Uses for Blackout Fabric

Projection Screen for Your Home Theater

• By creating a simple wood frame rectangle and covering it with blackout fabric, you can design a practical projection screen for your home theater. You will need several yards of blackout fabric, which can usually be found at larger fabric stores, to complete the project. Staple one long sheet of white blackout fabric to the wood frame, pull taut and then attach a black felt border to the frame to finish. You will be able to enjoy watching movies on a professional-looking, yet inexpensive, projection screen.

Curtains and Panels

• Since the special properties of blackout fabric allow no light to enter a room, it can be an effective material for designing light-blocking curtains. Use this material as a lining for any type of drapes. Simply measure an appropriate length of blackout fabric, hem the edge and then attach hardware, as needed, to hang your new curtains on a window. You can use the off-white blackout fabric as your curtains, or attach a more appealing type of fabric to them, before adding curtain hangers. Hem your curtains and liners for a professional, neat look. You also can use blackout fabric, with some masking tape, for door coverings.

Child's Tent

• Blackout fabric also can be used to create an indoor tent for a child. This will give them the illusion of sleeping in pitch blackness. To create an outdoor effect, you can use glow-in-the-dark adhesive stars to illuminate the inside of the tent. If you do not have the adhesive stars you can paint on the ceiling of the tent with glow-in-the-dark paint to help light up the sky.

Darkroom Wall Coverings

• If you are interested in developing photographs in a home or office darkroom, you will need to ensure that light does not enter the space and ruin all of your hard work. Luckily, blackout fabric is perfect for darkroom wall coverings, and it also is quite easy to use. Hang panels of blackout fabric wherever light is a problem, including windows, door panels and walls with cracks. You also may want to paint the blackout fabric a dark color to ensure maximum protection from light.