Skylight darkening

Block out the light with a magnetic solution

There are many different solutions for darkening skylights, but they are often very expensive or not completely light-tight on the sides. We have therefore made a post about how you can make your entirely own solution or modify an existing solution with magnets. 

There are 2 types of skylights: a slanted window and a roof window. Let's start with the slanted window, which is what we get the most inquiries about. 

Darkening of slanted windows

Do you have a house with the smart Velux windows - or something similar? And if your curtains do not close completely in e.g. bedroom? 

3 proposed solutions for you

1) Magnetic solution with a wooden stick

It must not only work but also be nice, so a wooden slats can be a good solution. You will need: 

1. 2 pcs. wooden pegs (you decide the length yourself - they must press the curtain against the windowsill), and
2. Magnets with glue< /a>.

Remember to let the glue dry for min. 48 hours, as there is a hard indirect pull on the magnets, so the glue must be allowed to dry optimally - if it is very hot in the room, or if the surface is not completely flat, we recommend that you use UHU-glue, since 3M- the glue on the magnets can otherwise be a bit of a tease and must take many days to adhere completely.

The wooden pegs are put up on each side of the curtain when there is a need to shut out the light completely, and then they can stand on the floor or lie on the windowsill when the curtain has to be rolled up/pulled off. 

2) Magnetic tape solution

If you would like a permanent solution, we can recommend magnetic tape. It is a solution that is better suited to general. curtains and not so much for roller blinds. The magnetic tape can be rolled up and withstand being bent, but it does not look so pretty, as the rolled up curtain becomes very thick right where the magnetic tape is. 

You will need 4 x the length of your window frame: 

• For each side of the curtain, and
• For each side of the window frame

Start by cutting the magnet roll in half and put the strips together with the magnet sides facing each other (groove side). Then cut in half again. Then you are sure that the magnetic tape attaches exactly as desired - it has something to do with the mixed poles, and it makes sense when you stand with the magnetic tape in your hands and try to get it to attract itself. And you are now ready to attach the magnetic strips to both the curtains and the window frame:

First remove the foil on the self-adhesive side of one of the magnetic strips (they must still stick together) and attach it to the window frame . Then remove the foil on the other side and press the curtain against the self-adhesive side. It sounds easy - and it is!

You can order magnetic tape with self-adhesive in continuous meter sizes (up to 30 meters per roll). We recommend 19 mm. - the which is most suitable for curtains. 

You can also choose to sew the magnetic strip in place - however, we still recommend choosing the self-adhesive type, as it makes it much easier for you to attach it correctly to the curtain and keep track of it during sewing. 

You can not use magnetic tape with a colored surface - it is not strong enough. So you should choose the dark gray type for this magnet solution.

3) Magnets and metal discs

This is the easiest solution as you don't have to think about poles - metal and magnets can be combined on all sides.

There are different ways to achieve this solution, but the first step is to glue metal discs on the window frame and let them dry for a few days (possibly .combined with UHU glue if the surface is a bit rough or bumpy) - unless there is already metal on the window frame (or e.g. nails with magnetic heads) that you can use instead of the metal discs.

If you want to sew magnets to the curtain, press the curtain all the way up to the window frame and place your sy-i magnets on the outside of the curtain: so you can see exactly where to sew the magnets; put a pin through the plastic and you are ready to sew them to the curtain. 

If you want to glue them to the curtain, first attach the magnets to the metal discs. Then remove the adhesive foil if you use self-adhesive magnets - otherwise you put a small dab of glue on the visible side of the magnet. And then you press the curtain firmly against the glue side of the magnets. It is important that you do it this way to get the magnets centered against the metal, unless you are insanely good at using a tape measure. 

You can also have loose, visible magnets - see our solution with visible magnets on curtain here.

Would you like to see our solution?

Of course, we also test with large-scale magnets ourselves. Just below these product images, you can see our own solution for darkening the roof window - just scroll a little further down the page.