Last winter after being cold from our single pane sliding glass door and not having the money to replace it, we bought a large piece of polar fleece to cover the window. (It's an 6 X 8 Foot window, I looked online for the best deal and ordered 3 or 4 yards of 60 inch wide good quality fleece. I think it cost about $50.)
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I have the exact same sliding door with the single pane glass, only mine has this added feature: it doesn't fit tight so all the hot/cold air blows in all year long! Sometimes, in a strong wind I even get rain. I sealed up the whole thing with a clear plastic drop sheet, push pins all around the door frame holding it tight and heavy things to weigh down the bottom on the floor. Then I put up thermal lined drapes. The fleece sounds like a great idea and I might put that up under the drapes as well. I get to watch the drapes move every time the wind blows on the plastic but it has worked well. Thank goodness I live in the southernmost part of Canada. Thanks for the tip Susan!
A friend gave me several pieces of Polar Fleece and I too made curtains for the north and west facing windows. Have replacement doouble pane windows, but found that the fleece kept rooms comfortable. Made a curtain for my Velux window-wide binding tape about 2 inched from the top and a hem on the bottom.
I have been doing somthing very similar to this for a few years now. My house is an old house and it has the old windows in it. So, I always hang blankets under my curtains during the winter. We do this in all of the rooms, it really does make a difference.
For inexpensive polar fleece check at the dollar stores for blankets. Also banana clips make great tie backs for any curtain and they come in so many sizes and colors.
I just read in mother earth news-you can take bubble wrap the size of your window-spray the window with water and place the bubble wrap on wet window. It'll stay put. Leave up all winter, take down in summer reuse next year.
We have insulated, double-pane windows in our house, but during those blustery cold winters, they still need warming up. So I grabbed my "out of season" quilted bedspread, and layed it over the existing curtain rod of our bedroom. I could immediately tell a difference. I didn't use push pins to the sides, but I am sure it would have been even better.
Try using light colored fleece so that it won't be so dark in the winter.
Also you might consider making window quilts, and use pulleys so that they can be drawn up easily.
That is a good idea. I went a cheaper way a few years back. I bought 2 clear shower curtaints and hooked them on the back of the drapes using the drapery hook already there. It did make a very big difference, and still let in some light. This was in a downstairs room and the drapes were made with a light weight open weave fabric because we wanted more light in the room.
Would some of you please post a photo of how you attached it to the window if there are no drapery hooks? Thanks! These are great ideas!
I'm so glad to see your post! I have considered using fleece for making curtains, and I went online to find fleece draperies but could find none. I guess those making curtains and drapes haven't caught on yet.
We do this. In Chicago it may be -20. I made flannel curtains and that made a difference but when it gets -20 I pull out all the Polar fleece and hang that over all the living room and bedroom window curtains. The heat stays in and the furnace runs less keeping us warm and expenses down
Ive used the polar fleece as many have said here. Insulating in both winter and summer. Mine are cream colored, so still let some light pass through. My big window faces west and is very hot in the summer.
I also noticed they *muffle sound* - I live across the street from a school playfield which is used a lot for sports practice and games. I do have plastic underneath the curtains, too. Lots of great ideas here!
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