Types of Roller Blind Fabric Explained – Daylight, Blackout, Screen, PVC & More
Choosing roller blind fabric isn't simply a matter of finding a colour you like.
Different fabrics can provide very different levels of daylight, privacy, blackout, glare reduction, solar control and moisture resistance. Some fabrics are flame retardant, some are designed for easier cleaning, and specialist screen fabrics can help control glare and solar heat while still allowing a degree of outward visibility.
If you're replacing the fabric on an existing roller blind, making your own blind or simply trying to understand the different options, this guide explains the main types of roller blind fabric and where each works best.
Daylight or dimout fabric is one of the most versatile choices for a roller blind.
Rather than completely blocking incoming light, it filters and softens daylight while providing screening and privacy. This makes it particularly suitable for living rooms, dining rooms, offices and other spaces where you don't necessarily want the room to become dark when the blind is lowered.
The precise amount of light transmitted will vary between fabrics and colours. A lighter fabric will also behave differently from a darker shade.
Best for:
Living rooms and dining rooms
General-purpose roller blinds
Offices
Reducing glare without completely darkening a room
Rooms where natural daylight is still wanted
If complete light exclusion isn't important, daylight or dimout fabric is often the best place to start.
Blackout fabric is designed to prevent light from passing through the fabric itself, making it particularly useful for bedrooms, nurseries, presentation rooms and other spaces where greater light control is required.
It also provides excellent privacy.
There is, however, an important distinction between blackout fabric and a completely blackout room.
Even when the fabric itself is blackout, light can still enter around the sides, top and bottom of a conventional roller blind. If near-total room darkening is required, the complete blind installation and surrounding light gaps also need to be considered.
Best for:
Bedrooms
Children's rooms
Home cinemas and presentation rooms
Shift workers
Rooms requiring increased privacy
Areas where reducing incoming light is a priority
Blackout fabrics are available in standard and extra-wide sizes, making them suitable for both ordinary domestic blinds and considerably larger windows.
White-backed blackout fabric adds another useful option.
The decorative colour faces into the room, while the reverse of the fabric facing the window is white.
This provides two important benefits.
Firstly, you can choose a colour to suit the interior while maintaining a clean and consistent white appearance when the blinds are viewed from outside.
Secondly, the white backing can increase solar reflectance, reflecting more incoming solar energy back towards the window rather than absorbing it into a darker fabric.
This makes white-backed blackout particularly interesting for sunny windows where blackout and solar performance are both important.
Our Eden White-Backed FR Blackout range, for example, combines a coloured interior face with a white window-facing backing and flame-retardant performance.
Best for:
Sunny windows
Bedrooms requiring blackout
Offices and computer environments
Commercial buildings with several externally visible blinds
Rooms where both blackout and solar control are priorities
Screen fabric works differently from conventional daylight or blackout fabric.
It has a carefully controlled open weave, allowing some light and outward visibility through the blind while helping to reduce glare and solar heat.
Screen fabrics are commonly described by their openness factor, such as 1% or 3%.
A lower openness percentage means a tighter weave.
As a general principle:
1% screen fabric provides greater screening, glare control and privacy during daylight.
3% screen fabric allows more light and a clearer view through the blind while still providing useful solar control.
Screen fabric can be particularly effective on large windows, offices and sunny elevations where controlling glare is important without completely losing the view outside.
Remember that the privacy characteristics of screen fabric change with lighting conditions. At night, when the room is illuminated and it is dark outside, screen fabric should not be relied upon to provide the same privacy as blackout fabric.
Best for:
Offices and computer screens
Large glazed areas
Sunny windows
Reducing glare
Solar control
Retaining some outward visibility
Understanding Solar Control – Reflection, Absorption and Transmittance
When comparing specialist blind fabrics, you may encounter terms such as transmittance, reflectance and absorption.
They describe what happens to solar energy when it reaches the blind.
Transmittance is the amount of light and solar energy that passes through the fabric into the room. For solar control, a lower figure generally means less solar energy is being transmitted through the fabric.
Reflectance describes the amount reflected back towards the window. Higher solar reflectance can help prevent some of that energy from being retained by the blind and entering the room.
Absorption is the amount of solar energy absorbed by the fabric itself. A dark fabric can provide excellent visible-light control while absorbing more solar energy than a reflective light-coloured or white-backed surface.
This is why blackout and solar control aren't necessarily the same thing.
A fabric can be extremely effective at stopping visible light from passing through it without necessarily being the best fabric for reflecting solar energy.
You may also encounter a shading coefficient. This compares solar heat gain through glazing with and without the blind. In simple terms, a lower shading coefficient indicates better performance at reducing solar heat gain under the stated test conditions.
Other technical specifications may include UV protection, which indicates how effectively the fabric helps reduce exposure to ultraviolet radiation.
Voile roller blind fabric is designed for situations where maintaining natural daylight is particularly important.
It provides a softer, more translucent appearance than conventional dimout fabric and can be useful for screening a window without making the room feel enclosed.
Voile can work particularly well in living spaces and windows where privacy or screening is required during the daytime but retaining a bright interior is a priority.
As with screen fabric, remember that translucent fabrics don't provide the same level of night-time privacy as blackout or more opaque fabrics.
