Fabric guide
VELUX Blackout vs Translucent Blinds
The fabric decides how your room feels far more than the colour does. Here is an honest comparison of blackout and translucent VELUX blinds, and how to pick between them.
How each fabric behaves
Blackout fabric is opaque. Daylight is stopped at the fabric itself, so the room goes markedly darker when the blind is down. Translucent — also called light-filtering — fabric is woven to let daylight through while diffusing it, so the room stays bright but the harsh directional glare is softened.
Neither fabric changes the window. They change what happens to the light once it has passed the glass.
Rooms that suit each
Blackout tends to suit rooms used for sleeping: attic bedrooms, box rooms and children's rooms where early summer mornings are the problem. Translucent tends to suit rooms used in daylight: kitchens, landings, home offices and bathrooms, where you want the daylight but not the glare on a screen or worktop.
Plenty of homes use both — blackout upstairs, translucent on the landing.
Side channels and light at the edges
It is worth being straightforward about this: a roof window blind runs in side channels, and a small amount of light can still reach the room around the edges of the fabric and through the channel itself. Blackout fabric makes the room much darker, but it is not a sealed box.
If pitch-black is what you are picturing, set your expectations against a very dark room rather than a photographic darkroom.
Colour and fabric choice
Both fabric types come in a wide range of colours, from neutral creams and greys through to deep navy and charcoal. Darker blackout colours tend to read as more of a feature; lighter blackout colours keep the room feeling airy when the blind is up.
How to order to your code
Whichever fabric you choose, the ordering process is the same: read your window code from the identification plate, choose your fabric and colour, and we make the blind to that size.
Common questions
Is a blackout blind completely dark?
Blackout fabric is opaque and makes a room much darker, but a roof window blind runs in side channels and a small amount of light can still reach the room around the edges.
Is translucent fabric see-through?
No. Translucent fabric diffuses daylight rather than transmitting a clear image, so it keeps a room bright while softening glare and providing privacy during the day.
Which fabric is better for a home office?
Translucent usually works better where screens are involved, because it cuts directional glare while keeping useful daylight in the room.
Can I order different fabrics for different windows?
Yes. Each blind is made to its own window code, so you can mix blackout and translucent across the house in a single order.
Keep exploring
- VELUX blinds — full range
- Blinds for attic bedrooms and nurseries
- Summer glare and heat
- Midnight Blue blackout blind
- Harbour Mist translucent blind
VELUX® is a registered trademark of VKR Holding A/S. Bizzy Blinds is an independent supplier of aftermarket blinds compatible with VELUX roof windows and is not affiliated with VELUX.