New Main Curtain Fabric

packrat6

Member
We are replacing our 20 year old main drape. The old on is cotton velour and we are looking at replacing with identical drape except using a poly fabric. Supposedly lighter and more easily cleanable......and, less expensive. Any thoughts/experiences with this decision?
 
That is a wonderfully good Idea! KM Fabrics Charisma, or Prestige is a really good choice. You will not, however be saving weight. They are all 24-25 Ounce fabrics. Now you will lose the weight of the years of dirt that is built up in those curtains.
 
Tell us about your old curtain. Cotton and poly are available in similar weights but feasible you have something much heavier than what many consider normal. Also are you comparing lined to unlined?

Opacity tend to vary proportionally with weight, so don't get sold on a lighter weight of poly than your existing cotton is and expect similar opacity.

I like Charisma as Van suggests, almost always unlined. It's in the 23-24 ounce per yard range, like KM Memorable (cotton) before. On occasion Magic - 32 ounce cotton - for a main. Have not tried the KM Royal - 32 ounce poly - yet but would.

I have not been very impressed with the Krieger fabrics - they seem to have or sheen and less opacity. I gave in on one project and accepted them so I will see if they are noticeably inferior or not this fall.
 
IFR means inherently flame resistant. It's all we specify any more.

Nobody seems to care if their treated drapes have long since lost their treatment. At least until a fire marshal does a test! But they will complain vigorously about the salt rings if they get wet.

There are minor differences in sheen and opaqueness. So if you replace part of a set of blacks it will look a bit odd, like a dye lot change.
 
Tell us about your old curtain. Cotton and poly are available in similar weights but feasible you have something much heavier than what many consider normal. Also are you comparing lined to unlined?

Opacity tend to vary proportionally with weight, so don't get sold on a lighter weight of poly than your existing cotton is and expect similar opacity.

I like Charisma as Van suggests, almost always unlined. It's in the 23-24 ounce per yard range, like KM Memorable (cotton) before. On occasion Magic - 32 ounce cotton - for a main. Have not tried the KM Royal - 32 ounce poly - yet but would.

I have not been very impressed with the Krieger fabrics - they seem to have or sheen and less opacity. I gave in on one project and accepted them so I will see if they are noticeably inferior or not this fall.
rosebrand has sent me two swatches. one athena,ifr and one encore ifr. no indication of manufacturer. barbizon quoting on cotton. old curtain in cotton velour 25 oz, unlined.
 
I don't know them. From web, they look like both in a lighter and a heavier weight - though neither as heavy as Charisma nor what you have. And the Athena seems to be short nap and what they call "chamois brushed surface". Compare specs with Charisma. Or get a sample of Charisma also and compare. I think the Charisma will look less shiny.
 
Encore is a KM Fabrics product but Rosebrand has their own custom colors. To make things really confusing, rosebrand uses the same names as 'stock' KM Fabrics but the colors are different...
Keep in mind that if you are replacing your main you will want it to be lined. A synthetic fabric, requires a synthetic liner, like Avora. Avora is a Rosebrand product as well.
 
I've done lots of Charisma as well.

I read read Bill's post to fast and got Freddy Kruger drapes.
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Nothing good from that!
 
I thought Encore was Fred Krieger. https://www.fredkriegerfabrics.com/encore-c1e7p if it's KM, what do they call it? No Encore on their site.

I've done a lot of mains of unlined Charisma and no complaints.
Oops caught me. Yep at home. You are correct Encore is F Krieger, however my statement about colors stands Both Encore and Charisma from Rosebrand have names that are the same as what is offered directly from the the manufacturer but are, in fact, different colors. <Which is really annoying when you have an architect looking at and specifying colors from their webpage...>
 

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