Fleece, velvet and other winter curtain fabrics compared

Face fabric versus lining: who does what

Search for warm curtains and you will find fleece, velvet, suede-look and heavy chenille all sold on the promise of keeping the cold out. It helps to separate two jobs. The lining and the way the curtain is fitted do most of the thermal work: a curtain keeps a room warmer by trapping a still layer of air against the glass, which depends on sealing the top, the sides and the floor. The thermal curtains for winter guide explains that air loop in detail. The face fabric, the part you see from the room, adds some bulk, but its bigger influence is on drape, weight, fading, dust and cleaning.

That separation is useful when you are comparing products. A ready-made fleece curtain and a made-to-measure velvet curtain are not really competing on warmth alone. The question is which face fabric suits the room and the way you live, and then which backing and fitting will make it perform. A heavy face fabric on an open rod with gaps at each end will still leak cold air. A plain face fabric with a thermal or interlined backing on a sealed track can do better.

Fleece and brushed fabrics

Fleece is usually a knitted polyester with a brushed surface that feels soft and warm to the hand. Some winter curtains are fleece all the way through, and some use a brushed or fleece-like layer on the back of a woven face. The appeal is obvious: the fabric feels cosy, it is relatively light for its thickness, and it tends to be sold ready-made at standard sizes.

The trade-offs come from the knit. Knitted fabrics stretch more than woven ones, so a long fleece panel can grow slightly over time under its own weight, and the hem may end up uneven across a pair. Brushed surfaces can pill where the curtain rubs against a sill, a sofa arm or the floor. Polyester fleece also builds static, which attracts dust and pet hair, so it can look tired faster than a smooth weave in a house with a dog or a wood heater. Many made-to-measure workrooms prefer to sew woven fabrics, because a woven face with a separate thermal lining gives more control over length, pleats and seams.

Fleece makes the most sense where you want soft, quick, affordable warmth on a standard window: a spare room, a rental where you cannot change the track, or a child's room for a few years. It makes less sense on a wide stacker door or a tall living room window, where hem stability and the fold at the heading matter more.

Velvet

Velvet is a woven fabric with a short, dense pile standing up from the base cloth. It hangs in deep, rounded folds, it looks rich in lamplight, and its weight and pile soften sound noticeably, which is why it turns up in formal lounges, dining rooms and media rooms. Modern curtain velvets are often polyester, which is lighter and more stable than older cotton velvets, and many are made specifically for drapery.

Velvet has three habits worth knowing before you order. First, the pile has a direction, called the nap. Light reflects differently depending on whether the pile runs up or down, so every panel in a room has to be cut with the nap running the same way, or one curtain will look a shade darker than its neighbour. That uses more fabric on wide windows. Second, velvet takes pressure marks. Tiebacks, folding during delivery and even a stack pressed against a wall can leave crushed lines that take time to relax. Third, the pile catches dust and shows it in raking light, particularly on dark colours.

Velvet is heavy on its own, and heavier again once it is lined or interlined. The track, brackets and fixings have to be chosen for the finished weight, and the curtain stacks wider when open. On a sunny north or west window, the tips of the pile along each fold can fade before the rest of the curtain, which shows up as pale stripes when the curtain is closed.

Chenille, wool and heavy blends

Chenille yarn has short fibres standing out from a twisted core, which gives fabrics a soft, textured surface without the uniform sheen of velvet. It is a common choice when people want weight and texture in a more casual room. Chenille can snag on pet claws and jewellery, and loose loops show once they are pulled, so it suits rooms where the curtains are not handled constantly.

Wool and wool-blend curtain fabrics are dense, drape well and have a matte, natural look. They suit rooms where you want a heavy curtain that does not read as shiny. Wool is heavier than most synthetics, can be costly, and needs careful cleaning. If wool curtains are ever taken down and stored, keep them clean and dry, because stored wool can attract fabric pests.

Heavy polyester weaves with a textured or bouclé surface sit between these options. They are usually more stable and easier to care for than natural fibres, and they come in wide widths that reduce joins across big windows.

