Here is one of the most frequently asked questions we get from our clients: what choice of blinds do I have?

First thing to say is that you can ONLY get pleated blinds in the Perfect Fit roof blind format. The technology is not around to make clip-in roof blinds in Venetians, Rollers or anything else.

Right now we have got that out of the way we can discuss the various types of pleated blind available.

Technically you can get coated or uncoated blinds. This means that you will find fabrics that do NOT have a reflective costing on the topside. The best advice with these is avoiding them as they will probably not do the job you want (i.e. reduce glare and heat).

We only use coated blinds and in this type you can get plain, textured pattern, smooth pattern and black out.

Plain materials are by far the most popular accounting for about 90% of all the market. The two main plain fabrics (Novoshade and Inspirations) come from the 2 major suppliers in the UK, Eclipse and Louvolite. The only reason to go for one over the other is for reasons of colour as technically they are the same.

Regarding patterned fabrics, firstly a word of caution. You can pay more for patterned fabrics and often if only present in the roof they can be a distraction. So why would you want them? Well often the need is there if the customer wants a fabric blind on the side windows also and these are required to match the pattern in the roof.

So if you want a pattern you have got a further choice of textured (such as Madrid or Crush) or smooth (Stria). Again technically they are all as good as each other in addressing light and heat issues. The smooth pattern is slightly easier to clean although the side one sees is hard ever the side that needs cleaning. So in summary it really comes down to personal preference of the pattern itself.

Lastly, we have black out materials such as Quartz. This is a fabric you will get NO light through and therefore will act and appear like a second ceiling in the conservatory. Now considering that conservatories are normally light airy places this is something few people want. Therefore black out fabrics are hardly ever chosen.

However if your conservatory is going to double for a guest sleeping room you may get this type of material to help. But consider your choice very carefully as you have to live with it (not your guest’s)!

Quartz material itself is a thick laminate material with a shiny grey plastic backing. If you having it in the side windows too do be aware it will not look very pretty from the outside of the conservatory.

Lastly regarding cleaning of all the above materials as they are coated and smooth on the ‘working’ side (the one you don’t generally see) they are relatively easy to clean and remove flies from!

There are loads of photo’s on our website, to assist you so any problems just go to the gallery.

Hope that helps should you need any further advise don’t hesitate to get hold of us though our website