WASHINGTON (AP) — Six companies are recalling millions of window blinds and shades following the deaths of three children who got caught in cords that help the coverings move up and down.
The recalls, announced Wednesday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, involve some big-name companies, including Pottery Barn Kids and IKEA as well as smaller companies that sold their window covers at retailers such as Target.
No deaths were associated with the blinds and shades from Pottery Barn Kids and IKEA, but CPSC says there have been six reports of children becoming entangled in the inner cord of the Pottery Barn Kids shades.
CPSC says the three deaths, which date back to 2006, involved blinds or shades made or imported by Vertical Land Inc., of Panama City Beach, Fla., and Lewis Hyman Inc., in Carson., Calif.
The Vertical Land blinds and shades were sold in Florida from 1992 through 2006..
The Lewis Hyman oval roll-up blinds were sold at retail stores from 1999 through 2003, and the Woolrich roman shades were sold exclusively at Target stores from between 2006 and 2008. Customers can contact the company for a repair kit if the blinds don't have release clips, and for a free repair kit for the roman shades.