You close the curtains, turn off the light, and the van is still not dark. Almost every time, this is not because the fabric is bad - it is because light is coming in through a gap nobody covered.
Gap 1: the edge of the window
Curtains cut to the exact size of the glass leave a strip of exposed glass down each side. At night that strip is the brightest thing in the van. The fix is overlap: the curtain should be wider than the opening and hang past the edge of the glass on both sides. On a van window that is usually 30-60mm per side, depending on how much trim there is to work with.
Gap 2: the top and bottom
Light comes over the top of a curtain that hangs below the track, and under the bottom of one that stops short of the seat. A curtain that sits on the track with a small overlap at the top, and finishes at the seat base rather than above it, closes both.
Gap 3: the fabric itself
An unlined curtain is a filter, not a barrier. A blackout lining is what stops the light: the lining does not pass it. This is the part worth being exact about - blackout means the fabric does not let light through, which is not the same as the window being perfectly sealed. A lined curtain with the edges overlapped will make a van dark enough to sleep in. If a strip of light still shows somewhere, it is a gap at an edge, and it can be found by getting into the van at night and looking for it.
Gap 4: the front cab
The cab is the hardest window in the van and the one most often left uncovered: a big, sloping windscreen, two door windows and often a pair of quarter lights, with nowhere sensible to run a track. Two options work: magnetic blinds that hold to the metal around the glass and come off in seconds, or peel-off coverings that press onto the glass when you want the van private and store flat when you do not.
What to decide before you order
- Where the light is coming from. A holiday park with a lit toilet block wants tighter coverage than a dark rural spot.
- Who is sleeping where. The person under the window cares most about the bottom edge.
- How many windows you are covering now. The sleeping end first is the usual order, and the rest can follow.
Honest limits
No curtain will make a van silent, and none of them insulate a vehicle - a lined curtain blocks the cold coming off the glass and calms the draught around the frame, and that is the whole of what it does for warmth. For light and privacy, though, this is a solved problem, and it is solved by coverage rather than by buying a heavier fabric.
Where to start
If light is the problem, tell us which windows and which direction the light comes from, and we will say what each one needs - explore our made-to-measure service for the widths and drops, or view our honeycomb blinds if you want the tightest fit to the glass. Our per-van notes cover where the awkward windows are on the common campervan and motorhome models.