Using common window screen as shade cloth

[Shane]

I have some old vinyl window screen and had the idea of using it as shade cloth. I did some measurements with the Lux Light Meter app on my phone and got a shade value of around 40% (40% of light is blocked). This is higher than I'd expected, but not impossible. Curious if anyone else has used screen as shade cloth and what their results have been

[Pereskiopsisdotcom]

Which lux light meter app are you using on your phone? I'd love to give something like that a try.

Here we have cheap landscape fabric for sale at our dollar stores and I've used that in the past as my transitionary shade cloth from going directly outdoors from a season of winter indoors.

[Steve Johnson]

I have some old vinyl window screen and had the idea of using it as shade cloth. I did some measurements with the Lux Light Meter app on my phone and got a shade value of around 40% (40% of light is blocked). This is higher than I'd expected, but not impossible. Curious if anyone else has used screen as shade cloth and what their results have been

If (emphasis on the word "if") your light meter value is accurate, that's the same as the 40% shade cloth I've had over my current collection ever since I started building it in 2011. However, I'm kinda skeptical of the shade value you're getting from your light meter app.

[BobCt]

I've used 20% over my greenhouse here in Connecticut and done very well. The mesh size although is larger than that of insect screening material that you talk of so it could be in the 30-40% range. The challenge if your going to use it and need to overlap it to cover the exposed area is that wind can lift it easily and tear it. The fabric contains fiberglass fibers which under prolonged UV ( natural sunlight ) become brittle and rip. Don't forget also that you don't want it to be a landing pad for birds either because damage will ensue.

[Shane]

Which lux light meter app are you using on your phone?

It's called "Lux light meter". There are a bunch with that name, so here's a picture of its icon

20200219_121807.jpg (11.2 KiB) Viewed 2242 times

I can't vouch for it being any better than any of the others, but it seems to work well

However, I'm kinda skeptical of the shade value you're getting from your light meter app

Yeah, me too. The app seems to give reasonable readings, but I haven't found a way to do a really good test. I think likely a larger error source in this case is me holding the screen. The angle really matters for light blocking, and screen is flimsy and hard to hold at a specific angle. Ideally the screen would be at a 90° angle to incoming light (I assume this is how the standard measurements are done). I'm going to do some more careful measurements today

[Edwindwianto]

It's called "Lux light meter". There are a bunch with that name, so here's a picture of its icon
20200219_121807.jpg
I can't vouch for it being any better than any of the others, but it seems to work well

Thanks Shane for the info
I take a note and may try it sometime

[ilariav]

In my experience, you can use pretty much anything you like for shading.

The points to think of are :

How long does it last, and what %shade do you need. In addition, how much it costs can factor in. Free is good!

I use old white sheets purchased at the local 2nd hand store to shade the roof of my south facing greenhouse in the height of summer.
Changes it from over (often well over) 100F to ambient temp on our sunny summer days. The sheets are pretty much toast after a summer in the sun, but they don't cost much for me(maybe $30 total at the "as is" department) and I can compost the cotton ones or just toss them. The same amount of shade cloth would cost around $250. Aesthetically, the sheets aren't beautiful, but I don't need to worry about that as no one can see unless they are in my back yard.