These Light Blocking Curtains Are Surprisingly Easy To Locate In The Daytime
Dustin bought a set of Eclipse light blocking curtains at Kmart, but woke up the next day to a well-lit room and some gently glowing windows. The picture Dustin took of the curtains looks an awful lot like the "normal" ones in the official product shot.
I recently needed to buy some new curtains for my bedroom. My old "curtains" were some pieces of thick black cloth that I had sewn a pocket on one side to go on a curtain rod. They were great at blocking out the light during the day if I wanted to sleep, but the thing is that they were black, and I wanted something a little nicer looking.
I had seen these blackout curtains in Walmart and Kmart a few times, and decided to check them out. The Kmart in our area usually has some good sales, so I headed there to see what they had. I ended up buying some Eclipse "Kent" curtains there for I think $12 per panel.
These things claim to block out over 99% of light, and somehow reduce noise by up to 40%. They also have some other unrealistic claims about saving on energy and heating and such, but that wasn't really my concern. Now I knew that the 99% light blockage sounded a little optimistic, but I would have been satisfied if it would just cut out most of the light.
So I put them up that evening and went to bed thinking I would wake up to a nice dark room.
Didn't happen. The attached photo shows how much light these things really "block." Remember too, that photo is exposed for the window, so the room kinda goes dark, which makes it look a little bit darker than it actually is in the room.
The thing that really bugs me about this is the fact that they look like a decent product at first, have pretty big displays in the stores, and make some pretty bold claims that are complete B.S. Here's a link to their website so you can see what they claim.What do you think? These things block out more like 2% of the light. Some of the curtains go for as much as $30+ per panel, so I thought I'd let others know that these things are a complete waste of money. I'm going back to my homemade crappy black curtains.
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judging by that picture, they are blocking out a lot more than 2% of the light compared to if they we left open, but its not 99%.
What you need are blackout drapes, most are thick and ugly so most people (like hotels) have them then cover them with nice thin drapes, that way you get the blackout effect, and nice drapes
It kind of looks like the OP just has beige curtains. He should try a thicker fabric if he wants to block out light. It's not just about color, it's about thickness of fabric. A set of thick khaki curtains can block out as much light as a thin set of black ones.
I recommend something like a chocolate brown or a navy blue if he wants to stray from black.
I feel your pain. I have these Logan microsuede thermal curtains from JCPenney and they just so happen to block out the light b/c of the white thermal backing. They remind me of hotel curtains.
I really think your choices in blackout curtains, even ones you buy are a) butt-ugly and effective or b) slightly more attractive and completely useless.
Back in my newlywed days, I made blackout curtains for my night shift husband out of blue denim chambray I got on sale at the BX. I had to double it to make them dark enough to block the light in our bedroom but at .99/yard, it was still a bargain. They were butt-ugly but they did the trick.
Making a pocket with aluminum foil inside will block 99% of the light. You'll have to figure out how to block the top and bottom properly though.
Usually the "blackout" part of curtains is the liner, not the curtain fabric itself. Most displays are pretty clear that you need both the curtains and the liner to get the full effect.
Those insulating curtains actually block really well, because they have that heavy liner on the back of them. They come in a lot of colors.
Hey, this is Dustin. I also thought that I probably missed a liner that I was supposed to buy, but after reading the package a few times, it says nothing about that. I even looked at both Kmart and Walmart in the curtain section, and eclipse doesn't have a liner to go with these. I get that I bought the beige, and that might effect it somewhat, but each color says the same info about blocking out light. My other "curtains" were a lot better, but I was tired of the black color. I think I'm actually gonna email the company and see what they say about it. If there is a liner that's required, then their packaging is really misleading.
Awwwwwww :(
Crappy not so light-blocky curtains. That would infuriate me. I need the room to be pitch black in order to fall asleep and can relate .... It super sucks that those curtains didn't live up to their advertising.
I just ended up double layering curtains in the bedroom. It's not pretty, but it sure does the job.
@Vanilla5 and queenlizzie - You are both exactly correct. There is a liner fabric that is sewn to the back of the curtain material that actually blocks the light. I worked for a place that made curtains 20 years ago and that stuff was heavier and thicker than anything you'll find at Kmart or Walmart.
Anyone ever look at the curtains in a hotel room? The lining is on the back of them too.
I actually have a black Eclipse curtain over my bedroom window and it works marvelously, in the day time if I don't open it, my room is obviously dark.
