Composite Blackout Fabric is a specialty textile that blocks out light

A blackout fabric is a specialty textile that blocks out light, often used in curtains and tents. It contains a layer of opaque fabric surrounded by foams and exterior fabrics that act like walls, shielding the inner textile from the outside world.

Unlike regular drapery linings, blackout curtain fabric doesn’t need to be flocked. This simplifies the manufacturing process and can be more cost-effective.

Light Blocking

Light blocking fabrics reduce incoming sunlight by up to 100%. This helps maintain optimum temperatures and lessen the load on your air conditioner. They also block out the view from outside your home, giving you privacy even during the day.

There are two ways light can be blocked: reflection or absorption. When direct sunlight hits a screen, some of the photons will be reflected and others absorbed depending on the surface color and roughness.

Thermal Insulation

Thermal insulation is the process of inhibiting the transfer of heat between two objects. This can be done in a number of ways, from insulating the hot and cold sides of processing equipment in industrial applications to insulating domestic cavity walls. Whether made from plant/animal derived products or manmade materials, all insulating products share the same fundamental properties of lower energy losses and higher efficiency.

We use insulating materials every day, from the cotton long johns and jeans that keep us warm while we play in the snow to our insulated tea mugs or even the protective gear that firefighters wear on their workdays. These materials are insulated to prevent the flow of heat from one object to another through conduction or radiation. The ability of a material to resist these flows is measured by its thermal conductivity, which is the measure of how easily heat can be transferred through a solid material. The higher the thermal conductivity, the less insulating the material is.

Noise Reduction

Composite Blackout Fabric have sound-dampening properties due to their density and opacity. These specialty textiles are often created through 2-pass or 3-pass processes. The first pass involves coating the fabric with a layer of black foam; the second pass consists of a layer of white or light-colored foam.

Noise reduction is useful for reducing constant background noises, such as hum, whistle, whine and buzz or FM/webcast carrier noise. However, it is not appropriate for reducing individual clicks and pops or irregular background noise, such as traffic or an audience.

Adjusting the blue control curve sets the amount of noise reduction in different frequency ranges. Lowering the sensitivity decreases the chance of removing audio you want to keep, while increasing the risk of artifacts that sound like tinkly bells in the noise-reduced output. Use the lowest value that provides effective noise removal without causing undesirable artifacts.

Durability

Blackout fabrics are able to block light from the outside, while absorbing and dispersing sound. These fabrics also provide insulation and help control the temperature in a room. They are durable, easy to clean, and come in a variety of colors.