Red curtains in Dubai, lined to slow the fading

Deep red wave curtains drawn open either side of a window, a white sheer across the glass, a palm and villa roof outside, a grey sofa at left — C09
Red curtains
A strong colour, and how to keep it
Made to measure in our workshop
Price on visit

If your living room takes the afternoon sun, red curtains in Dubai need shielding, or the colour fades. A lining, a sheer on the window side and a fabric that holds its dye all slow the fading. Skip an unlined red on unshaded west glass. A free home visit comes first, for measuring; our own workshop then makes the curtains.

Last updated 23 October 2026

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Which details show a red curtain is well made?

The back
The lining
Sewn in behind the red, the lining should stop just above the hem, so it never shows below it.
The pile
Velvet
Velvet looks lighter or darker by the way its pile runs. Every width should run the same way, or two widths side by side read as two reds.
The seams
Joins between widths
Unless the fabric comes extra wide, a wide window needs widths joined. On a plain red, each seam should sit inside a fold, where light picks it out least.

Do you recognize your room in one of these?

Your last red curtains faded in stripes

Pale stripes along the folds usually mean sun, not a bad batch: the faces that met the light lost colour, the insides kept it. Turn back a side hem to see the original shade, then check the table below for that window.

Guests come in the evening

Warm lamps pull a red towards brown, so a shade picked at noon can look heavier at dinner. Home visits run until 7 pm, Monday to Saturday, so book a late one and hold our samples up under your own lamps.

You want it dark enough for films

A blackout lining behind velvet, on a ceiling track, gets the room close to dark. The rest is fit: the curtain passes the frame and turns back to the wall, or daylight shows at the sides.

It has to match a sofa or a rug

Hold the fabric against the piece itself, in the room, not a photo or a screen. Dye batches can differ slightly, so order every panel for the room together and ask for an offcut to keep.

Wine-red eyelet curtains closed on a brass pole at night, a lit floor lamp and table lamp at left, a window with lit towers at right — Under evening lamps

What happens when the sun shines through red fabric?

Light through red fabric comes out red. The amount that passes sets the room's colour by day and what neighbours see at night.

Illustration, not a measurement

Red sheer On this wall
Daylight comes through tinted pink. It gives privacy by day, hides little with the lamps on, and usually pales faster than a lined red at sunny glass.
Unlined red
Some daylight passes, casting a warm red over the room. After dark, lamps inside turn it into a red glow the street can see.
Lined or blackout-lined red
Little or no light gets through, so the red looks deep and even. Outside, people see the lining, often a pale one.

Which red, and which lining, for which window?

Red holds its colour longest on windows with little direct sun, or with a lining and a sheer taking the sun first. West glass takes the sun from early afternoon, so a red there needs both.

Red curtain with fold faces faded to pale pink stripes and the insides of the folds still bright red, a window with villa roofs at left — Faded along the folds

Red fabric and lining, window by window
Your window	Red that usually suits	Lining and layers	Why
West or south-west glass	Polyester, plain or velvet	Lined, sheer on the window side	Direct sun most afternoons
East-facing bedroom	Any red fabric	Blackout	Sun up around 5:30 am in June
North-facing room	Cotton, linen or polyester	Optional	The least direct sun
Full west sun, no lining wanted	A paler colour instead	None	Fading shows least on pale colours

What do you choose: the fabric and the heading?

Fabric and heading are the two choices left once the lining is settled.

Fabric

Red wave curtains framing a window with a white sheer, palms glowing outside, a light grey sofa at lower left, a stepped ceiling above — A red pair over a white sheer

Velvet
A dense pile, in polyester or cotton, deepest in the folds; heavy, so it needs a strong track.
Polyester weave
Plain or textured; it hardly creases.
Cotton or linen
A softer, matt red with a natural texture.

Heading

Eyelet

Pinch pleat

Wave

How each heading hangs

Wave
Even, rounded folds, spaced by carriers along the track.
Pinch pleat
Stitched pleats on a track, for a more formal look.
Eyelet
Rings on a pole. Light shows over the top, so not for a dark room.