Sounds like this guy got a bit screwed over.
How about trying the same material that space blankets are made out of, mylar. It can't be seen from the front, will block out the light, and reflect back some of the heat.
I bought some of these from Walmart... don't remember the brand though... Eclipse sounds familiar. Anyway, mine are a green-ish color on the inside and the back of them is a thick sheet of heavy white fabric. I think I paid $30 for 2 panels and they block light just fine... by no means 99%, but good enough that I don't wake up as soon as sunlight comes in. So even the cheap ones from Walmart work if you're not deadset on sleeping in a complete cave.
Light is measured in lux which is measure of how intense light appears as it hits a surface or passes through something like a curtain. 100,000lux is direct sunlight. Reducing that 99% brings it to 1,000lux which is about how bright it is on cloudy day. So basically if your room is as bright as it would be on an overcast day without any curtains, then they're doing what they advertised. Although the do make the curtains look like they darken a room a lot more on their website.
When I worked a night shift I used curtains that I think were actually vinyl or something. No light could get through them and I used doublesided tape to seal the edges to the wall. It was pitch black in my room no matter how bright it was outside.
I actually bought these myself at Target. In my case they actually do block out 100% of the light that comes at them. In my situation though I have a set of metal blinds behind them that let a lot of light through so ymmv with this product.
@xtc46 - thinksmarter on twitter: They don't need to be that expensive. Just about any drapes with an interior insulating layer will block most of the light coming in.
@henwy: I take any and every advertisement that I see with said "grain of salt". Every statement has been carefully crafted to get you to spend money.
But yeah, I'd be pretty angry at the silly curtains too :)
My mom got me some purple velvet curtains at Linens N Things. They block the light great and they aren't even lined. The green ones in the living room work pretty well too.
If the OP can find something like that, it might work pretty well. I don't think something like that would cost much. Or you could go to a fabric store or outlet and buy the material on sale and make them yourself really easily, if you can't find something ready-made.
@cabjf: A friend of mine lined a fabric panel with space-blanket material to make a drape for a big, oddly shaped window. Works great, looks fine on the inside, blocks drafts as well.
@Matthew Berkhan: Mod parent up. This is correct. Visual perception of light intensity is logarithmic, not linear, so dropping the actual amount of light by 99% (1 - 10% * 10%) results in perception of something like a 75% (1 - 50% * 50%) reduction in brightness.
I don't recall the base of the logarithm off the top of my head -- if it were 2, it'd be 75%. But you get the idea...
@BennyMigrationWitness_GitEmSteveDave: Heh. I just mentioned above that a friend used that very substance to line a curtain, and it worked beautifully.
I'm all kinds of crazy, but I have 3 sets of curtains on my bedroom windows.
First, a set of sheers.
Second, a set of ugly but effective light blocker curtains.
Third, a set of more attractive light blocker curtains.
It may be weird, but it can be daytime outside, and my bedroom will look like a cave.
I find that a sheet of 1/4" plywood works very well. You can easily cut it to size, it comes in any color, and you can hire an artist to paint a nice landscape portrait.
I just throw a dark t-shirt over the top half of my head...seems to work just fine.
I have some green Eclipse curtains in the living room. We have a projector in there, so we really want it to be dart. As far as I can tell, the curtains block out all the light, so I'm not sure what is up with the OP's set.
I'm confused.... I sleep during the day sometimes, but I don't have dark light blocking curtains and yet, I still sleep. Why? Because my eyes are closed. The ultimate light-blocker: Eyelids.
I can't live with ugly light blocking curtains so I use an eye shade.
@BZMedia:
I disagree, eyelids are not the ultimate light blocker. Try again with sun light pouring in through the window directly onto your face: you can still see the light, even though your peeper's shutters.
Most store bought curtains that claim to be 'light proof' are nowhere near, I had a similar experience with some from BB&B. Ended up going to a theater supply company and getting some "commando cloth" or velour fabric, it's 16oz and absolutely lets through 0% light, no BS, if you seal the edges with velcro, it's an absolute blackout.
@Vanilla5: The IKEA Tupplur used to be great too. I say "used to" because they're discontinued, much to the chagrin of thrifty projector owners everywhere.
I have blackout cellular shades from blinds.com and they are awesome (as is the customer service at that site).
