Are velvet curtains a good choice?
Updated
Velvet curtains are a good choice if you want a heavy, soft curtain with a pile that changes with the light, and some help holding heat in. Allow for the weight with extra floor clearance and strong fixings. Ask your retailer to show the velvet hung and to give you its care instructions.
Velvet is a woven fabric with a short, soft pile standing up from its surface. The pile gives velvet its feel, and it also decides how a velvet curtain behaves.
What are velvet curtains like to live with?
Pile has a direction. At Speedy Blinds, where the pile direction can be seen, every panel of a velvet curtain is made with the pile running the same way, from top to bottom, unless the retailer asks for another direction. Colour, sheen and shading can look different with the pile direction, the light and the angle you look from. That is normal for a pile fabric.
- Weight. Velvet is one of the heavy curtain fabrics, so the track, brackets and fixings have to suit the full weight of the curtain.
- Settling. Heavy fabrics settle and hang lower over time, and the amount varies by fabric and size. Agree extra floor clearance with your retailer when you order.
- Light. How much light a velvet stops depends on the particular fabric. For a dark room, ask about a separate blockout (blackout) lining. Some light can still show around the edges.
- Care. Fabrics differ. Check the care instructions for your velvet before anyone washes, steams or irons it.
Can velvet curtains be used all year?
Yes. Velvet can hang all year, and its weight is a help. The Australian Government's YourHome guide says heavy fabrics and layers of fabric increase the insulation curtains give, by reducing the heat flow between the room air and the air next to the window. It adds that the benefit shrinks if air moves around the curtain, and that closing air gaps around the edges improves performance.
Sun is the other thing to plan for. Sunlight fades fabric over time, and light, ultraviolet and heat all play a part. Resene's Habitat article on sun damage says reds tend to fade most and lined curtains resist fading better than unlined ones. A lining also takes the sun in place of the face fabric. Fading can also shift a colour, and in some fabrics dark colours drift towards purple or blue over time.
Velvet or linen, and what about dust?
Linen and velvet are different kinds of curtain. Linen is a natural fibre that creases and moves with humidity and temperature. Velvet is heavy and has a pile that changes with the light. Neither is better. Choose by the look and the care you want, and see a large sample of each in your own room.
Like any curtain, velvet gathers household dust. Gentle, regular dusting or vacuuming with a soft brush on low suction is the usual care.
Before you choose, ask your retailer to show you a large sample of the exact velvet, hung if possible, and its care instructions. Ask whether it is a fabric made for curtains rather than upholstery, which way the pile will run, how much floor clearance they have allowed for the weight, and whether a lining is advised.
Other ways people ask this
Are velvet curtains in style?
Style is a matter of taste, and it changes. Ask to see the velvet you like hung in your own room, in daylight and at night.
Are velvet curtains blockout?
Not automatically. How much light a velvet stops depends on the fabric. A separate blockout (blackout) lining stops light passing through a fabric that would otherwise glow, though light can still show around the edges.
Are velvet curtains heavy?
Yes. Velvet is one of the heavy curtain fabrics, and the weight depends on the particular fabric and the size of the curtain. Ask your retailer how the track will be fixed to carry it.
What is the best velvet for curtains?
There is no single best. Look for a velvet made for curtains, not upholstery, and compare its weight, its care instructions and how it hangs in a large sample.
This answer is general information. For your own windows, your retailer's advice and your order with them come first.