Materials · 6 min · 18 October 2026
Linen or cotton blackout? A specifier's comparison
Both block light. The difference shows up in the drape, the hand and how the panel ages after the third clean.
A blackout curtain is a system: a face fabric, a light-blocking core and a backer. The face decides what the room looks like; the core decides how dark it gets. Most specification arguments are actually about the face.
Linen reads dry and matte, and keeps a visible slub. Cotton reads softer and holds a crisper pleat. On a hotel elevation both are acceptable — on a residential window, the choice usually comes down to whether you want the curtain to look pressed.
Where the two diverge
Linen creases. If the room is formal and the panels are dry-cleaned twice a year, that is a feature. If the panels are in a rental apartment and nobody steams them, it is a defect.
Cotton canvas at 340 gsm stands rather than falls. That is what a double-height lobby needs, and it is also why the carton weighs more and the freight costs more per panel.
What we recommend
Guestrooms: a 320 gsm cotton face with a bonded blackout core. Living rooms: a linen face, unlined or with a light-filtering backer. Lobbies: cotton canvas, pinch pleat, 2.2× gather.