Best for:
Bright living spaces
Soft daytime screening
Maintaining natural daylight
Decorative roller blinds
Windows where blackout isn't required
PVC roller blind fabric is particularly useful where easy cleaning and moisture resistance are important.
Rather than having the feel of a conventional woven polyester blind fabric, PVC provides a wipe-clean surface that can make it a practical choice for kitchens, bathrooms and other demanding environments.
PVC roller fabrics are also available with blackout properties.
For somebody repairing an existing blind in a kitchen or bathroom, replacing the old cover with PVC can therefore make more sense than replacing the entire blind.
Best for:
Kitchens
Bathrooms
Utility rooms
Wipe-clean applications
Areas where moisture resistance is useful
PVC fabrics are available in both plain and patterned finishes.
What Does FR Roller Blind Fabric Mean?
FR means flame retardant.
Flame-retardant fabrics are commonly specified in commercial, educational, healthcare and other contract environments, although they can equally be used in domestic blinds.
It is important to understand that FR doesn't describe how much light the fabric lets through.
You can have:
FR daylight fabric
FR dimout fabric
FR blackout fabric
FR screen fabric
FR is therefore an additional performance characteristic, rather than a separate level of shading.
Where flame-retardant performance is important, always check the specification and relevant test standard for the particular fabric rather than assuming all blind fabrics provide the same performance.
Several fabrics in our range are tested to BS 5867 Part 2 Type B.
Does Roller Blind Fabric Colour Matter?
Yes — and not just aesthetically.
Colour can influence the way a blind handles light and solar energy.
Darker fabrics often provide stronger visual glare reduction and can improve outward visibility with some screen fabrics, but they may also absorb more solar energy.
Lighter and white surfaces generally reflect more incoming solar energy.
This is one reason white-backed blackout fabrics are useful: the room-facing side can remain the colour you want while the window-facing surface is white.
Colour also looks very different under changing lighting conditions, and phone or computer screens cannot reproduce every fabric colour accurately.
For that reason, if colour matching is important, we recommend obtaining a physical fabric sample before ordering cut fabric.
What Width Roller Blind Fabric Do I Need?
Fabric width is easily overlooked.
Roller blind fabrics commonly come in widths such as 200cm, while selected ranges are also available in 250cm, 290cm or 300cm extra-wide options.
The fabric needs to be wide enough for the required blind cover, including any appropriate cutting allowances.
Extra-wide fabric isn't only useful for one very large blind.
It can sometimes make a project involving several smaller blinds considerably more economical because two or even three blind covers may fit side-by-side across the width of the fabric.
For example, depending on the exact measurements and required allowances, a 300cm wide fabric may provide enough width for three covers of approximately 90cm each.
If you're making several blinds, it is worth planning the cutting layout before ordering the fabric.
Can I Just Replace the Fabric on My Existing Roller Blind?
Often, yes.
If the roller tube, brackets and operating mechanism are still serviceable, there may be no reason to replace the entire blind simply because the fabric is worn, damaged, stained or no longer suits the room.
Replacing only the fabric can be a much more economical option.
You can purchase roller blind fabric by the metre and cut and finish it yourself, or we can provide cut-to-size and cut-and-hem services if required.
We also supply roller tubes, bottom bars, mechanisms, chains, motors and other components, so an existing blind can often be repaired or upgraded rather than completely replaced.
How Much Fabric Should I Order?
Don't simply order fabric equal to the finished drop of your blind.
Some additional fabric needs to remain wrapped around the roller tube when the blind is fully lowered, and material may also be required for the bottom finish.
As a general guide, we normally recommend allowing approximately 30cm more than the finished blind drop.
For example, a blind with a finished drop of 150cm would normally require approximately 180cm of fabric, meaning a 2-metre order would generally be appropriate.
Individual projects can vary, so please ask if you're unsure.
Which Roller Blind Fabric Should I Choose?
As a simple starting point:
Choose Daylight / Dimout if you want privacy and glare reduction while retaining natural light.
Choose Blackout if reducing incoming light and increasing privacy are the priorities.
Choose White-Backed Blackout if you want blackout together with a white external appearance and improved solar reflectance.
Choose Screen if controlling glare and solar heat while retaining some outward visibility is important.
Choose Voile / Translucent if maximum natural daylight and soft screening are the priorities.
Choose PVC where wipe-clean practicality and moisture resistance are particularly useful.
Choose an FR version when flame-retardant performance is required or preferred.
There isn't one roller blind fabric that is best for every window. The right choice depends on what you want the blind to achieve.
Need Help Choosing Your Roller Blind Fabric?
If you're replacing an existing blind cover, making several blinds or aren't sure which type of fabric would work best, please get in touch before ordering.
We can help with:
Choosing the appropriate fabric type
Working out how much fabric you need
Selecting the most economical fabric width
Planning several covers from one piece of fabric
Fabric samples
Cutting fabric to your measurements
Bottom hem/pocket finishing
Roller tubes and bottom bars
Replacement mechanisms and motors
Sometimes replacing the fabric and reusing the existing blind components can save a considerable amount compared with replacing complete blinds.
Call us on 07943-731180 or contact us through the website to discuss your project.
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