Choosing the right roller shade fabric for your windows

Roller shade fabrics are highly efficient and specifically engineered to perform 3 functions better than any other shading type.

1. Solar protection- Solar / Screen

Solar or Screen fabrics specialize in blocking a specific amount of UV. You will typically see these fabrics labeled with a percentage number ranging from 1% to 15%. This number refers to the percentage of UV radiation the fabric allows to pass through itself. So a 1% solar will block 99% of UV, while a 15% solar fabric blocks 85% of UV. Solar fabrics allow you to block a specific amount of UV, while still letting in natural light, and depending on the openness, allow you to still enjoy your views.

Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is responsible for fading and damaging any organic surfaces in your home (wood floors, dyed fabrics, upholstery and rugs, artwork) as well as generating heat when they are absorbed by a dark surface, so these fabrics allow you to precisely block as much or as little as you want. A more open fabric will let in more natural light, and allow you to see through them to retain some of your views, while more closed fabrics will allow you to reduce heat gain from the sun, and protect your interior surfaces from UV damage.

2. Room darkening- Blackout

Blackout fabrics let through 0% of UV and visible light, and are used to darken a room for sleep or a video projector. While these fabrics are completely opaque, the quality of the room darkening will also depend on how and where a shade is installed. A standard roller shade will still allow light to pass through the vertical edges, so you can consider an outside mounted shade and/or side and bottom aluminum channels, if you want total darkness from a roller shade alone. Roller shades are so efficient and compact, that you can easily couple a blackout shade with a solar or privacy shade in a single compact enclosure, for a system that can give you two different functions for each of your windows.

3. Privacy- Light Filtering

These fabrics are engineered to allow light to pass through, but block visibility to give you privacy in areas such as bathrooms, walk-in closets or any windows close to public streets, without losing natural light. These fabrics come in a variety of opacity levels to give you control over the degree of privacy you want. Visibility of a fabric works in both directions.

A fully private fabric will prevent an observer standing outside your window from seeing anything inside, but will also block your own view looking out of the window. A more open privacy fabric will allow an outside observer to see outlines and a blurred view of the interior, especially at night, but will also allow you to see out of your window during the day with the same amount of detail.

With all translucent fabrics, the color of the fabric also influences how much privacy it will give you. White fabrics provide the most privacy, while black fabrics give you the most visibility, in both directions

Selecting the right fabric for each window will ensure you get the most from your shades, and give you exactly the amount of sun protection, privacy, and darkening you want.