In this post we discuss the most suitable and best fabrics for Wave Curtains based on our experience as well as fabric and industry knowledge.
When choosing a wave curtain fabric we want a fabric that will allow the curtain to maintain the wave effect throughout the curtain and from top to bottom.
Plain fabrics
Velour: The singe best results we have found are with velour fabrics. Velour fabrics just drape beautifully as a wave curtains. There are different qualities of velour curtains and we still need to use the right quality fabric to get good results, as with many fabrics. Velour is usually 100% polyester and works beautifully.
Plain Cotton or Cotton rich Panama woven fabric: 100% cotton fabrics work well for wave curtains. Fabrics that are cotton rich, probably a minimum of 40% cotton content have worked well for us as well.
Textured Cotton fabrics: We are frequently asked for linen effect curtains or linen look wave curtains. Usually this results in a textured plain cotton fabric to achieve the look. These have worked very well as well. Occasionally a stiff cotton may need a bit of treatment such as steaming as well as some time to hang out but will work out really well after this initial period.
Soft Polyester: 100% polyester fabrics have to be carefully discerned by a trained eye I’m afraid. Even then they can be hard to predict. ‘Soft’ polyester fabrics definitely include velour as mentioned earlier, however also include many other nice fabrics that are also on the market today. Polyester fabrics are often distinguishable by their sheen or shiny effect. This can look absolutely stunning as a wave curtain. A fabric can have a silk look and feel and will perform beautifully. However some labelled ‘faux silk’ fabrics can be quite stiff and so may not drape so well as a wave curtain.
Fabrics to Avoid: In general the thicker or stiffer the fabric the less likely that the wave effect will hold well towards the bottom of the curtain.
Chenille fabrics therefore carry a risk of being too bulky and not malleable enough for the wave shape to be prominent. Also, as mentioned above, stiff polyester fabrics can prevent the wave shape from taking hold throughout the curtain.
Note: By this same rule we recommend not using interlining with wave curtains. Interlining is a thick, quilted lining layer to aid with insulation. For wave curtains this will make the curtain bulky and will therefore reduce the likelihood of the wave being consistent.
Standard thermal and blackout linings are absolutely fine to use with wave curtains.
Patterned Fabrics:
Cotton Prints: As above, cotton and cotton rich fabrics generally perform well. Having a print on them makes no difference and is a good way to use pattern in a wave curtain style.
Velour Prints: Similarly velour prints work beautifully. The velour fabric is the key and the printed design does not affect the performance as a wave curtain.
Embroidered fabrics: In general these should be avoided. Embroidery in general will affect the flow of the wave curtain. Any diagonal or horizontal stitching will fight the wave track’s attempt to ‘wave’ the fabric smoothly.
That said if the embroidery is strictly vertical then there may not be an issue. We have done an embroidered voile with vertical embroidery and this worked well.
Jacquard designs: jacquard fabrics are by nature thicker than a single layer of woven cotton or polyester. They also have detail which runs in many directions. This would not necessarily work well for the wave affect we are trying to create with a wave curtain system.
That said there are some fairly thin jacquard fabrics which will need to be judged on the feel or stiffness of the fabric. This is because the jacquard fabric in this case may not cause a problem.
Sheers and Voile fabrics
Sheers are usually made from 100% polyester though there are also many cotton or cotton polyester mix sheers as well.
Plain Sheers and Voile: these are in general perfect for wave curtains. With a weighted lead bottom sheers and voile hang beautifully in the wave form. The fabric flows extremely well from top to bottom and there are only minor issues, if any, with long wave voile curtains.
Subtle jacquard voiles have also hung really well since voile fabric is very thin by nature.
Embroidered Voile: as with thicker curtain fabric, just proceed with caution with detailed embroidery. Voile is not often heavily embroidered and so this is unlikely to be an issue. However we have not fitted many embroidered voiles to comment with any certainty.