Do Solar Reflective Window Coverings Matter?

The Battle Against UV Rays Can Be Won

The solar reflectance of a blind is the difference between your furniture looking fresh for years to come, and you slathering your sofa in factor 50 sun lotion every summer.

Solar reflectance is a feature of a blind that ensures it blocks UV rays from entering your home and wreaking havoc. Here’s how.

What are UV Rays?

Ultraviolet (UV) rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation that is emitted from the sun. It’s how we get sun tans (and burns) and Vitamin D, so it’s not all bad, but as we all know, too much sun can cause all sorts of problems for our skin. It’s not all good news for your home too when it comes to UV.

Despite popular belief, windows don’t block UV rays, especially the clear glass type. When the sun shines on the window, those UV rays will enter the room and get to work on anything they touch. UV rays can cause your furniture to fade, perish and crack. Leather sofas are among the most at risk, along with wood flooring and carpets.

How Blinds Stop UV Rays

Blinds are a great way to cut down – or even stop entirely – the amount of UV rays entering your room. They also help to keep it cooler by blocking those infrared rays too.  We call this feature ‘solar reflectance’, as it is easier to tell people the blind ‘reflects the sun back out of the room’ than explain all this scientific gubbins about rays and space and the Sun and stuff. Hence this blog.

Solar reflectance is actually measured as a percentage – the amount that is reflected back out into the world, but there are some more easier ways to judge the solar reflectiveness of a blind just by sight.

Which Blind is Best at Stopping UV Rays?

Firstly, if solar reflectiveness is of a particular concern for you, choose a roller blind. It covers the most amount of window without any gaps – sunlight can get through the slats in venetian blinds and between the louvres of a vertical blind.

A blackout blind will always be more solar reflective or at least block the greatest number of solar by-products because it blocks all trace of the sun. You’ll know this because when the blind is down, you can’t see anything through it. Despite sounding facetious, this is a good indicator because if you can’t see the sun through the fabric then it means nothing is getting through it, not even light.

So, we’ve established a blackout blind would be a good start and that it will especially protect your furniture and interior from those nasty UV rays, but the fabric needs to be a particular kind to help keep your room cool.

You see, a dark coloured blackout blind, with a dark coloured backing, will most likely absorb the infrared rays (the rays that make things hot). Eventually this heat will transfer through the fabric and into your room and you’ll find it starts to get warm in there.

To combat this, look out for a blackout blind with a white coloured backing. This is the layer of the fabric that faces the window, and can be a different colour to the fabric that faces into the room. This is the most reflective colour and will deflect those pesky rays like a world-class tennis player.

Bosa Reflect Cool Blue Roller Blind From £7.55

Bosa Reflect Marsh Roller Blind From £7.55

Bosa Reflect Scarlet Roller Blind From £7.55

Areas Most at Risk Need Pleated Blinds

Conservatories are designed to capture the most amount of sunlight, bathing its occupants in delicious natural light. The problem with this is that it can become a little too bright, and the UV rays may be a little too harsh, and so it is important to consider shading your conservatory. After a while you’ll find that fabric colours become faded and furniture becomes brittle. Do you remember how worn your cap looked after you wore it for a few summers? That wasn’t your head that caused that deterioration – that was the sun!

Luckily, we offer pleated blinds that are perfectly suited to conservatory environments. The key element with these blinds – aside from the fact that they’re so easy to install and are suited to any window with a rubber gasket – is that they are solar reflective.

This is on account of the backing for both blackout and dimout blind fabric. The honeycomb effect of the blackout pleated blinds prevents any exterior light or UV rays from getting though thanks to the reflective white fabric backing and the foil-coated inner layers. This has the added benefit of improving the thermal properties of the room in the winter.

Dimout Pleated blinds have a reflective coating on the side that faces the window. This is an ever-so shiny coating that doesn’t limit the dimout properties of this blind, allowing it to warmly glow in direct sunlight, yet those UV rays are blocked from entering.

One of the ideal aspects of these blinds is that they slot neatly into the rubber gasket of your window, meaning there is no need for screwing or drilling to install these blinds. This also means that the blinds sits very close to the windowpane, which prevents any additional light leakage and build up of heat in a pocket of air.

Hopefully this guide gives you all the information you need to start protecting your home from UV rays. However, if all this talk of solar reflectance has you confused and you’re not sure what blind is best for you, get in touch with our dedicated team of experts who can advise you on the options suited to your room and needs.