How to Choose the Right Fiberglass Fabric for Smoke Curtains

Fire Rating Is Important — But It Is Only the Starting Point

For smoke curtain manufacturers and fire-protection contractors, choosing the wrong curtain fabric can create problems far beyond the cost of the material itself.

A fabric may look acceptable on a datasheet, but during fabrication and installation it may tear under tension, fray during cutting, develop coating cracks after repeated rolling, or show inconsistent fire performance between production batches.

In our view, smoke curtain fabric should be treated as an engineered component of the complete smoke-control system — not simply as a fire-rated textile.

This is becoming particularly important in international projects.

In the European market, smoke barriers are commonly evaluated as complete systems under EN 12101-1. Performance considerations include material durability, smoke leakage, response and fire resistance, rather than reaction-to-fire classification alone. Leading European smoke curtain systems commonly use coated fiberglass fabrics, particularly PU-coated glass fabrics, in certified smoke-control assemblies.

What Should a Good Smoke Curtain Fabric Provide?

For fabricators and installers, we believe five characteristics deserve particular attention.

1. Stable Fire Performance

Fire performance must remain consistent from sample production to commercial batches.

A certificate is valuable, but batch-to-batch consistency is equally important for manufacturers supplying long-term projects.

At SUNTEX, production and quality control are designed around repeatability rather than simply achieving good results on one laboratory sample.

2. High Mechanical Strength

Smoke curtain fabric is subjected to mechanical stress during cutting, sewing, clamping and installation.

Insufficient tensile strength can result in:

• tearing around fixing points;
• damage during installation;
• excessive edge fraying;
• material waste during fabrication;
• shorter service life in retractable curtain systems.

This is why mechanical strength should be considered together with fire performance.

3. Good Fabrication Performance

A good smoke curtain material should not create unnecessary problems on the production floor.

Clean cutting, stable edges, controlled thickness and consistent coating all help manufacturers improve production efficiency and reduce scrap.

For automatic smoke curtains, flexibility is particularly important because the material may be repeatedly rolled and deployed during its service life.

4. Coating Durability

Coating quality is often underestimated.

A poorly formulated or poorly bonded coating may powder, crack, peel or separate from the fiberglass substrate after handling or repeated movement.

For smoke curtain manufacturers, this can quickly become a warranty and maintenance issue.

The coating therefore needs to provide more than flame resistance. It should also contribute to handling performance, surface durability and long-term stability.

5. Consistent Production

For an installer, one failed piece of fabric can delay a project.

For a smoke curtain manufacturer, inconsistent material across several hundred or several thousand metres can affect an entire production batch.

That is why we consider consistency to be one of the most important — and often overlooked — specifications of a fire-protection textile.

Silicone, PU or Acrylic: Which Coating Should You Choose?

Different projects require different performance-to-cost ratios.

Silicone-Coated Fiberglass Fabric

Silicone-coated fiberglass offers very good flexibility, water resistance and coating durability.

It is particularly suitable where customers require better handling characteristics, surface quality and long-term durability.

Because of the higher material cost, silicone-coated fabrics are normally positioned for more demanding projects rather than purely price-driven applications.

PU-Coated Fiberglass Fabric

PU-coated fiberglass offers a strong balance between technical performance and cost.

This material system is already widely used internationally in smoke curtain applications. Several established European smoke curtain systems use PU-coated fiberglass fabrics as part of EN 12101-1 classified assemblies.

For many commercial smoke curtain manufacturers, PU is therefore a practical starting point.

Acrylic-Coated Fiberglass Fabric

Acrylic-coated fiberglass provides a more economical solution for applications where project budgets are tightly controlled.

SUNTEX can also provide acrylic-coated fabrics with improved surface and water-resistant properties compared with conventional economical grades.

The correct choice, however, should always depend on the required system performance and local certification requirements.

Do Not Confuse A2 Classification with Smoke Curtain System Certification

This is an important distinction.

EN 13501-1 A2 classification describes the reaction-to-fire performance of a material.

For European smoke curtain systems, EN 12101-1 goes further by evaluating the smoke barrier as a functional system. Depending on the design and classification, requirements can include material durability, smoke leakage and performance at elevated temperature.

For example, commercial smoke barrier systems on the European market are available with classifications such as D120, meaning performance for 120 minutes at approximately 600°C, while other systems are designed for higher-temperature DH classifications.

Similarly, in the United States, fire-protective curtain assemblies may be evaluated to standards including UL 10D, while smoke leakage performance can involve UL 1784.

Therefore, the correct question is not simply:

“Is this fabric A2?”

A better question is:

“Is this fabric suitable for the performance and certification requirements of my complete smoke curtain system?”

Typical SUNTEX Smoke Curtain Fabric Specifications

SUNTEX supplies coated fiberglass fabrics for manufacturers of fixed and automatic smoke curtains.

Typical available specifications include:

• Thickness: 0.5–0.9 mm
• Width: 500–2000 mm
• Standard roll length: 50 m
• MOQ: from 100 m
• Coating systems: Silicone, PU and Acrylic
• Customized specifications: Available

Depending on the material, relevant fire-performance and environmental documentation can also be provided for project evaluation.

The Cheapest Fabric Is Not Always the Lowest-Cost Solution

There is a major difference between material price and project cost.

A cheaper fabric may save a small amount during procurement but create much larger costs through:

• cutting waste;
• damaged panels;
• installation failure;
• project delays;
• replacement;
• maintenance;
• customer complaints;
• certification or inspection problems.

For this reason, our view at SUNTEX is straightforward:

For smoke curtain applications, consistency and processability are just as important as the fire-rating certificate.

A reliable material should help the curtain manufacturer produce efficiently, help the contractor install confidently and help the finished smoke-control system perform as designed.

SUNTEX Smoke Curtain Fabric

SUNTEX manufactures high-temperature fiberglass textiles and coated fiberglass fabrics for fire and smoke protection applications.

For smoke curtain projects, we can support customers with:

• Silicone-, PU- and acrylic-coated fiberglass fabrics
• Different thicknesses and coating weights
• Customized widths
• Sample evaluation before bulk orders
• Small trial orders
• Fire-performance documentation according to applicable products
• Stable commercial production and batch control

Standard stock products can be supplied quickly, while customized specifications can be arranged according to project requirements.

Tell us your curtain type, required certification, working temperature, fabric thickness and target cost.

Our team can help you select the appropriate fiberglass fabric before you move into full production.

SUNTEX — Reliable Materials for Heat and Fire Protection.