Blackout Curtain

A Blackout Curtain, as the name suggests, is a curtain that is used in a room to filter out excessive light or heat (possibly both) and provide a certain amount of privacy and coolness to the area where it is used, thereby causing a ‘blackout’ of the illumination that would have resulted, had it not been for this kind of curtain.

How the blackout curtain originated:
Curtains and screens, which were to be used for blackout, were first used to shade sensitive crops and to manage the photoperiod of others. These were used to supply insulation and help keep heat near the plants, thus preventing the loss of heat radiation to the cold of the night or late evenings. When these blackout curtains were used with the support of thermal screens, they aided in the maintenance of better heat distribution to crops under the screen too.

Usage of blackout curtain in the present day:
Blackout curtain can be used as an alternative to regular curtains or as a supplementary to already existing fabric curtains, vertical and roller blinds, cubicle blinds and screens. They can be functional and complementary to the usage of the room, be it in a home, a hotel, hospital or office building. Apart from shading and protective purposes, the blackout curtain is also used for thermal insulation and also the prevention of condensation of plants in greenhouses, the initial use of such covers.

Beneficial features of blackout curtain:
Most of the blackout curtains available in the market today are fire retardant fabrics that can be prepared for printing or dyeing (as per customers need) and the ones made out of polyester are arguably the best as they are naturally easy to wash and iron using a higher heat range.

When these are used as a protective screen while viewing movies, they help to enhance the viewing pleasure by bringing out the best color tones onscreen and reducing the reflective element of light in the room. The blackout curtains give the user the advantage of substantial savings in the form of energy conservation both for cooling effect as well as light control.

One last use for a blackout curtain is for a “Day Sleeper”. Those who work at night or must for some other reason, sleep during the day sometimes need the light control to fall asleep. If they can’t ware a mask a blackout curtain would be beneficial for them to try.