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What is The Best Fabric to Use For Roller Window Shades

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Roller shades for your windows are very popular products for homes in Indianapolis. They are loved for their straight and clean lines, matching any decor, the huge selection of fabrics available, and the highly customizable design.

Roller window shades are very durable and long-lasting because of their design. They have a roller mechanism at the top of the window where they mount, and when you open the shade, the fabric rolls up onto it to be out of sight and give you great views out of your window with little obstructions. When the shades are pulled down, they appear as a flat sheet of fabric.

Choosing the right fabric is very important. You want materials that will hold up for many years to meet your lighting needs. You can select light filtering, room-darkening fabric, or anywhere in between to suit your needs. Learning about the different types of motorized roller shade fabric options and how they help you with your window treatment solutions will help you to make an informed decision on what’s best for your situation.

Factors to Consider When Choosing Roller Shade Fabrics

A living room with black roller shades and red pillows.
There are several factors to consider to choose the best fabric for window shades for your home.

Sunlight Exposure and Direction

The direction your windows face dictates how much sunlight and heat you will get in them that radiates into your home. Windows that face north get very little sunlight, but south, east, and west-facing windows get sunlight and heat in them at some point in the daytime. Your window treatments in north-facing windows don’t need to be as thick, but all others do to bock out the heat from your inside spaces.

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency and sunlight exposure go hand in hand. The less heat and sunlight you allow in your home in the warm months, the less need for air conditioning to keep it a comfortable temperature inside, thereby saving your energy costs by providing UV protection. To save money on your electric bill and block out the sun’s hot UV rays, you’ll need window coverings that work to do this for you.

Privacy and Light Control

Having privacy in your home is very important, especially if you have neighbors nearby or live on a busy street with traffic. The rooms with the most concern are, of course, your bedrooms and bathrooms, but you should also have some privacy in most other rooms to be comfortable. The more privacy you have, the more light control you will also have because blocking light gives you privacy.

Durability and Maintenance

In general, roller fabric shades are very durable because they have fewer moving parts than other window treatments, such as blinds and shutters. Thicker fabrics will be more durable in the long run, as is the case with any type of fabric window covering. The required maintenance is minimal. You can close your roller shade and simply vacuum it with a brush attachment on the front and then the rear every few weeks to keep it in pristine shape.

Style and Design Options

The massive array of fabrics you can choose for your roller shades gives you an immense number of options. Choose a solid color, a pretty pattern, or a theme to match your home decor perfectly. If you choose, you can select a solid color fabric and then add decorative fabric tape to it for a splash of color and style. You can also add other embellishments on the bottom of the shade fabric, such as lace, tassels, or any other embellishments you like. A great design option to give it character is to have a beautiful scalloped bottom edge to soften the lines of your roller shade textiles.

Types of Roller Shade Fabrics

Choose from five main types of shade fabric options according to your needs and your desires. You have a large number of fabric choices for roller blinds to suit your needs.

Sunscreen fabrics for roller shades are made of a screen like product. They filter out the sunlight and glare but allow light to come through into your home. You may be thinking that these sound unattractive, but they come in several different colors from which to choose to coordinate with your aesthetics in your rooms.

1. Blackout Fabrics

Blackout fabric for roller shades blocks out all the light for a quiet and peaceful nights’ sleep, while dampening outside noises at the same time. This window shade material works exceptionally well in bedrooms, bathrooms, and any other space where you want total privacy. Blackout fabrics also work well in any window of your home that gets a lot of heat and sunlight, and they match any interior design for a thermal insulating window shade fabric.

2. Light-Filtering Fabrics

These fabrics are just as the name implies, they filter out the heat and sunshine but still give you some natural sunshine in your home when they are closed, giveing you the perfect balance of both privacy and natural lighting.

3. Translucent Fabrics

Translucent fabrics for window shades come in varying degrees of transparency from barely visible, very thin and thin varieties of different fabrics. The thinner fabrics will allow you a perfect view of the outside world when your roller window shades are down, but they do offer a bit of privacy. Sheer fabrics are also called translucent.

4. Natural and Eco-Friendly Fabrics

Go “green” with eco-friendly and natural fabrics in your home. These types of woven shade materials are made of all natural elements such as wood, bamboo and grasses that help save your energy costs naturally with their built-in insulating properties. Eco-friendly shade fabrics are also environmentally sustainable as the materials are easy and quick to grow and won’t deplete natural resources. A good example of this type of fabric is woven wood with beautiful natural brown and green hues in it.

5. Synthetic Fabrics

Synthetic fabrics are man made, and they are some of the most durable fabrics you can choose for your custom roller shades. Synthetic fabrics improve the quality of natural products for the use in window treatments. Examples are acrylic, nylon and polyester, of which polyester is the most popular for window shades.

Best Roller Shade Fabrics for Different Needs

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Specific roller shade fabrics work best for specific needs that you may have in each room of your home.

Best Roller Shade Fabrics for Sun Protection

If your main interest in your roller shade is protection from the sun to keep your indoor textiles from fading, such as your flooring, furniture and collectibles, then consider choosing screen fabrics. You can choose between several colors and also choose the amount of openness or the amount of light that is actually let through while blocking out the glare and harmful UV rays.

Best Roller Shade Fabrics for Energy Efficiency

If your main concern with your new roller shades is energy efficiency, then blackout fabric is your best bet. It darkens rooms to keep them much cooler in the warm months to save you on your cooling bills. Choose from a large selection of energy-efficient window shade fabrics.

Best Roller Shade Fabrics for Privacy and Light Control

Solar shade fabrics work very well for giving you total privacy and controlling light from entering in your windows. It’s important to note that the darker fabrics will give you the best results all around.

Best Roller Shade Fabrics for Durability and Maintenance

If you are seeking a long-term solution that is durable and requires little maintenance, then PVC or polyester is a good choice. PVC isn’t very attractive, but is super durable and takes little upkeep, it’s also waterproof and a fire-retardant window shade fabric, making it perfect for kitchens and bathrooms. PVC is also a great moisture-resistant roller shade, perfect for bathrooms. Polyester is durable as a PVC-free roller shade material, and it’s also resistant to stretching, pilling and tears, and it’s an easy maintenance fabric.

Best Roller Shade Fabrics for Style and Design​

For beautiful roller shades with a lot of style and class, choose voile fabrics. They are thin and sheer fabrics made with polyester or cotton or a blend of both. It is sheer, so if you love the appearance, this type of fabric works great when paired with other window treatments such as blackout curtains, blinds or shades to block sunlight. Voile is considered one of the designer shade fabrics for roller shades.
As you can see, you have many fabrics and commercial-grade shade materials to choose from when you decide on roller shades. There are several options to address your energy efficiency needs, sun protection, privacy and light control, durability, and endless styles and designs that can be created with custom roller shades. Contact us at The Window Valet to explore more choices in the highly customizable roller shades and to see what we can create especially for you! This guide will help you to decide on the best fabric for your new window covering solutions.
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Josh LeClair

A seasoned window treatment expert specializing in blinds, shades, and shutters with over 17 years of experience in custom solutions, cleaning, and repairs.

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At The Window Valet, we work with reputable and proven vendors to obtain quality window covering products tailored to your home. All of our roller shades are assembled and tested locally in Central Indiana.

Our commitment to unsurpassed service and workmanship has earned us a well-deserved reputation as one of the finest window treatment companies. No other company offers a higher level of service or greater value.

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