3-string, or 4-string shades (you can count the number of strings that run from top to bottom through the fabric). The wider shades have a more complicated stringing pattern. Further down in this post, we’ve provided you with downloadable diagrams for all three types that should be helpful.

Remove the knobs used to open and close the pleated shades.

Remove the cord anchors from the cords

Using a small flat blade screwdriver, pry open the two pieces of the cord anchors that connect the cord to the wall. Set them aside for re-assembly later.

Remove the end caps

Pry out the end caps from the ends of each bar and remove them. For a day/night shade, there are three on each side.

 

Disassemble the RV pleated shade

Starting at the top, slide the aluminum track off one end of the shade.

Once the top track is removed, you can see where the cord is connected to a small spring at the top of the shade.

If you watch our video embedded at the end of this post, you’ll notice that at this point we show you how to create a diagram showing the pattern that the cord should follow through the shade. It would look something like this when completed:

What this shows you is that the cords connect at the spring at the very top of the blind, and then go down the sides of the upper section of the blind, cross in the middle, go straight down through the lower section of the blind, and cross again at the bottom, going out to the attachment points at each side.

This may seem simple, but it’s important to remember precisely how your blinds are strung BEFORE you dismantle them. If you string them wrong, they won’t work properly… and you could end up breaking your NEW string.

Re-Stringing Diagrams (Downloadable PDFs)

We’ve created diagrams for you that are available to download in PDF format for the most common versions of 2-string, 3-string, and 4-string RV pleated day/night shades. Simply click on the diagram you need to view or print. The diagrams will show you the exact path that the cord should take as you restring it.

Or, if you want to download a copy of the diagram(s) you need to restring your RV’s pleated shades, you can use any of the following files (Adobe PDF):

• 2-String RV Pleated Shade Re-Stringing Diagram
• 3- String RV Pleated Shade Re-Stringing Diagram
• 4-String RV Pleated Shade Re-Stringing Diagram

Keep in mind that there are several different ways to string the larger shades (it varies by blind manufacturer), so you need to be sure you know how yours are strung BEFORE you dismantle them. Even though we’ve provided diagrams for you to follow, your best bet is to re-string your blinds using the same pattern with which they were originally strung. So make a diagram!

Remove the old cord

Pull the spring and pull the cords out of the top of the shade. You should have sections of cord connected in the middle by the spring, like this (unless the cord breaks, which can happen… or already may have happened before you started):

In the photo above, you see that only the left section of our shade was worn. We would generally restring both sides at the same time once we’d gone to the trouble of dismantling the blind. Inevitably the other side will fail at some point, and rather than having to repeat this process, we preferred to simply replace all of the cords. It’s not expensive, and it’s all out anyway.

Measure out the new cord

Take the new cord and lay it out beside the old cord so the length will be the same. Add about six inches to the length of the new cord to give you a little extra for tying knots and in case you’re slightly off in your measurement.

You’ll now have new lengths of cord cut approximately six inches longer than the old cord. For these small blinds, your new cords will likely be nearly six feet long. (Note that the larger blinds require a lot more cord. This is why it’s good to have plenty of cord on hand.) We simply keep an entire spool on hand.

Prepare the spring

Next, either cut or untie the old cords from the spring and tie one end of each of the new cords to each side of the spring.

Now you’re ready to reinstall the cord into the shade following your diagram.

Re-string the night shade (upper) portion of your RV pleated shade

Compress the pleated night shade in your hand with the spring on top. That’s the upper, room-darkening section.

With the blind compressed, you should now be able to thread the new cord down through the entire section of shade as you would thread a needle. Do the same with all cords through all holes, following the diagram you made (or the one you downloaded from above).

Re-string the day shade (lower) portion of your blind

Continuing to follow the diagram, cross the cords between the upper and lower sections of the shade. With the day shade compressed, thread each cord through the appropriate hole in the lower section of the shade just as you did in the upper section.

Re-assemble the day & night shade sections

Next we’ll reattach the two sections of the shade by taking the upper and lower sections of the shade in each hand and sliding them alongside each other, being careful to make sure that none of the cords gets pulled back out of their appropriate holes.

Then slide the bottom section into the top section like this:

Pull the cords taut, making sure they lie properly inside the track along the middle rail that’s formed where the bottom of the upper section meets the top of the lower section.

Carefully slide the lower section of the blind into the upper section, pulling the excess cords tight as you go. Now the upper and lower sections should be connected together, with the spring at the top and the cords coming out the bottom.

Re-assemble the bottom bar/rail

As noted in the re-stringing diagram, at the very bottom of the blind the cords need to be brought out on the correct side of the blind. Cross the cords left to right and right to left, and then slide the lower track into place holding the cord and the pleats of the blind out of the way as you do.

You should now have a compressed blind with a spring on top and cords sticking out of each end.

Reassemble the top bar/rail

Slide the upper track into place above the top of the spring, again being sure that the cords and the pleats of the blinds don’t get caught.

Re-insert the end caps

Reinstall the plastic caps at each end of each bar/rail of the blind. Be sure to thread the cords through the hole in each end cap on the lower section of the blind before re-inserting them.

Re-attach the knobs

Carefully re-install the knobs on the front of the blind.

Prepare your re-strung RV pleated shade for installation

Make sure your cords are just about the same length coming out of each side. If they’re not, it means that the spring isn’t properly centered at the top of the blind. In this case, you’ll need to shimmy the cord through a little bit at a time to try to get the spring as centered as possible.

Re-attach the wall anchors to the new cord(s)

Lay the cord into the track on one side of the anchor.

Push the smaller section of the cord anchor back into its other half.

Slide the re-assembled wall anchor all the way up to the end of the blind so that it’s fairly tight. Do this on both ends. This way, you’ll be preventing the blind from falling open while you’re installing it.

Mount the blind back into its brackets

Note the two clips that will sit inside the track at the top of the blind. To reinstall the blind, simply tip the blind forward and slightly up, insert the clips into the track, and snap the clip upward at the back. You should hear/feel the blind “click” back into the mounts. If not, double-check to make sure you’ve gotten it clipped back into place properly.

Attach the wall anchors to the wall & adjust the cord

Holding one cord at a time, slide each wall anchor down until it’s in place. Screw it partway in until you’ve connected both sides.

Important note: If your blinds fall down, you need to pull the cord a bit tighter by readjusting the tension of the cord at the anchor. The tighter the cord, the stiffer the pull of the blind will be. Likewise, if the blind is too hard to move, then you need to loosen the tension on the cord. You’ll do this at the wall anchors using your screwdriver. Note, however, that too much tension makes the blinds harder to move and leads to excess cord wear and broken cords. The blind should be just tight enough to stay where you put it, and not tighter.

Once you have the tension just right, fully tighten the anchors at both sides, and cut off the excess cord with a pair of scissors. Make sure the blind is centered over the window. If not, a little tap to the left or right on the side of the header rail should center it horizontally.

Final Step to Restring RV Pleated Shades: Re-install your window treatment

Reinstall any window treatment you may have, and enjoy your completed project and your blinds.

Step-by-Step Video of Restringing RV Pleated Shades

Here’s our video which you can follow step by step. Be sure to either print or have your diagrams handy (PDFs available above) prior to beginning the project.

Conclusion: How to Restring RV Pleated Shades

Now that you know how to restring RV pleated shades, you’ll be able to do this anytime it’s necessary, AND you’ll be saving yourself a lot of money in labor costs. If you keep a roll of cord on hand, your project will be ready to go whenever you are.

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