Printing on Blackout Fabric

This is our custom made Blackout fabric, our resident 100% light resistant material. A blackout, waterproof fabric with multiple exciting uses.

Passes to BS 5867, Fabrics for Curtains, Drapes and Window Blinds
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Surface textures

The front face of the fabric is the white woven poly, which has an even, smooth, enhanced material feel. The reverse has a similar texture, just slightly more rubbery to the touch. Due to its stiff nature, it holds forms well and retains its shape easily and handles like a relatively dense material.

Print detail

The base color of the woven face is a perfect white with a matte finish. The color intensity is strong with a brilliant contrast to the material, showing the diverse range of colors. The final print shows fine lines, intricate details and solid block colors without bleeding or fading. The blackout function of the backing material stops light completely, blocking out sunlight and is waterproof at the same time.

Usage

Custom Blackout fabric printing is becoming more and more popular, particularly when it comes to curtains for children. This fabric is perfect for roller blinds, it is waterproof, so ideal for bathrooms or kitchens, or even if windows are left open and rain splashes in, the material and your print will stay safe and sound.

Sizing For Hemming And Shrinkage

We have a full Cut & Sew service here at Contrado, and are able to hem your fabric prints for a small additional charge. We create a small one- or two-fold hem that typically uses 0.2" to 0.75" (5-20mm) of material, depending on the thickness of the fabric. So, for example, if you want a finished piece of fabric that measures 39.37" x 39.37", you will need to order a size of 39.96" x 39.96" to allow for the hem (on top of that please also allow for shrinkage of min 2%). The thicker the fabric, the bigger the hem will be. You can choose to have your prints hemmed with either Black or White thread. On our silk and other light woven fabrics, one hemmed edge will be straight (vertically down the roll) and the other will be slightly rippled. The hemming material allowances are as follows and you need to make your print bigger to accommodate the hem:

• Light Fabrics (0.59oz-2.95oz): For silks and other light fabrics, we use 0.24" - 0.32" / 6mm-8mm in the hem (2 fold), so overall width/height will be minus 0.48"-0.56""/ 12-16mm
• Medium Fabrics (2.98oz-5.90oz): For medium-weight fabrics that fray, we use 0.5 - 0.75" / 15-20mm in the hem (2 fold) so overall width/height will be minus 1.4" - 1.6" / 35-40mm
• Stiff/Heavy/No-fray fabrics: we use 0.5 - 0.75" / 15-20mm in the hem (1 fold) so overall width/height will be minus 1.5" / 35-40mm

All of these measurements are approximate and can vary. Including with shrinkage, it can mean a fairly significant difference to ordered dimensions, so please plan your print accordingly. Depending on how open the weave is, our fabric can shrink anywhere from 2% to 8% with the average being 2.5%.

How Would you Like the Edge?

• As it comes. We cut around your image, leaving a simply scissor cut, perhaps uneven white fabric border. 
• Hem with thread. We can hem your fabric with a choice of black or white thread. Please allow 1-2 days additional production time. See below for information on how hemming affects the size of your print. We offer an overlock hem, as well as a folded hem (one or two fold depending on the fabric) however not all fabrics are suited to both hem types. If you can see both options, it means both are suitable, and you will be able to choose whichever you prefer. 
• Cut on the line. We will cut neatly on the edge of your design. This means that if you have a border around your design we will cut around that border, if your design takes the whole space of the fabric, then we will neatly cut around the edge of that image. Please be aware, when we cut along the line, we have to cut against the grain of the fabric. This is the standard procedure for fabric cutting. This means that with some fabrics, for example, Georgette and Mulmul, which have a slight wave in them, some fraying will occur. This is unavoidable, as the cut follows the grain of the textile. 

All of our fabrics are cut manually by hand, with the utmost care and attention. If your fabric has a slightly uneven look on the edges or a touch of fraying, this does not indicate a flaw in the textile. It is not always possible to achieve a perfectly straight cut with certain fabrics, so please do bare this in mind when it comes to your design. If you have any queries or would like to know about our cutting methods in more detail, please get in touch and we will be more than happy to discuss them with you.

Please note: As we make everything by hand, all sizes may vary slightly.

For further information about our fabrics see our FAQs.

Can this material be used to make waterproof clothing?

The answer here is technically yes, as it is water resistant, but it is not the perfect fabric for that purpose. Our Blackout fabric was designed to accommodate the blackout quality, so it may be lacking in other necessary material necessities for clothes. Why not try tour Breathable Waterproof fabric instead? If you can't make up your mind, order our swatch pack to try out the samples for yourself.

What is the primary use for this fabric?

We recommend our Blackout fabric mainly for use in blinds, as it is so simple to make and requires very little work. It also works well for backing fabrics, which need to be completely opaque. It can also be used for making bags and purses as well as outdoor cushions and awnings.

Are there other blackout options other than this material?

We do have other opaque materials available at Contrado and some that are also double faced with a solid material backing, such as Neoprene. These are a lot heavier and do not stop the light to the same level as Blackout.