People don’t always have to make blackout curtains. There are certainly plenty of them available. However, some people might want to make their own. Using curtains purely for shade is common. Shade curtains like these will allow people to keep safe from the sun.
As different organizations raise awareness about the dangers of sun exposure, using big blackout curtains to keep out the sun is becoming increasingly popular.
Effective Shade
Glass from windows will block a lot of ultraviolet rays, but not all of them. It is possible for people to get harmful health consequences from the sun exposure that they will receive indoors. The sunlight from closed windows can still cause fading for furniture and carpeting.
People need to find a way to keep everything in their homes safe, and using heavy curtains for shade can make all the difference for them. This can help keep them healthy, while also allowing them to maintain their homes.
Choosing the right material for these shade curtains is one of the most important parts of making them. This material must be opaque enough, or it is not going to block out the sun effectively.
Transparent black curtains can still provide some shade. However, people will have to add layers and transparent material to get the blackout effect that they might want with shade curtains.
In order to test whether the material is opaque enough, it’s a good idea to hold it up to a light source of some kind. If it really blocks out that light, it should block out sunlight. Since indoor fluorescent lights are often even brighter than the sun at most points during the day, this is a good way to test the material.
Measuring the Windows
People need to measure their windows in order to get a sense of how much material they will need. In order to block out the sun, people will need more than enough material to cover up the windows. The curtains should extend several inches away from the windows, or there will be some gaps that will let in the sunlight.
The curtains should be overly long as well as overly wide. This will make it easier for people to hang their curtains correctly. A lot of people will find it easier to do this if they have a lot of extra material. It’s better to have too much than too little.
The Right Support
It’s important to find a curtain rod that will be able to handle heavy shade curtains. People who purchase these curtains themselves might be able to find a drapery rod that is more or less associated with those curtains. If they are making their own, they should try to find the thickest and sturdiest of the drapery rods that are available.
Curtains that people will use to block the sun will usually be the heaviest of all of them on the market. This automatically means that they will need some of the toughest drapery rods that are around today. Curtains, in general, tend to weigh more than people think.
When there is a lot of heavy material all gathered in one place, it’s easy for people to feel like the drapery rod will not be able to support it all. This is often the case, making it even more important for people to choose the drapery rods carefully.
Hanging the Curtains
Some people will use supports that look like rings in order to hang the heavy curtains. People trying to make their own curtains will have a tough time trying to hang them in a conventional way. It’s not a good idea to just insert a curtain hook into a hole in the curtain material.
There are different fasteners that people can purchase at most hardware stores that they can attach to the curtains in rows, and they can insert the hooks into those. Attaching these properly can be difficult without the right tools, but it is something that can be done as a DIY project.
It’s also possible to hang the material properly by attaching a series of black straps onto the curtains and hanging them using the black straps. This might work better for the people who are trying to create curtains independently. People who want to make their own curtains have different options.