Blackout Curtains
| Materials | Polyester · Poly-Cotton · Recycled Polyester |
| Light Blockage | 70%–100% (coating or lining method) |
| Weight | 180–350 GSM (face fabric) |
| Size Range | 42–120″ W × 63–120″ L — custom sizes available |
| MOQ | 500 pcs per color · 200 pcs per design (see MOQ section below) |
| Lead Time | Sampling 7–10 days · Production 25–35 days |
| Customization | Color · Size · Blockage Level · Header · Flame Retardant · Logo · Packaging |
What We Can Do
Materials. Polyester is the standard face fabric for blackout curtains — colorfast, dimensionally stable, holds the blackout coating well. Poly-cotton for a more natural drape and hand on the face side — the cotton component softens the look, the polyester component ensures the fabric doesn’t shrink away from the coating after washing. Recycled polyester for GRS-certified programs — same performance as virgin polyester with a traceable recycled supply chain. Cotton without polyester is not recommended for coated blackout curtains — cotton shrinks at a different rate than the coating layer, leading to delamination after repeated washes.
Blackout method. Coated blackout — an acrylic or PU-based coating applied to the reverse of the face fabric. Single-pass for 70–90% light blockage. Double-pass or triple-pass for 90–100%. The coating is the workhorse method for hospitality and contract — consistent performance, lower cost, machine washable with care. Lined blackout — a separate blackout lining fabric sewn to the face fabric. No coating, no delamination risk, better drape and a cleaner reverse side. More expensive than coating, used in premium retail and designer projects.
Light blockage levels. 70–85% — dim-out, not true blackout. Suitable for living rooms, restaurants, spaces where total darkness isn’t required. 90–99% — near-blackout. Enough for hotel bedrooms in most conditions. A small amount of light bleed is normal at the edges where the curtain meets the track or rod. 100% — full blackout. Triple-pass coating or premium lining. Required for hotel rooms where the guest expects zero light at any hour — airport hotels, shift-worker accommodations, properties on main roads with street lighting at night.
Header styles. Grommet — metal rings punched into the header, slides directly onto the rod. Clean, modern, no additional hardware. Rod pocket — fabric sleeve at the header, rod slides through. Simple, traditional, more gather. Pinch pleat — sewn-in pleats at the header, hung with curtain hooks on a track. Formal, structured, standard in hospitality. Back tab — fabric loops on the reverse, hidden from view. Minimalist, clean front face.
Sizes. Width: 42″ single panel to 120″ wide panel. Length: 63″ to 120″. Custom width and length. Hotel-specific window dimensions. Curtain sizing is always specified as panel width × length — not window dimensions. Two panels per window is standard for center-opening curtains.
Color. Pantone-matched dyeing on the face fabric. The blackout layer on the reverse is typically white, beige, or grey — neutral to avoid color showing through the fabric from the street side. Solid face colors, yarn-dyed stripes, or textured weaves.
Flame retardant. Available as a finishing treatment applied post-weaving. Tested to NFPA 701 (US), BS 5867 (UK), or other regional standards per project requirements. Flame retardancy is a standard requirement in hospitality and contract curtains — not an upsell, a compliance item.
Packaging. Retail box or bag — typically folded. Hotel bulk packaging. Woven labels or heat-transfer logo.
Material Selection: Light Stops at the Layer, Not the Fiber
The face fabric on a blackout curtain is not doing the blackout work — the coating or lining is. The face fabric choice is about how the curtain looks and drapes, not how much light it blocks. This separates blackout curtains from every other textile in a hotel or retail setting: the performance and the appearance come from two different layers.
Hotels — coating is the standard, for good reason
Polyester face fabric at 200–280 GSM with a double-pass acrylic blackout coating at 90–99% blockage. This is the default hotel blackout curtain. Polyester holds the coating without delamination through washing. The face color stays consistent. The drape is uniform. The cost per panel is predictable at scale.
A coated blackout curtain lasts 50–80 industrial washes before the coating shows signs of wear — edge cracking, thinning, light pinholes appearing under direct sun. At that point, the curtain technically still functions as a curtain, but the blackout performance has degraded. Hotel procurement cycles should plan around this — a blackout curtain is a consumable performance product, not a permanent installation.
Recycled polyester at the same spec covers the growing number of hotel brands with GRS-based procurement mandates. Performance is identical to virgin polyester. Cost is 10–20% higher, driven by the recycled fiber supply chain rather than the coating.
Retail — the customer sees the reverse side
A hotel guest never looks at the back of a curtain. A retail customer does — every time they open and close it. Coated blackout curtains in retail have a harder sell because the coating looks like what it is: a layer of plastic on the back of the fabric.
Lined blackout curtains solve this. Polyester face fabric with a separate woven blackout lining sewn in — the reverse side looks like fabric, not a coating. The drape is heavier and more structured. The cost is higher, but for a consumer spending $80–150 per panel, the visual quality of the reverse side matters.
Poly-cotton face fabric adds a softer, more residential look to the front while the polyester component keeps the fabric dimensionally stable against the lining. In retail, the curtain is both a functional product and a room decoration — the face fabric needs to look like it belongs in a home, not a hotel corridor.
Contract and commercial — flame retardancy leads
In commercial projects — offices, healthcare, education — flame retardancy is typically non-negotiable and specified in the tender documents. Polyester with FR finish to NFPA 701 or BS 5867. The finish is applied post-weaving and should be tested after 10 washes to confirm retention. Not all FR finishes are equal — some wash out over time, and a curtain that passed FR testing on the initial sample may not pass after a year in service. This is a specification conversation worth having upfront.
Quality Control and Service
Sampling. Face fabric, blackout method, blockage level, and header style confirmed → pre-production sample in 7–10 days. Approved → bulk production in 25–35 days.
Inspection. Third-party inspection (SGS, Intertek) available. Blackout-curtain-specific QC: light blockage measurement under controlled conditions, coating adhesion after wash, FR certification validity, and panel-pair matching — two panels hanging side by side with a 1 cm length difference show a visible gap at the bottom.
Testing standards:
- Light blockage: Measured with a lux meter — an unlit interior at midday with the curtain closed. Target lux ≤ 5 for full blackout.
- Coating adhesion: Visual inspection after 5 wash cycles — no peeling, cracking, or pinhole development
- Flame retardancy: NFPA 701 or BS 5867 — tested after 10 wash cycles where retention is specified
- Panel-pair length match: ±0.5 cm between paired panels
- Colorfastness: AATCC 8 ≥ Grade 4, AATCC 61 ≥ Grade 4
- Shrinkage: < 2% for polyester, < 3% for poly-cotton
- Chemical safety: OEKO-TEX Standard 100 — available on request
MOQ: Why the Number Is What It Is
Standard MOQ is 500 pcs per colorway, minimum 200 pcs per design.
Fabric dyeing and coating or lining preparation set the floor. Blackout coating involves machine setup for each width and coating pass count — the minimum supports a production run that makes the setup efficient. Below 200 pcs, setup costs inflate the unit price. Close to the threshold, we’ll work with a transparent cost discussion. Above 3,000 pcs per color, batch efficiency reduces unit cost.