Are roller blinds suitable for bathrooms?

Are roller blinds suitable for bathrooms? Yes, as long as they’re waterproof roller blinds. These are readily available to buy, and designed and made to withstand the humidity, moisture levels, and potential direct contact with water that bathroom blinds need to deal with.

Waterproof roller blinds for bathrooms are also treated with a special mildew-resistant agent, to slow or prevent the growth of mildew and mould if the blind is exposed to damp or humidity for prolonged periods of time, as can happen in bathrooms that aren’t particularly well ventilated.

In this blog post, I’ll explain what makes roller blinds suitable for bathrooms, what your alternative options are, and tell you what the most popular blinds for bathrooms are. (Roller blinds… oops, spoiler!)

Are roller blinds suitable for bathrooms?

Yes, as long as you choose waterproof roller blinds specifically. These are perfect for bathrooms because that’s pretty much where they were designed to go; well, there and kitchens, leaving your non-waterproof roller blinds to pick up the slack in the other, usually dryer, rooms of your home.

Why are roller blinds suitable for bathrooms?

Waterproof roller blinds are suitable for bathrooms because they won’t fall apart, fade, or stop working as a result of contact with water, or exposure to moisture and humidity. They’re also far less likely to grow mildew in damp or heavily condensated rooms, because they aren’t made of a porous fabric and are mildew resistant.

If they do get any kind of alien growth on them or if they get otherwise mucky or, in my bathroom given the proximity of sink to window, spattered with toothpaste on the regular, you can just wipe them clean with no hassle.

Waterproof roller blinds are made of either PVC or vinyl, and these two materials are equally good and tend to cost about the same. So generally, as long as the blind you’re considering is made of one of these two materials, you can save yourself an existential crisis about which is better and simply choose a blind based on whichever option comes in the colour or design you want.

You can also get or choose other features within some bathroom roller blinds too, including a blackout finish, and/or thermally insulating lining, which can come in handy in winter if your bathroom, like many, isn’t particularly warm.

Are roller blinds ok for bathrooms in all scenarios?

Essentially, there is nothing going against roller blinds for bathrooms unless they’re not waterproof; so the only situation in which a roller blind would not be suitable for use in a bathroom would be if it was made of non-waterproof fabric, most commonly polyester.

Some older/cheaper non-waterproof roller blinds – usually readymade ones rather than made-to-measure – also have a cardboard tube for the fabric to roll around rather than the usual plastic, this former being a poor idea for use in bathrooms for obvious reasons!

One minor caveat to mention is that roller blinds aren’t a type of blind you can adjust to filter light; rollers are either open, closed, or dithering in between.

Some other types of blinds like PVC vertical blinds and faux-wood blinds can be adjusted in situ to filter the light and/or provide privacy while still allowing you to enjoy the view to varying extents.

So, if people-watching or enjoying the scenery while in the bath or uh, on the throne is your thing, this means that you need to be able to filter the light and/or see out through your bathroom blinds, so roller blinds would be off the table; but that’s it.

What other types of blinds are suitable for bathrooms?

If you’re looking to explore all of your viable options and/or compare bathroom blinds in detail rather than just picking rollers and having done with it, there are a couple of other types of waterproof blinds you can consider too.

These are faux-wood blinds, and the waterproof version of vertical blinds. (Much like rollers, vertical blinds can be made in both waterproof and non-waterproof fabrics, so be mindful of this when shopping).

If you want to compare your bathroom blinds options in depth and see all of their pros and cons, have a squiz at my prior blog post.

What are the most popular blinds for bathrooms?

The most popular blinds for bathrooms are roller blinds; and rollers of various types are far and away the most popular type of blinds in the UK full stop.

Part of this is due to the fact that they tend to be the most cost-effective blinds to buy; they’re cheap, but not “urgh, cheap.”

Roller blinds also come in the widest range of colours and patterns of any type of blind, and so you have a massive range of options to suit the design or theme of your bathroom and your own personal tastes, whatever they are. Roller blinds suitable for bathrooms need to be waterproof, but that’s about the only limiting factor, and across waterproof roller blind ranges available in the UK, you will find literally hundreds of different colour and pattern options.