From screen and blackout rollers to timber-look slats and vertical sheers, this part explores how blind materials affect transparency, texture, durability, and how your blinds look and perform in everyday use.
Blinds may look minimal, but the materials they’re made from do a lot of work. They filter light, provide privacy, shape the mood of a room, and affect how clean, warm, or structured the window feels.
Unlike curtains, which use soft textile fabrics, blinds rely on functional surfaces: woven technical fabrics, aluminium slats, timber finishes, or polyester composites. Each type behaves differently in light, and each suits a different kind of space.
This guide breaks down the common material choices for roller, zebra, roman, venetian, and vertical blinds.
Roller Blind Fabrics
Roller blinds use flat fabric panels that wrap onto a tube. The fabric determines how much light passes through and what kind of privacy the blind provides.
1. Screen Fabric
Screen fabrics are semi-transparent, woven from PVC-coated polyester or fibreglass. They allow filtered light and muted outward visibility while maintaining daytime privacy.
- Light behaviour: Filters glare without darkening the room
- View: Allows slight outward visibility; may see silhouettes from outside at night
- Best for: Living rooms, studies, spaces facing greenery or views
2. Light-Filtering Fabric
Light-filtering rollers use tightly woven or coated fabric to softly diffuse light while maintaining privacy. They block glare without darkening the room.
- Light behaviour: Softens and spreads light without direct view-through
- Privacy: Good during the day and night
- Best for: Shared spaces like dining areas, hallways, and playrooms
- Notes: Ideal for spaces where you want gentle light but no full blackout
3. Blackout Fabric
Blackout roller fabric completely blocks incoming light. It’s typically thicker, with a solid coating or backing, and is used where total darkness or high privacy is needed.
- Light behaviour: Total blockout, but functionally depends on how the blind is installed
- Privacy: Complete, day and night
- Best for: Bedrooms, media rooms, nurseries
- Notes: Side gaps must be managed with proper recess fitting or side channels – hard to do
Zebra Blind Fabrics
Zebra blinds (day/night blinds) are made of alternating opaque and sheer horizontal bands, woven into a continuous fabric loop.
- Light behaviour: Adjusts by aligning or offsetting solid and sheer bands
- Privacy: Adjustable; not full blackout
- Texture and finish: Usually smooth or slightly textured; available in neutrals, metallics, and subtle weaves
- Best for: Living rooms, studies, and spaces where adjustable light is preferred
- Notes: Less suited for total light sealing
Roman Blind Fabrics
Roman blinds use fabric panels that fold up into soft pleats. The fabric options here mirror curtain fabrics — allowing for more texture, layering, and softness.
- Available in: Sheer, dimout, or blackout fabric
- Texture and finish: Linen-like weaves, cotton blends, polyesters
- Best for: Bedrooms, reading nooks, transitional spaces
- Notes: Choose blackout lining if used in a bedroom; fabric weight will affect stacking and fold definition
Venetian Blind Materials
Venetian blinds use horizontal slats — typically in aluminium or PVC. PVC with woodgrain patterns to mimic wood is a popular, durable choice. Material choice affects weight, durability, and tone.
1. Aluminium Slats
- Look: Sleek, cool-toned, slightly reflective
- Best for: Kitchens, home offices, bathrooms
- Finish options: Matte, brushed, metallic
- Notes: Light, durable, and moisture-resistant
2. PVC Faux Wood Slats
- Look: Warm, natural, textured
- Best for: Bedrooms, living rooms, homes with natural palettes
- Finish options: Painted, stained, or woodgrain
- Notes: PVC moisture-resistant and suitable for humid rooms
Vertical Blind Materials
Vertical blinds use hanging fabric vanes that can tilt or draw to the side. Material choice affects softness, privacy, and whether the blind reads as residential or office-like.
Vertical blinds with a separate sheer layer allows for the blinds to be 3 positions:
- Completely open (blinds are drawn to the side
- Sheer configuration (blinds are closed; 0 degree rotation, fabric slats are perpendicular to the window; sheer layers are parallel)
- Completely closed configuration (blinds are closed; 90 degree rotation, fabric slats are parallel to the window)
- Common options:
- Dimout fabric vanes with sheer layer
- Blackout fabric vanes with sheer layer
- Dimout/Blackout fabric vanes without sheer layer
- Look: Ranges from soft and translucent to crisp and opaque
- Best for: Sliding doors, wide windows, high-ceilinged spaces
- Notes: The selection for dimout or blackout vanes closely resemble the choices for curtains, except that vertical sheers cannot achieve 100% light blockout due to the gaps between vanes, even when completely closed.
Choosing the Right Blind Material
When selecting blind material, think about:
- Light control: Do you want to block, filter, or preserve views?
- Privacy: Is nighttime privacy essential? Or is glare reduction enough?
- Texture: Should the blind disappear into the wall, or contribute to the room’s material palette?
- Environment: Are you working in a humid area like a bathroom or kitchen?
- Style: Do you want it to feel architectural, tactile, warm, or minimal?
Next: Tracks, Mounting & Pelmets — Designing the Hardware That Shapes the Look
Now that you know how fabrics and materials behave, it’s time to look at how they’re supported and presented. In Part 5, we’ll explore mounting styles, track depth, and the hardware that shapes how your curtains and blinds integrate into the room.
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