Are you sitting in your beautiful new glass extension, wondering why the room you invested so much in has become a bit of a furnace on sunny days?
And now you’re trying to choose blinds, getting lost in a sea of marketing terms, not really knowing which fabric will actually solve the problem? You’re not alone.
In this guide, we’ll give you a straight-talking, honest comparison of the main fabric types so you can feel confident in your choice.
Here are the key things to remember.
Key Takeaways
- For Heat Control, Think Reflective: The most effective fabrics for preventing overheating are light-coloured or have a metallised backing. They act like a mirror, bouncing the sun’s heat back outside.
- For Glare & View, Go Dark: Dark-coloured screen fabrics are best for cutting glare on screens and preserving a crisp, clear view of your garden.
- For Privacy & Sleep, Choose Blackout: If your main goal is night-time privacy or darkening a bedroom, a blackout fabric is the right choice.
- It’s a Trade-Off: The “best” fabric depends entirely on your primary problem. A fabric that’s great for heat might not be best for glare, and vice-versa.
The Dream vs. The Reality
When Your Dream Space Becomes Uncomfortable
You pictured a light-filled space that seamlessly connects you to the garden. The reality for many, though, is that without the right controls, this dream can turn into a room that’s either too hot or too bright to actually enjoy.
We see this all the time, and we understand how frustrating it is.
Understanding the Core Conflict: ‘Physics vs. Feel’
It’s completely natural to assume that a thick, dark fabric feels like it should be the best barrier against heat. It’s intuitive.
But the science of how solar energy works tells a different story.
Think of it like wearing a white or black garment and we all know which one gets hotter. The same simple physics applies to blind fabrics, and our job here is to walk you through it.
The Great Fabric Debate: An Honest Comparison
What Actually Makes a Fabric ‘Best’?
First, what actually makes a fabric ‘best’? Its performance isn’t a matter of opinion; it’s measured. When sunlight hits a blind, the energy has to go somewhere. Here’s what that means for you:
- Solar Reflectance (Rs): This is the big one for heat control. It’s simply the percentage of the sun’s energy the fabric reflects away. A high number here means the fabric is acting like a mirror, bouncing heat back towards the glazing.
- Solar Absorbance (As): This is how much energy the fabric soaks up. Dark fabrics are high in absorbance, and that stored energy is then released as heat into your room, which is exactly what you’re trying to avoid.
- Solar Transmittance (Ts): This is how much heat is stopped by the fabric. However don’t be fooled. For internal fabrics this doesn’t represent heat getting out of your living space. This would only apply to external systems.
A Look at the Main Contenders
1. Dark Screen Fabrics (e.g., Charcoal, Black)
The Pros: Let’s be honest, for cutting that annoying glare on your TV and keeping a beautifully crisp, clear view of your garden, these are fantastic. The dark colour absorbs the harsh light, making everything outside look sharper and more defined.
The Cons: But here’s the trade-off, and it’s important. They are not good at rejecting heat. That dark fabric absorbs the vast majority of the sun’s energy (over 90%) and radiates it into the room, effectively becoming a large, warm radiator in front of your window. So, while it solves glare, it can make an overheating problem worse.
2. Light-Coloured Screen Fabrics (e.g., White, Cream)
The Pros: This is where the ‘white garment’ principle really works. A light-coloured fabric acts like a mirror, reflecting a huge amount of the sun’s heat back out the window. A standard white fabric can have a Solar Reflectance of over 70%, making a real, measurable difference to the temperature of your room.
The Cons: The compromise? They aren’t as good for glare or view-through. Because they reflect and scatter light, you can get a bright, hazy effect which can still feel quite bright, and you lose some of the crispness of the view compared to a dark fabric.
3. High-Performance Metallised Fabrics
The Pros: This is the specialist’s choice for maximum heat control from an internal blind. These fabrics have a highly reflective aluminium backing. This ultra-fine metal layer can bounce back over 80% of solar energy, making it the most effective internal fabric for heat rejection, whatever colour is facing into the room.
The Cons: The main consideration here is that this is a premium, high-performance textile, and the investment reflects that. It’s the top-tier solution for a very specific and serious heat problem.
4. Blackout & Room-Darkening Fabrics
The Pros: If your main goal is night-time privacy, or creating a dark space for a bedroom or cinema room, then this is the only real choice. They are specifically designed to block as much light as possible from passing through the material itself.
The Cons: A word of caution on the name. We prefer the term ‘room darkening’ because achieving 100% total blackout is very difficult – light can often find a way to creep around the edges of the blind. Also, for heat control, their performance depends entirely on their colour, just like screen fabrics, unless they have a specific reflective backing.
So, Which Fabric is Right for You?
Making a Confident Choice
Making a confident choice is about identifying your biggest single problem.
- If your number one problem is HEAT: Your best choice is a high-performance metallised fabric, or a light-coloured fabric as a strong second.
- If your number one problem is GLARE & VIEW: Your best choice is a dark-coloured screen fabric.
- If your number one problem is PRIVACY or SLEEP: Your best choice is a blackout or room-darkening fabric.
Understanding Absorbed Solar Energy As%
To really understand the principle of heat control, it helps to look at the most effective solution possible: stopping the heat from the outside. With these fabrics the Total Solar Energy Rejected Ts% is stopped from entering your glazing system. The Absorbed Solar Energy As%, reradiates to the exterior environment together with what has been reflected. Darker fabrics work the best.
We helped a couple, Helen and Michael in Peckham, whose new kitchen extension was unbearably hot. An external roof blind solved the problem completely because it stopped over 90% of the heat before it even hit the glass. Success Story: How External Shading Made Helen Fall In Love With Her Home Again – WindowTreat
When using internal blind fabrics it is key to understand that all the Absorbed Solar Energy As% remains reradiated into your living space. Only the Reflected Solar Energy Rs% has a chance of getting back through your glazing system to the outside. So light reflective or metallised fabrics work best.
Taking the Next Step
Planning early is the key to seamlessly integrating comfort and control into your design. If you’d like to chat through the options for your own project, give one of our specialists a call for a bit of friendly advice.
If you’re still in the early planning stages with your architect, you might find our guide on the S.H.A.D.E. principles for designing with glass, incredibly helpful.
Bringing It All Together
Hopefully, you now feel much clearer and more confident about the different fabric types. It isn’t about navigating confusing marketing terms; it’s about understanding the specific job each fabric is designed to do.
Choosing the right blind is about more than just covering a window, it’s about reclaiming your space and making sure the dream you had for your home becomes a comfortable, usable reality.
By understanding these simple principles, you are now in a much better position to make that happen.
For a no-pressure conversation about how we can help make your space perfectly comfortable, give us a call on 01256 345580. You can also book an appointment here.
