Of all the window treatments in the world, curtains are one of the oldest and most common.
While some of the curtains are great for blocking out light and providing as much privacy as the home needs, some other curtains are placed so that as much light can enter the home as possible.
This is why before you install curtains in your rooms, you need to know about the best fabric for curtains.
What will be the best curtain fabric, will depend a lot on what you are looking for. While pure linen is good for durability and energy efficiency, linen blends make sure the curtains become easier to maintain.
You can also go for polyester, as they last a long time, or velvet to add a lot of class to the interior.
Let’s take a detailed look at various fabrics for your curtains.
What is the best fabric for curtains?
Curtains play the role of enhancing the aesthetics of a house’s interior as well as maintaining its energy efficiency. But not all types of curtains are suitable for every room in your home, and their suitability depends a lot on their fabric.
All window treatments play a specific role and have unique traits that make them stand out.
Here is a list of curtain fabrics for your consideration.
1. Pure Linen
Linen is one of the common fabrics to make curtains, and there are good reasons for this. First, linen is 100% natural, as they are made from flax fibers.
So, if you prefer natural material to semi-natural (natural fibers mixed with synthetic ones) or completely synthetic materials, having linen curtains in your home is a no-brainer.
Also, linen fibers have a hollow core, which allows them to maintain or increase a house’s energy efficiency, as they can keep the home cool during summer, and warm during winter. It is also one of the best fabrics for sheer curtains, so you can install them where you need a lot of light.
When choosing natural fibers for their curtains, people often are unsure about their durability and think that these fibers will not last a long time.
But unlike many natural materials, linen is very strong and durable, which is a big upside when you are looking for a curtain that will last a long time.
Linen is also considered by many as the best fabric for curtains in living rooms.
2. Linen Blends
Despite its advantages, linen or other natural materials have some drawbacks. For example, when linen curtains wrinkle, they stay wrinkled. This harms the aesthetics of the home’s interior a lot.
So, sometimes linen is blended with mostly rayon, or other synthetic fibers to make curtains. These curtains have advantages of both fibers while eliminating the disadvantages.
Although rayon is considered synthetic, due to it being produced from natural sources such as wood, some don’t want to consider it as such.
No matter how natural rayon is, blending it with linen produces curtains that have a silkier texture than pure linen curtains. And who doesn’t love a silky texture?
Also, remember when we said pure linens wrinkle? Well, you can get rid of this problem by installing linen blend curtains in your living room or bedroom, as these mixed fibers are resistant to wrinkling, which makes maintaining these curtains a lot easier.
3. Silk
If you want silky texture, why go for other materials for your curtains when you can have silk curtains themselves? Silk has long been synonymous with class, elegance, and taste, and the curtains made from silk are no different.
Silk is very versatile and can be used to make any kind of curtains. There are a lot of different silk curtains available in the market with different textures for you to choose from.
If you want lighter curtains that can both shade your room or can let in as much as you need, depending on whether they are lined or not, silk is the way to go.
But there is a drawback to having silk curtains in your home, as they are susceptible to being damaged by being exposed to sunlight. So, you should have a barrier fabric behind these curtains to protect them.
4. Cotton
Staying with natural fabrics, cotton has been a popular choice for curtains for centuries. It doesn’t matter if you want a more traditional look for your interior with your curtains or a modern one, cotton curtains can fit all bills.
Also, they can be used to make curtains of all kinds, from sheers to let in as much light as possible, to heavy curtains to block out light for more privacy.
Cotton curtains are strong and durable, and you can easily wash them. Also, as far as color is concerned, these curtains retain their color, and unlike silk, they don’t lose their color due to exposure to sunlight.
Additionally, when compared to silk, cotton curtains are a much cheaper option, which makes them a good choice for people with a limited budget.
5. Polyester
If you don’t want natural fabric for your curtains, then you can go for polyester curtains. These fabrics are very affordable, easy to maintain, and strong.
These fabrics are also very durable, which makes them last a lot more time than natural fabric. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, effort, and time to maintain your curtains, then you should go for polyester.
Curtains made of polyester are also very easy to wash, compared to other materials in this list. But when these curtains are stained, the stain can be pretty tough to get rid of, due to the nature of the fibers here are there. So, they are not fit for high-traffic areas such as kitchens, etc.
6. Velvet
If budget isn’t an issue for you, and you want a heavier material to block out a lot of light, then velvet is your best option. Made primarily from silk, there has not been any material that has embodied class and elegance more than velvet, and it has been the case for thousands of years.
But providing luxury isn’t the only job of velvet curtains, as they are very functional as well. One of the best curtain fabrics for living rooms, this heavy fabric is excellent for not only blocking light but sound as well.
Another big advantage of velvet is its durability, and its ability to keep its shape, which also helps to maintain its aesthetics.
What should you look for in fabric for your curtains?
Now that you know what fabrics are the best for your curtains, it’s time for you to know how you should choose them.
Just because a fabric looks good in general, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be good for you, or suit your needs.
Here are a few things you need to look for in curtain fabric.
- Durability: You don’t want to buy a curtain and install it in your home, only to see it get damaged easily. Make sure you choose a fabric that is durable and has a long lifespan.
- Weight: While heavier fabrics block out a lot of light, they can be unsuitable for your window frame as well as window rods. So, take your frames and rods into account before choosing a curtain.
- Suitability: Some curtain fabrics are more suitable for a kind of room than others. For example, it is better to have polyester curtains in bedrooms than in kitchens as they can retain stains. So, make sure you install the right curtains in the right place.
Final Words
Fabrics play a big role in making a curtain functional for a particular room. So, the best fabric for curtains will be the one that will cater to your needs the most.
So, take your budget, how much light you want in your room as well as the type of service you want from the curtain along with the type of the room into account before deciding on a curtain.
FAQs
1. Which fabric is best for bedroom curtains?
The best curtain fabric for the bedroom is cotton. It is their breathability, low maintenance, and lightweight that make them the perfect candidate for bedroom curtains.
2. What is the most luxurious fabric for curtains?
By far the most luxurious fabric for curtains is velvet. They are heavy, come in a lot of luxurious types, and cost a lot more than other fabrics.
3. What is the best fabric to block sunlight?
Densely woven fabrics such as denim, cotton (some of them), and velvet are the best fabrics to block out sunlight. So, if you want to restrict the light entering your room, choose among these fabrics.
