Bamboo outdoor shades
My introduction to bamboo shades
I first discovered bamboo outdoor shades when I came to Japan. Bamboo has a variety of uses there. Also, because it grows so quickly its cost is relatively low. So people in the Far East do not use bamboo just because it is a trendy home furnishing option, rather they use it simply because it is readily available. That said, it is not just its availability that makes outdoor bamboo shading such an attractive option. It is also a very light weight material and it's 100% natural. Japan is famous for its 100 yen stores. These are discount shops that sell everything for 100 yen. It was in one of these shops that I bought my first outdoor bamboo shades. I got two rolled up shades for about $2. Each shade, or blind, was about 80cm by 160cm.
Are bamboo outdoor shades for you?
To be honest, I think that cost is a major factor in whether outdoor bamboo shades are a good buy or not. On the positive side are the facts that they look good, are versatile and are completely natural. However on the negative side they will not last for a long time particularly if they are used outside and get wet. Therefore if they are expensive, they become a much less attractive purchase. That said, if you can find them cheaply, as you can do in Japan, then they could be a really great addition to your outdoor home area, if you are looking for something to reduce the amount of sunlight anyway.
I have included a page with a list of useful links to sites/pages related to bamboo outdoor shades. For example you can read about different types of blinds, including bamboo ones, on Wikipedia.
Bamboo outdoor shade issues
Typically bamboo shades that you use outside, shading windows or in the garden, are simply made of untreated bamboo. This means that the life expectancy of the item may not be all that long. At the same time though there are things you can do to both lengthen and shorten the life span of your bamboo blinds. One thing I did with the first ones that I purchased was to leave one of them rolled up on the floor of my balcony. This was just out of sheer laziness on my part. What happened though was that in the humid Japanese summer when the bamboo was rained on, it did not dry out properly. Then because of the hot temperatures combined with the moisture, it was not long until my cheap bamboo blind was covered in mold. So this is one thing you definitely do not want to do!
Conversely, with the blind that I had hung properly to cover my window, I did not have the same sort of mold problem. This bamboo product lasted much longer. It also did exactly what I wanted it to do, namely block out the early morning sunshine. After about half a year, when it was not so bright in the mornings, I realized that after exposure to a strong sun almost every day, the bamboo had become slightly brittle and appeared to have a sun bleached appearance. Having only cost me $1 I decided just to get rid of it. Because the product was 100% natural in the first place, I did not feel I was being irresponsible doing this. In my experience, cheaper outdoor bamboo shades that you can replace easily are the best option.
Bamboo outdoor shade durability
My personal experience with budget bamboo shading was of it not lasting all that long. At the price I paid, I was happy that I got a summer's worth of use out of it. However bamboo shades can last much longer than this. Provided they are treated with a varnish of some sort they will be able to deal with the elements better than untreated product. This is something you could easily do yourself. Taking the DIY route would likely be cheaper than buying pre-treated bamboo shades. Further, finding bamboo that has been treated in the way you want my difficult.