Why do red curtains fade in Dubai, and what slows it?

Sunlight breaks down dye, and the loss shows most on a strong colour like red. Dubai Meteorological Office figures (1977 to 2015) put the city's sunshine at 3,570 hours a year. In late July, UV readings published for Dubai climb to 11 or 12, rated extreme.

In summer you close curtains against the afternoon heat, so they spend the hottest hours in direct sun. Three things slow the fading:

Lining: on the window side, it takes the sun so the red face doesn't. For a dark room too, choose a blackout-lined red.
A sheer on the window side: hung from a second track, a sheer curtain filters the sun before it reaches the red.
Fibre and dye: polyester usually holds its dye longer than cotton, linen or silk, and polyester coloured before it is spun into fibre holds it longest.

A red in linen needs the lining even more. For the heat itself, read how to keep afternoon heat out of a room; for other fabrics and headings, see our curtains by type.

Sheer by day

Lined red at night

A sheer on the window side

What moves the price of a red curtain up or down?

The fabric moves it most. A red can be velvet, a polyester weave, cotton or linen, and each costs differently. The heading comes next: eyelet and wave take 2.5 times the window's width in fabric, pinch pleat 2 times.

With so many fabrics behind one colour, red and other strong colours have no published rate with us. We price them at the free home visit, once you've chosen, with each window priced separately and each part on its own line. The quote holds for 30 days, and how a curtain quote breaks down shows what each line covers.

When do the red, its lining and the sizes get decided?

The Curtains Dubai measures your windows at a free home visit, makes the curtains to measure in its own workshop, and fits them.

Five red fabric swatches with zigzag edges fanned over an oatmeal sofa arm, coral to oxblood, a patterned rug and a window with palms beyond — Swatches beside the sofa

Start with a photo
WhatsApp us a daylight photo of the room, with the sofa or rug the red must sit beside, and say when the sun reaches each window.
The free home visit
We come anywhere in Dubai and measure every window, with a note of when the sun reaches it.
Made in our workshop
A deposit confirms the order, and our Dubai workshop sews your curtains to the visit's measurements. Fitting follows 3 working days after approval; big or complicated jobs take longer. Need them up before Eid or a family event? Name the date when we measure.
Fitting day
Our fitters mount the track, then hang the curtains and arrange the folds. At your free home visit, you settle the red, its lining and any sheer behind it, window by window.

What red curtains cost, and four more questions

Anything else, ask on the phone: 050 257 7765

How much do red curtains cost in Dubai?

What you pay for red curtains in Dubai covers six parts: fabric, lining, fullness, heading, track and fitting. Compare two quotes only when both price all six. Ready-made reds cost less, but their fixed lengths often fall short on tall windows. We price a red at the free home visit, once the fabric is chosen.

Do red curtains make a room hotter?

Red curtains usually keep out some heat; unlined ones keep out less than curtains with a pale lining. Without one, the red fabric absorbs sunlight at the glass and passes part of that heat inside; a pale lining facing the window reflects more back out. To cut heat coming through glass in summer, DEWA's own advice includes curtains.

How long do red curtains last in Dubai sun?

A red curtain's life under Dubai sun can't be given in years: it depends on the hours of direct sun, the lining and the fibre. The lining usually wears first, on the window side, and a new one can go on without remaking the curtain. We add linings to curtains you already own.

Are red velvet curtains too heavy for a gypsum ceiling?

Red velvet curtains can hang from a gypsum ceiling, though a plain screw holds poorly in the board under that load. Our fitters drill the gypsum and set gypsum plugs in it, then fix the brackets and the track.

Can red curtains be washed?

Many red curtains can be washed, but the care label decides. Red dye can run, so first press a damp white cloth on a hidden corner, and never wash red curtains with pale fabrics. Lined curtains are often dry-clean only, because face and lining can shrink differently. Curtain cleaning isn't a service we offer.

Red curtains in Dubai, lined to slow the fading

Which details show a red curtain is well made?

The back

The pile

The seams