inexpensive gets the job done
I was a little disappointed that this shade does not actually "darken" my room but since I already have another window covering (standard mini-blinds) they do a sufficient job at further reducing the light that makes it into my room at night.
I didn't find the shade quite as easy to cut as some other reviewers indicated. (I used a standard serrated kitchen knife.) Because of this the edges of my shade are a little messy looking. Again this isn't a problem for my installation since the shade is simply hanging behind my blinds anyway. If I intended this shade to remain up long term as my principal window covering however I wouldn't be too thrilled by how cheap it all looks.
So my bottom line is that this is a good deal for the money as long as you know what you're getting.
EDIT ON 8/11/08:
I just wanted to add that only a couple of months after putting this shade up the "stickies" that are used to hold it up failed -- this despite me normally not even moving the shade up and down each day so the only force put on this shade most days was the weight of the shade itself. Very disappointing. I tried to find something to put and keep the shade back up and ended up just using a couple of nails so this thing would for sure stay put. I therefore would downgrade this to 3 stars.
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decent shadeI bought a couple of these for my 2 half-circle windows on the front of my house. Each room becomes warm in the summertime with the sun beating through the windows. This shade blocks the direct sunlight but will still let ambient light through which is fine for my needs. The rooms are much cooler now with this in place. The shades were easy to cut with a fine-toothed hacksaw. The only thing keeping me from scoring 5 out of 5 was the description indicating that the shade was made of vinyl and was washable. This is not the case or at least it's not the type of vinyl I was expecting. It's more like a sturdy paper and I am reluctant to wash it with water for fear of damaging the shade.
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Ahhhhhhh
I have purchased (and returned) at least 3 other curtains to various retailers that have advertised them to be "black-out" curtains. These are the real deal! The curtains truly block out the light very well. They are 100% polyester and the blue is a deep navy. They hang very well the wrinkles are slowly disappearing and they have a silky feel. They even come with tiebacks! I highly recommend them especially if you work the night shift or just like it dark for a good nap!
Just a follow up - we just got back from Vegas (May 2010) and our room darkening curtains in the hotel were not as DARK as the ones in our home bedroom! Still lovin' this purchase.
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Fit for the money?
Great idea Great setup with the holder and adhesive on the shade. My only dislike is the measuring system on the blind. First I measured the window and cut the blind exactly to my measurement -1/8 inch for clearance. Once installed I had 3/4" clearance at the top and 1-1/2" clearance at the sides letting in light. The moral is MEASURE THE WINDOW AND THE BLINDS WITH YOUR TAPE TO GET THE FIT YOU DESIRE. THE MEASUREMENT ON THE SHADE IS NOT EXACT or mine was not. But it looks great and really helps with the Temperature control.
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Great stuff can be tricky to cut but easy to apply and removeThis is great stuff. It's very easy to apply and the application process is very forgiving. Just clean your windows spray on a soap and water mixture peel the backing and apply. You can re-position it to get it just right and the use a credit card to get the water out from under the film.
It looks great. Very professional. And it's easy to remove.
It is rather tough to cut though. The roll is 36 x 72 and if you are cutting long pieces it can be tricky to get straight lines. I used a carpenter's T but I still messed up a bit.
The following comment is not about the product but about Amazon's packaging. I also didn't deduct stars for this:
The packaging is extremely wasteful. The roll itself is packaged in a rectangular plastic box but Amazon put that box in a massive box that could literally have held maybe 100 rolls. The box was stuffed with paper to take up the extra room.
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