@ogremustcrush: Same here. I really love my Eclipse curtains that I bought for my bedroom over a year ago. They are dark blue, so that is a color that generally would help. Light colors would generally seem to show through more color.
The only complaint I have about my curtains would be that light comes through the top and edges. Almost NONE comes through the curtains themselves.
@henwy: I like my Eclipse curtains. They are the darkest blue available, so that does probably help.
I have noticed small amounts of light that come through the curtains, but I'd equate it to 99% of light that is blocked.
That being said, I don't see how lighter colored versions of these curtains could ever block this much light.
I only have a problem with light on the sides and top of the curtains coming in. You can see it in the article photo where the light is noticeably brighter.
I bought my blackout curtains in WalMart, and they worked just fine. Nice and opaque.
Lowe's sells a 3-ply vinyl rolldown shade that works very well for me, especially in the hot summers of California's Central Valley, with a south-facing bedroom window. I paid about $30 for it, and you can use other curtains in front of it. It doesn't really cut noise, but for light, you can't beat it. Total darkness.
I think their 99% claim is actually legit.
Light intensity is a huge range and I think we tend to underestimate the difference between a bright sunny day and even an overcast day (blame it on the effectiveness of our eyes at adjusting to different light conditions).
Check out the scale - a sunny day is possibly more than 100x than an overcast day.
Which means, on a bright sunny day, blocking out 99% of the light would make the inside of your room the equivalent of an overcast day... which to our eyes isn't very dark at all.
Anyone who likes photography would also appreciate the huge difference between direct sunlight and even a well lit room at night.
@xtc46 - thinksmarter on twitter: Just wanted to say, pictures are also very ineffective at showing us how bright a room really is... since our eyes and cameras don't really work the same way.
As someone who enjoys photography, I can tell you that I always underestimate the difference in lighting levels between a bright sunny day vs. even a well lit room inside.
The difference is often hundreds or thousands of times of difference in exposure levels.
Weird. I bought some Eclipse light blocking curtains at JCPenney's a couple months ago, and they are almost 100% opaque. They're chocolate brown. And they cost me $20 apiece. They save my life every morning with my east-facing bedroom window. And also all night, since there's a conveniently placed sidewalk light outside my window too. I have to have it dark.
It sounds like maybe the quality varies between the lines they sell at the cheap stores vs. the ones from the department stores.
@Rachacha: I did this in an office of mine. I was using it as a make shift server room/noc but it had outward facing windows (I had no choice in the office I got) so the first thing I did was board up 2 large windows with 3/4" plywood. I then sealed the edges with epoxy, and painted the walls battleship grey and black. The room stayed below 60 degrees, and with the lights out the only visible light were the LEDs from the servers/network equipment.
Man I miss that office
@negitoro: A pretty dim room like a restaurant at night is about 8 stops darker than a sunny day from most of my exposures. That's about 1/256th the light.
If they take the measurement with a incident light meter they only need like 6 2/3 stops down. I wouldn't be shocked if it were close. Especially the the light leaks were fixed. I bet the curtains were taped to the wall for the tests.
I use those rollup curtains that make that annoying whirr-fip-fip-fip-fip noise if you let them up too quickly.
They block pretty much 100% of the light.
It seems to me as this is just a packaging error and regular curtains (if they make those as well--could be wrong) were put in the box. Especially since so many posts on here seem to favor the brand. Why not exchange it with another set and see if the results are the same?
@negitoro: I was going to post about the same thing. As a photographer, by hobby, since days of medium format film and manual cameras, I've learned to make quite accurate judgments of light level, despite how eyes tend to trick us because we can function in quite a wide range.
A 99% reduction is 6.6 stops of light range. I have shot the same exact scene in front of my house in full bright daylight and the blackness of a moonless night. It's got a 13 to 16 stop range based on the exposures I had to use. Since a sunlit room is not quite as bright as the outside, you won't need the 13+ stops to make the room feel like it's night during the day. More like 10 or so. But that's still at least a 99.9% light blockage that would be needed.
So try TWO of those curtains together, one layered over the other. That's should do it.
The sad part is it totally could be 90+% of light depending on how they set up the test. That's why you always have to take crap like this with a grain of salt. Likely they blasted it with more photons than the sun puts out, at an angle, on the black colored version, etc, etc, etc. It's like that bullcrap with sunscreen and how they go up by SPF instead of just telling you the percentages up front. This is pretty much the reverse.