What are sheer curtains made of?

A sheer is a light, open fabric. It softens glare, hides the room from the street in daylight and still lets you see out. Here is what sheers are made from, what voile and semi sheer mean, and what to ask before you choose one.

What fibres are sheer curtains made from?

Most sheer curtains are made from polyester. Nearly all the sheer fabrics Speedy Blinds makes curtains from contain it. They come in three main kinds.

• Polyester, either 100% polyester or recycled polyester. This is the largest group.
• Polyester blended with linen, cotton or both.
• A small number with no polyester, mostly linen, including some made of linen alone. These bring the texture, creasing and movement of linen.

The fibre is only part of it. Two sheers in the same fibre can still look different, so look at the actual fabric.

What is voile, and what is semi sheer?

Voile is one kind of sheer, so a voile is a sheer, not a different product.

Semi sheer has no fixed meaning, and shops use the word in different ways. Treat it as a description, not a grade.

Speedy Blinds groups its curtain fabrics into five types: sheer, light filter, triple weave, blockout and velvet. If a shop calls a fabric semi sheer, ask what type of fabric it is, and hold a sample against the window in daylight to see how much you can see through it and how much light it lets in.

What do sheer curtains look like and do?

In daylight a sheer glows and softens the light, and you can still see out. At night, with the lights on inside, people outside can see in, so a sheer on its own is not night privacy.

• No lining. Sheers are made without one.
• A weighted hem. Some ranges come with a slim weight sewn into the bottom edge, which gives a light, clean line.
• More fullness. Sheers are often made fuller than heavy fabrics, so they give more privacy and do not look thin.
• Heading. A Wave Fold or S Fold heading suits sheers and soft fabrics that drape.
• Care. A sheer snags on window locks, pets and rough surfaces, and hands on the same spot mark a pale one. A linen sheer creases and moves with the weather like any linen.

Many homes pair a sheer with a blockout (blackout) curtain on a double track. The sheer stays closed by day and the blockout is drawn at night.

Ask your retailer for a sample of the sheer you like, its fibre content and its care instructions, and look at it against your window in daylight. Ask whether it comes with a weighted hem, how full it will be made, and whether a blockout curtain behind it suits the room at night. Speedy Blinds makes sheer and blockout curtains for retailers.