Debra Lynn Dadd

window treatments for insulating the house

QUESTION:

debra And All,

I've been through all the sites mentioned in the "window coverings" section of Debra's list, and am still wrestling with this problem.

I want to buy a curtain for a sliding door situated on the bottom level of my house. This room gets very cold in the winter, and I'd like to buy a curtain which will provide some insulation.

www.countrycurtains.com has just such a curtain, but the insulation is in the form of acrylic foam backing on a cotton and polyester curtain. No one in this house has MCS, but I am trying to keep sustainability and toxicity in mind when making new purchases.

I am trying to decide whether to just buy this curtain and lighten the eco-footprint of the house in other ways, or whether to search for another product.

Do you have any product suggestions? This room is not fancy, so design isn't much of a concern.

POSTED BY ROBIN :: VIRGINIA USA :: 11/08/2006 8:26 PM


DEBRA'S ANSWER:

When I lived in California, we used to just hang wool blankets over the windows on really cold days.

I wouldn't use a curtain with an acrylic foam backing personally, but this is one of those trade-off things. It's not the most toxic material, and it will save energy. Wouldn't advise it for MCS.

If it were me, I would go in the direction of putting a wool liner or qulited cotton liner in the curtain for insulation, or choosing a very heavy fabric, like a tapestry fabric.

But let's see what others have done. Readers?

Debra :-)


COMMENTS:

I have fashioned a curtain out of heavy duty plastic with Velcro on all 4 sides. Just measure the window/sliding door, purchase a heavy duty plastic (most of the fumes from the plastic - if any - will go outside) and then add the Velcro to the curtain and to the frame around the door. I have also just made a curtain with Velcro on just 3 sides so that I can be removed easier when the days are not quite so cold. I live in Indiana and the weather here can be harsh and I found that purchasing something "ready made" either was too expensive or just didn't fit right. I have also used several colors of Sharpie pens to personalize the curtain with drawings that really look cool when the sun shines through. If you don't feel you are artistic enough, you can always trace from a coloring book and then color it yourself with the Sharpies.

COMMENT FROM DEBRA: Well, of course I don't like the idea of using plastic, but I do like the idea of using Velcro so the liner can be removed and replaced easily. I'd recommend using a more natural material.

POSTED BY SHAR :: INDIANA USA :: 11/11/2006 5:32 AM


In response to the insulated curtain dilemma, I am in the same boat. JC Penney has cotton sailcloth curtains, but the backing is acrylic foam. We have a family bed with an 11 month-old sleeping just below this window. I found a site, "rawganique" that sells organic hemp curtains which they claim insulate well. I like the idea of sewing or velcro-ing in a quilte liner. Would recycled fleece also work? Or would the plastic content in this be harmful? And do hemp curtains really insluate?

COMMENT FROM DEBRA: I don't know about the insulating properties of hemp, but I do know that air trapped between layers insulates. When we used to live in California, when it got really cold we would just hang wool blankets over the windows and that helped a lot. I think if I needed insulating curtains, I would get whatever curtains I liked and sew some natural quilted material to the back side. Wool batts would work great as an insulating material.

POSTED BY LAUREL :: CALIFORNIA USA :: 11/24/2008 12:19 PM


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