TOP Garda Blackout Fabric
5 colourways, blackout, 300 cm roll. TOP Window Covering fabric, made into roller shades in our Fort Lauderdale workroom and installed from Miami to Palm Beach.
Five woven neutrals on a 118-inch blackout roll, for dry rooms only
Garda Blackout is the blackout version of TOP Window Covering's Garda, a visibly woven cloth in five neutrals: Ice White, Off White, Sand, Brindle and Pebble Stone. It is 100% polyester with an acrylic foam coating, 0.55 mm thick and 360 g/m2, on a 300 cm roll, about 118 inches. Unlike most of TOP's blackouts, Garda is sold with no backing named, so we judge the street side from the sample. It is for bedrooms and media rooms that want a textile look and one shade across a wide opening.
Only one colour has published figures. Off White shows Tv 0, Ts 0 and solar reflectance of 70.6%, the highest reflectance TOP publishes for any of its blackout rollers, so in that colour about seven tenths of the sun's energy goes back out through the glass. The other four have no published rows. The honest catch is moisture: TOP lists Garda Blackout as not suitable for humid environments, even though the light-filtering Garda is, so bathrooms and damp rooms need another card.
What Garda Blackout does on your glass, and what it does not
Best use
Bedrooms, guest suites and media rooms that stay dry and air-conditioned, especially with a wide slider that should take one shade. Off White is the colour to choose where a heat figure must be documented; Brindle or Pebble Stone where the room should feel darker. Pair it with Garda Translucent on a dual roller if the room also needs filtered daylight. Choose it for dry rooms only.
Privacy
The cloth hides the room completely, day or night, and Off White, the one colour with published figures, shows Tv 0. Light escapes at the sides of any roller shade, so after dark a lit room shows a fine outline from outside. Side channels close that gap where it matters.
Glare control
Down, it removes direct sun, sky glare and daylight together; in Off White, TOP's figures show neither light nor solar energy passing. A television or a projector works at any hour, a desk does not. A low sun square to the window still finds the side gaps unless the shade runs in channels.
Limitations
Do not put it in a bathroom, a cabana or any room that stays damp: TOP lists it as not suitable for humid environments. It gives no view or daylight, TOP lists no fire rating, and only Off White has published figures. For a wet room, choose Perugia Blackout White Backing, which TOP marks humid-rated and fungal resistant.
Garda Blackout
5 colours. Blackout; 300 cm (118 in) roll.
Colourways
182004
182003
182000
182002
182001
Swatch pictures and room photos: TOP Window Covering. Screens and monitors shift colour: judge on the sample.
Garda Blackout in TOP's room photos
TOP's own photography of the fabric on a window, to show the colour and the weave. These are not Exotic Shades installations.
Every Garda Blackout colourway, with TOP's published figures
| Swatch | Colour | Item | Tv | Ts | Rs | As | Tuv |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pebble Stone | 182004 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Brindle | 182003 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Ice White | 182000 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Sand | 182002 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Off White | 182001 | 0 | 0 | 70.6 | 29.4 | 0 |
Tv = visible light transmitted, Ts = solar energy transmitted, Rs = solar energy reflected, As = solar energy absorbed, Tuv = UV transmitted, in percent for the fabric alone, as published on TOP's datasheet; a dash means TOP publishes no figure for that colour. We bring TOP samples of the colours you shortlist to the consultation.
Where Garda Blackout works here
Garda suits a dry, air-conditioned bedroom in a Palm Beach or Boca Raton house with stone floors and pale walls, where Off White or Sand reads as part of the room and a single 118-inch shade covers the slider. On a west bedroom, Off White is the colour with a documented heat figure. We keep it out of bathrooms, cabanas and pool rooms.
Garda Translucent carries the same five colour names on the same 300 cm roll as a light-filtering fabric, and unlike this blackout TOP lists it for humid rooms.
Garda Blackout: frequently asked
Can Garda Blackout go in a bathroom?
No. TOP's datasheet lists it as not suitable for humid environments, so we keep it out of bathrooms, laundries and rooms that open onto a pool. Garda Translucent, the light-filtering version, is listed for humid rooms; for a bathroom that has to go dark, a humid-rated blackout such as Perugia Blackout White Backing is the better order.
What will the street see?
TOP does not name a backing for Garda Blackout, unlike its white-backed and Color Backing ranges, so we show you the back of the sample before you order. If an association requires a white street side, a fabric sold with a white backing, such as Palermo or Roma, settles the question on paper.
How wide can a roller shade in TOP Garda Blackout be?
TOP makes Garda Blackout in a 300 cm (118 in) roll. The roll width is the widest single piece we can cut, so one roller shade can be made a little under 118 inches wide. A seam in a blackout shows as a line of light, so wider openings get two shades side by side, set to move together. We confirm the exact limit for the operating system when we measure.
Which shades can be made in Garda Blackout?
Garda Blackout is a roller shade fabric. We buy it from TOP Window Covering by the roll and make the shades ourselves in our Fort Lauderdale workroom: cut square, finished with a weighted hem bar and fitted to a Lutron, Somfy or Crestron motor or a manual chain, then installed by our own team from Miami to Palm Beach.
Can I see Garda Blackout samples before ordering?
Yes. Shortlist the colours here and we bring TOP samples of them to the in-home consultation, so you can hold them against your own glass in your own light. Our Fort Lauderdale workroom (4539 Powerline Rd, by appointment) and Miami Beach showroom (500 South Pointe Dr #150) have motorized shades running if you want to see one move.
Compare Garda Blackout with
Linen Look Blackout Color Backing
A linen-textured blackout that shows its colour outside, up to 118 inches wide
Perugia Blackout White Backing
A blackout with a visible weave, 118 inches wide, marked fungal resistant
Roma Blackout White Backing
The heaviest blackout in TOP's roller line, in seven neutrals with a visible weave
Riva Blackout White Backing
The thinnest blackout in TOP's roller line, for tall windows and tight pockets
Milan Blackout White Backing
Five plain neutrals in a thick white-backed blackout, 110 inches wide
Palermo Blackout White Backing
Four grays on a 118-inch blackout roll, the night half of a Palermo pair
TOP Garda Blackout roller shades in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Boca Raton & Palm Beach
We buy Garda Blackout from TOP Window Covering, make the roller shades in our Fort Lauderdale workroom and install them with our own team from Miami to Palm Beach. Both showrooms, 4539 Powerline Rd in Fort Lauderdale (by appointment) and 500 South Pointe Dr #150 in Miami Beach, have motorized shades running so you can see how a shade moves.
See Garda Blackout in your own light
Book a complimentary in-home consultation. Shortlist the colours you like and we bring the TOP samples, demo motors, and honest answers about light, privacy and what your windows need.