Window Screen Materials
With the early Spring weather this year it is the perfect time to open up the windows and let the cool, fresh air indoors. Of course, no wants to let the bugs in, but window screens are the easy fix to that issue. Picking out the type of screen material to use in you bug screen can be very confusing. Hopefully this article will provide some clarity on which type of window screen material to use.
Window screens are usually broken down into two classes: aluminum and fiberglass screens. Aluminum is the “classic” screen product. It is not going to rust and rarely wears out, having said that, it is metallic and bends relatively simply, also if it’s struck by something the imprint is normally permanent. So, while aluminum screens may not degrade, they should not be used in an area where there is a lot of activity, as they can quite easily get damaged. Fiberglass window screens are the other type of screen material. Fiberglass isn’t as long lasting as aluminum, however its advantage is that it has a little give to it, thus if anything bumps into it, it is usually fine. The exception to this is that if something sharp touches the screen, it can be torn. Several other benefits of fiberglass include: there are many kinds and it is also cheaper than aluminum.
Types of Fiberglass Screen Material:
• Standard Fiberglass Fabric — it is the standard and the most widespread fabric chosen with
regard to window screens. Virtually all new windows have a screen created using standard fiberglass fabric.
• High Visibility Fiberglass — these types of screens offer a greater view of the outdoors. They are available under brand names such as BetterVue and UltraVue. These materials are manufactured with smaller fibers compared to standard fiberglass.
• Pet Tolerant Fiberglass — created to withstand household pets, this screen material is much hardier than normal fiberglass.
• No-See-Um Fiberglass — some regions have very tiny bugs that are known as “no-see-ums” that are small enough to get through normal fiberglass screen materials. This cloth has very small holes in it, to hold out these little nasties.
• Solar Screens — windows which get a great deal of direct sun light may benefit from solar screens. Solar screens stop the vast majority of sun’s heat before entering into the home. Several levels of solar screen cloth are available which block 70%, 80% as well as 90% of the sun’s heat and are offered with brand names including Suntex.
To conclude, though I personally lean in the direction of the fiberglass screen materials, you cannot go wrong with any of the products which I have outlined in this article.