IMPROVE SLEEP w/ Easy to Install Total Blackout Light Blocking Shade for Windows. Fits Windows up to 38 Inches Wide By 72 Inches Tall. Non-Permanent Room Darkening Solution for Better Sleep.

I was a little unsure about this product after reading some of the 1 star reviews. I had 4 windows to cover but I only ordered one shade. As soon as I put up the 1st one, I immediately ordered 2 more for the other windows (2 of the windows are small and one blind cut in two covered both).I think the biggest reason that some people are giving this a low score is due to a lack of understanding of what this product is and what it is not. This is not a window shade you would ever want visible in a room that you are regularly going to have guests in. If you cut it to size and fold it around the rods, or sew pockets in the corners to make it look neat and tidy, it is going to let light in around the edges. The rods just pin it in place and the overlap blocks the light around the edge. As a result, they are kind of ugly but they do the job better than any normal blind or drape would do. I already had drapes on my windows and I left them there to keep these blinds out of site. They are also not blinds that you are going to open and close each day. I suppose you could but it would take several minutes if you have a few windows. I leave the blinds in place all the time. That is the part that I dislike the most about these. Basically, these are an inexpensive compromise so you don't need to pay hundreds of dollars to have someone come in and install something nicer.Let me address some of the complaints:The package says no hardware is required. This is correct. Tools are required, though. If something says that no hardware is required, that means you don't need any parts such as curtain rods, screws, etc. This is everything you may need:A. a hack sawB. gloves. This is optional but I would highly recommend using gloves. These can be either work gloves like you would use for doing small do-it-yourself projects, or disposable gloves like food service workers may use.C. Safety Glasses - again, optional, but you really don't want to get fiberglass in your eyes. If you don't use safety glasses, be really careful not to rub your eyes until you have thoroughly washed your hands.D. A step stool or ladder, unless you are tall enough that you can reach the top of your window without one.E. Depending on how messy you are with cutting the rods, you may need a vacuum if you are cutting over carpet, a broom if you are cutting over a hard floor, or a towel if you are cutting over your counter. Most people will already have this covered.It took me literally 15 minutes to hang these by myself, including cleanup. You just cut the 3 rods so that they are about a half inch longer than your window is wide. Anyone who took longer is probably trying to make this into something they are not.When you cut the fiberglass, it makes a mess and you have to be very careful to get it all up, particularly if you have kids or pets. You can try cutting them over a trashcan with a trash bag so that all the debris falls in there. When you are done, close the trash bag and throw it out. Then vacuum or sweep to make sure you have the rest of it up. Maybe even wipe the area up with a damp rag.If these block any sound, it is not overly noticeable. Many blackout drapes make the same claim and are also not very affective at it.

I purchased this item because I frequently work nights and my bedroom is located on the sunniest side of the house. In years past I have tried all the tricks...aluminum foil, cardboard boxes, room darkening blinds/shades, etc. The problem with these methods is that they either don't seal the light out completely or require so much tape it looks like you're trying to keep the window from falling out of the wall.What comes in the package is straightforward and the instructions obvious enough for the common person. You get one really oversized piece of blackout fabric which is a nice neutral white color (at least the neighbors don't think i'm paranoid anymore about the NSA listening to my cell phone conversations) and three flexible fiberglass rods to stick the fabric in the window...just like in the video on the shiftshade website. I found within 5 minutes I could get the shade in the window blocking out about >95% of the light without too much adjustment. The most time is spent trimming the rods. You could trim the fabric to make it a bit less unwieldy but a few folds/tucks and it hides behind the blinds quite nicely (plus you can use it in a different room). When I was finished the room was dark, as dark as night minus light streaming in from under the doorway. When I need to remove them it'll come down quicker than putting it up.I like this product...a lot, but I feel I cannot give it 5 stars due to the price. It cost $50 to cover two windows in my bedroom and fortunately I only have two windows. I feel the materials probably cost a lot less and you could figure this out for yourself if you had the time. If I had to buy more than two I probably would have thought twice. As a matter of convenience, however, this product is definitely a winner and the fabric should hold up for years to come through many cycles of being installed and removed. Plus, the paint around your window sill will appreciate not being pulled off every time you try the foil method!

This is my second Black out "shade" from ShiftShade. If you want a dark room, this is the ONLY product I've found that actually works. You can close this thing in the middle of the day in August in the midwest and it is dark as night in your room. I'm only giving it a 4 out of 5 because of the amount of work I had to put into making this a workable solution for my house. It is, in fact, NOT a shade. Not in the traditional sense. With the materials it comes with it is a permanent fixture and not retractable as you would imagine a "shade" to be.If you want to make it so that you can have the black out effect sometimes and be able to see out of your window other times, you have to come up with your own solution. Liking the ability to occasionally see out of my windows, I needed to retrofit this to make it work. I used 2 solutions. For the first I made a 2 inch open ended pleat at one end of the black out sheet to create a curtain-like opening. I did this by using Liquid Stitch because I didn't want to puncture the sheet and risk a tear in the future. Then I hung it on a curtain rod mounted to the inside of my window frame. When I want to use my window as a window, I pull the sheet aside and tie it back like a curtain.For a much wider window, I cut my long sheet in half and then used curtain clamp rings on an interior mounted curtain rod to attach to the window. This solution lets a little light in at the top, but was all I could do since I had to use the sheet horizontally in order to cover the space. This is a "me" and my retrofit issue, though, and not that of the material.These solutions allow me to have this wonderful black out option for my family who enjoy sleeping in coffin-like blackness and the beauty of sunshine when I want to see out of my windows.I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who needs a dark room to sleep. In fact, I am purchasing my third sheet now that I know how to tackle the "open window" issue.