Linen and linen-look fabrics

Linen is not a winter fabric in the fleece sense, but it is one of the most requested looks, so it belongs in the comparison. Pure linen and high-linen blends have a relaxed, slightly irregular texture, and they respond to humidity. On a damp winter morning a linen curtain can be a little longer than it was on a dry afternoon, and the hemline may move with the seasons. Linen also creases readily.

Polyester linen-look fabrics copy the texture while staying far more stable in length. For a warm linen-look curtain, the usual approach is a stable linen-look face with a thermal lining behind it, or an interlining if you want more body. That keeps the look people are after while putting the warmth where it belongs.

Weight, the track and the stack

Heavy fabrics change the hardware. A lined velvet or interlined wool curtain can weigh several times what a lined cotton does across the same window, and the load sits on the gliders, the track and the fixings into the wall or ceiling. Older plastic tracks and brackets screwed into plasterboard without proper fixings are where problems start: sagging between brackets, gliders that drag, and in the worst case a bracket pulling out. Anyone quoting a heavy fabric should be checking what the track is fixed into, not only measuring the window.

Weight and thickness also change the stack-back, the space the curtain takes up when it is open. A thick fabric folded on a pinch pleat or S-fold heading occupies more wall, or more glass, than a thin one. If the window sits close to a corner, a doorway or built-in furniture, that extra stack can decide which fabric is practical. The stack-back and track layout guide goes through how to plan for it.

Sun, colour and fading

North and west facing windows in the Pakenham area get the hardest sun on curtain fabric. When a curtain is open, the part of the stack nearest the glass takes the exposure. When it is closed, the lining takes it, which is one reason a good lining extends the life of the face fabric. Dark, saturated colours and pile fabrics show fading most, because the change in colour along the folds is easy to see. Mid-tones, textured weaves and solution-dyed synthetics tend to hide it better.

If you love a deep colour for a sunny room, ask about the fabric's light-fastness information and look at a sample that has been left in a window, if the supplier has one. A pale or white lining facing the glass also gives a consistent look from the street and reflects some of the summer sun back out before it reaches the face fabric. The thermal curtain direction guide covers which side should face the glass and why.

Dust, pets and upkeep

Pile and brushed fabrics can collect visible dust, so care instructions should be part of the sample comparison. Do not assume every velvet or fleece can be brushed or vacuumed in the same way. Warwick warns that stiff brushing and strong vacuuming on the reverse of velvet can disturb its pile. Ask which method is permitted for the finished curtain, including its lining. In a home with pets or frequent handling, compare snag resistance, visible marks and the supplier's maintenance requirements alongside colour and texture.

Think about cleaning at the same time. A curtain built from several different fibres, or with a coated lining, can be harder to clean without shrinkage. The curtain cleaning and care guide covers what to record before cleaning and which constructions need extra care.

How to judge a sample properly

A small swatch on a counter tells you colour and hand feel. It does not tell you how the fabric drapes at full height, how it looks with light behind it, or how it sits next to your floor and walls. Ask for the largest sample available, and hang it where the curtain will go, at the top of the window, both in daylight and with the lights on at night. Fold it into a pleat and let it hang to see how rounded or flat the fold is. Hold the lining behind it, because a lined curtain looks deeper and more even than the face fabric alone.

Check the width of the fabric roll as well. Narrow fabrics need more joins across a wide window, and joins in pile fabrics or bold textures are more noticeable. Wide-width fabrics can often be run sideways so a whole window is covered without a vertical seam. On a patterned fabric, the pattern repeat adds waste, because each drop has to line up with its neighbour.

Once the fabric family is settled, the next choices are the heading and the lining. The heading styles guide compares S-fold, pinch pleat and eyelet, and the lining guide compares standard, blockout, thermal and interlined backings. For bedrooms where darkness matters as much as warmth, see blockout curtains, and for living areas where warmth is the priority, see thermal curtains.