Faraday Fabric & Shielding Materials

Faraday fabric is cloth woven or plated with metal so it conducts, which lets it attenuate the radio signals passing through it. It is the raw material behind shielded pouches, linings, covers and home-made enclosures — sold here by the metre so you buy only what your build needs.

Which Material for Which Job

• Copper-nickel ripstop — the general-purpose choice. Tough, drapes well, easy to cut and sew. Good for linings, covers and enclosure panels.
• Silver-fiber stretch fabric — stretches and recovers, so it suits garments, caps and curved shapes that rigid cloth cannot follow.
• Copper mesh — open weave for windows and screens, where you want attenuation without blocking light or airflow.
• Conductive tape — not optional. Ordinary tape is an insulator; seams need conductive tape to stay continuous.

The Part That Decides Whether It Works

Construction matters far more than the cloth. A shield is only as good as its most open seam — gaps, overlaps and closures are where shielding fails, not the weave. Overlap edges generously, seal joins with conductive tape, and enclose the object completely.

How to Check It Works

Seal a phone fully inside whatever you have built and call it from another phone. No ring means the enclosure is doing its job. Re-test after washing or heavy use.

An Honest Note on Numbers

We do not publish dB attenuation figures for these fabrics. We have no independent lab report for them, and a decibel number with no named test method and no stated frequencies tells you nothing — see shielding effectiveness for why. Build it, then test it yourself.

New to this? Start with how to make a Faraday cage or sewing a DIY Faraday bag.