Blackout curtains that block light

Sun Zero Oslo Theater Grade Blackout Curtain has the best record: 29 of 34 shoppers said it blocked light and made the room dark. Exclusive Home Oxford Sateen Room Darkening Curtain comes next at 18 of 25, even though it is sold as room darkening, not blackout. The other three panels fell well short, and Sun Zero Kenneth Blackout Curtain has the weakest record here at 7 of 32.

  • 182 store reviews counted
  • Target shoppers
  • Dec 2017 to Sep 2026

Updated . How we count

Did the room get dark? What shoppers said
  1. Sun Zero Oslo Theater Grade Blackout Curtain 34 said either way
  2. Exclusive Home Oxford Sateen Room Darkening Curtain 25 said either way
  3. Sun Zero Seymour Room Darkening Curtain 33 said either way
  4. Exclusive Home Sateen Pinch Pleat Blackout Curtain 16 said either way
  5. Sun Zero Kenneth Blackout Curtain 32 said either way

Share of shoppers who stated an outcome for light. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Best record Sun Zero Oslo Theater Grade Blackout Curtain 29 of 34 say the room got dark See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

The word on the package didn't sort these panels. 65% of reviews for Sun Zero Kenneth Blackout Curtain say light gets through, about as many as for Sun Zero Seymour Room Darkening Curtain (65%). For Sun Zero Oslo Theater Grade Blackout Curtain it is 15%.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points shoppers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1

Sun Zero

Oslo Theater Grade Blackout Curtain

Best for blocking daylight

29/34 say the room got dark

55% of reviews say it blocks light, and 42% like how it looks. The catch is color: 25% say it doesn't match the photo.

What shoppers praise

  • Looks nice 43%
  • Good value 18%
  • Keeps room cooler or warmer 10%
  • Thick, quality fabric 10%

What shoppers complain about

  • Color differs from photo 25%
  • Wrinkles 8%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 29 of 34
  • Brand site 2 of 2 shown, not counted
2

Exclusive Home

Oxford Sateen Room Darkening Curtain

18/25 say the room got dark

Shoppers like the look (46%), and its record is strong for a panel sold as room darkening. 26% say the color differs from the photo and 18% still saw light come through.

What shoppers praise

  • Looks nice 46%
  • Good value 26%
  • Keeps room cooler or warmer 8%
  • Thick, quality fabric 8%

What shoppers complain about

  • Color differs from photo 26%
  • Wrinkles 8%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 18 of 25
3

Sun Zero

Seymour Room Darkening Curtain

10/33 say the room got dark

Light coming through is the main complaint, in 65% of reviews, and 28% call the fabric thin. Just 10 of 33 said the room got dark, though 30% like how it looks.

What shoppers praise

  • Looks nice 30%
  • Good value 15%
  • Keeps room cooler or warmer 5%

What shoppers complain about

  • Thin 28%
  • Wrinkles 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 10 of 33

Share of 40 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

4

Exclusive Home

Sateen Pinch Pleat Blackout Curtain

5/16 say the room got dark

The look wins praise in 57% of reviews and 22% call the fabric thick, but 57% say light gets through. Fewer shoppers weighed in on this pair than on the other panels, and 5 of 16 said the room got dark.

What shoppers praise

  • Looks nice 57%
  • Good value 26%
  • Thick, quality fabric 22%
  • Keeps room cooler or warmer 13%

What shoppers complain about

  • Color differs from photo 13%
  • Wrinkles 9%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 5 of 16

Share of 23 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

5

Sun Zero

Kenneth Blackout Curtain

7/32 say the room got dark

Despite the blackout label, 25 of 32 shoppers said light still came through, and 12% call it thin. 30% like how it looks.

What shoppers praise

  • Looks nice 30%
  • Good value 13%

What shoppers complain about

  • Color differs from photo 13%
  • Thin 13%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 7 of 32
  • Brand site 2 of 2 shown, not counted

Share of 40 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

Where these numbers come from

The 5 products ranked here carry 1,820 reviews at Target. We read the newest reviews of each product (up to a thousand per listing), kept the ones that talk about light, and counted up to 40 per product, posted between Dec 2017 and Sep 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (0 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Target also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. We show them on product cards but never count them, because brand-site reviews run more positive than store reviews of the same products.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

We count what shoppers report. Nothing here is safety advice: use heaters, fans and other appliances as the maker's manual says.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most shoppers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Sun Zero Oslo Theater Grade Blackout Curtain Target (40 reviews counted)
  2. Exclusive Home Oxford Sateen Room Darkening Curtain Target (39 reviews counted)
  3. Sun Zero Seymour Room Darkening Curtain Target (40 reviews counted)
  4. Exclusive Home Sateen Pinch Pleat Blackout Curtain Target (23 reviews counted)
  5. Sun Zero Kenneth Blackout Curtain Target (40 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which blackout curtains make a room dark?

Sun Zero Oslo Theater Grade Blackout Curtain has the best record, with 29 of 34 shoppers saying the room got dark. Exclusive Home Oxford Sateen Room Darkening Curtain is next at 18 of 25. This is a short list of 5 panels from two brands, and the other three came in between 22% and 31%.

Is room darkening the same as blackout?

Not on the package: blackout panels are sold as blocking more light than room darkening ones. In these reviews the label didn't decide it. Exclusive Home Oxford Sateen Room Darkening Curtain, sold as room darkening, did better (18 of 25) than Sun Zero Kenneth Blackout Curtain, sold as blackout (7 of 32). Check the record, not just the word on the label.

Why does light still get through my blackout curtains?

Thin fabric comes up for the panels that let light through: 28% of reviews for Sun Zero Seymour Room Darkening Curtain and 12% for Sun Zero Kenneth Blackout Curtain call it thin. Light around the edges and over the rod is a separate gap any curtain can have, so panels wider than the window and a rod close to the wall help.

Does the curtain color match the photo?

Not always. 25% of reviews for Sun Zero Oslo Theater Grade Blackout Curtain and 26% for Exclusive Home Oxford Sateen Room Darkening Curtain say the color looks different from the photo, so check the return policy if the exact shade matters.

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HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.