Describes anything you can’t fully see through, i.e. anything that is not transparent. Opaque materials are chosen to block light, to create form, to filter light and / or to provide privacy.
Most textiles hold degrees of opaqueness that prevent or limit transparency to some degree: from the most opaque heavily woven and felted solid and thick materials through which light barely penetrates to the sbeer or semi sheer materials that provide screening from bright light and an element of privacy.
* If the need is for total block out or black out, – wool cloths that are darkly coloured make the most naturally light blocking cloth and for either curtaining or blinds carpet or thick blanketing are perfectly viable options.
(Black out linings that are especially deisged for the job are extremely effective, as is densely woven, heavy weight black cotton twill, but neither be as completely opaque as any dark wool felt.)
* In glass, coloured, clouded , etched or sand blasted finishes provide the varying levels of opacity, in a more or less decorative manner, required for shower doors, internal doors, major windows or bathroom windows.
* Embroidery and lace work often serve the same purpose in textiles.