Thanks for the tips. I just emailed Spectrolab and will report back with my findings. It looks like the application will consist of a laminated sheet of glass with a high-opacity plastic film between the two sheets. Throwing light between the shower occupant and the glass is definitely better than behind the occupant because this will cast a shadow and increase the chance of a defined silhouette visible from outside. I do plan on putting two recessed 6" can lights inside the shower. In addition, I will have one low-power dimmable LED up-light on the roof eave (exterior) directly behind the glass. This will create a unique lighting effect for the frosted glass shower wall when the shower isn't in use (imagine a glowing wall from inside the bathroom). Basically, I can have a cool exterior lighting effect combined with an even cooler interior lighting effect with this setup. I hope it all works out. Oruboris - Why would the window frame be spoiled by the water? From the interior, the tile will be laid up to and on top of the glass. From the exterior, this would be a traditional glass in standard aluminum window frame set up. Maybe I'm missing something?

Like others, just wanted to give everyone thanks for the ideas and to show my experience (based on everyone’s suggestions). Was always afraid of cleaning my HD’s as they appear so shear. Even though my HD Silhouettes have been up for just over 20 years now, I have been hesitant to professionally clean due to costs (over $1000 dollars estimated-was told it was this or spend over $6000 to replace). Given inspiration by this thread, I decided to do it myself and wanted to “payback” the thread with my experience. Given the cost of professional cleaning, I decided to DIY since it I messed up, I would replace with something else that was not so delicate (called HD and they would not sell “replacement” fabric so would have to replace all units). I could not use the bathtub method as many of my shades are too large (7ft W x 5ft L). Also, did not want to use sheets on the ground or swimming pool method as I did not wish to risk tearing/delaminating the shade vanes and it would have been tough to get to the center of the shades to clean and rinse. I did purchase then returned a cheap $39 inflatable pool but decided it was not worth the effort. Bissel was an option but some said it was messy and I didn’t want to risk dripping onto white/beige carpet if using when shades were still hung. Instead, I hung the shades up on a pergola in my backyard with some bungie cords and 1” nylon webbing with plastic buckles I bought on Amazon for $7. I rinsed the shades (first with the vanes in an open position, then again on each side with the vanes closed) to get rid of as much grime as I could using a variable spray garden nozzle (started with flat spray, and increased to a jet spray). I then sprayed each side (vanes closed) with about 1/2 ounce Dawn (as degreasing detergent) mixed with 1:2 Oxyclean/water in a spray bottle. This was followed by a thorough rinse on each side using the garden hose on jet spray to get rid of all the remaining grime and stains (started from the top, working out from the middle to ”eject” the dirt out to the sides). I followed up by using a leaf blower to dry the Silhouettes so I could immediately hang them back up. I already had a cheap one that I use to blow excess water out of molding/crevices and grill work when I clean my cars but a SunJoe electric leaf blower can be purchased on Amazon for as little as $19. Again, I started blow drying from the top, working my way out from the middle to the sides to expel all the water (and get any excess water out of the headrail and bottom rail). I found that this worked best first with the vanes closed, then a light going over with the vanes in the open position. Because the material (at least of the standard Silhouettes) is some form of polyester, the material dried very quickly, with no puckering nor delamination. A couple of observations. First, much to my surprise, the polyester material (at least on the standard) Silhouettes is not as delicate as I first thought. I can’t speak for any other brand or material, but the Hunter Douglas standard ones are very resilient, just don’t poke the shear material! You can be quite vigorous with the water pressure, much more so than I thought, to thoroughly clean and rinse the shades. They are a quality product (at least the ones I bought over 20 years ago, and the price I guess reflects that). Secondly, I would recommend leaving them in a “down” position with the vanes in an open position once you hang them back up to ensure they thoroughly dry. They will not pucker so you don’t need to roll them up as one person suggested as this may lead to the headrail components remaining wet and the shades not completely drying. From removal to reinstallation, I got it down to about 20 minutes per shade (had a lot of practice, lots of shades, lol). For those that were asking for photos: Before (right side before cleaning), after cleaning (on left) of two adjacent shades, left side started even worse than right side (see second photo) since left side window opens. After is back to original color #128 misty almond: Another before photo of the left side (pretty gross!) Hanging from pergola before cleaning: After cleaning: Variable spray hose attachment: Spray mixture and bottle: Summary: about $35 worth of equipment used (plus the cost of soap and water) vs. over $1000. Can’t imagine that the +$1000 method would have significantly better results. Anyway, sorry for the long post. Hope it helps someone, YMMV.

I cannot say enough good things about selectblinds.com. Their sheer blinds are just as good as Hunter Douglas silhouettes, and 40% cheaper. (Please note that selectblinds.com has two levels of quality --the better ones are called Good Housekeeping.) The turnaround times are amazing fast, less than a week. And, best of all, their customer service went above and beyond. By mutual error, a cancelled order was shipped as well as the correct one. They could technically have tried to stick me with the charges, especially since this is a custom order. But they did the right thing and let me return them. This increases my confidence in ordering from them online 1000%. I will not hesitate to use them in the future. Here is a link that might be useful: sheer shades from Select Blinds

Thanks, mdln. and, Elmer, I suspected that could very well be the case. Or, the charge may be steep. Some of these optical shops are guarded and pricy. Most of them have a good thing going and are protective of their turf, contacts, sources and so on. That’s business and there is likely a good amount of competition. However, I bet I could find someone to do it — for a price. What if someone from one coast moves across country and wants to keep their pricy frames while updating the lenses? I already sent mine for repair and I am not crazy with the lenses in such a short frame — too much dithering to find the sweet spot. If they can’t be mended, I’ll Just use a hot glue gun after abrading the mend area (facetious). I’m resourceful (often). I once repaired an SUV rear windshield washer nozzle for $0.45 instead of paying for a whole new dealer installed washer unit. I just needed a teensy weensy patent tube. I was confident I’d stumble across something some day. Voila! A basketball inflating needle worked fine after I cut it to size, uncrimped it, and epoxied it into place. clt3 — I’m happy to hear you love your frames. For me, it was (before they broke) the short lenses and (apparently) the “narrow channel” archetecture of the lenses. Okay for static driving, but they were awful for me if I needed to keep swapping fields (say when shopping). I guess I’m a tactile intolerant sort — I’m easily irritated by things around my face — hair, bangs, glasses, smudged eyeglasses, eyelashes in my eyes (or goop), hats that have a wide brim, long sleeves when working, tight shoes or waistbands, people too close; intrusive sounds like fans or keyboard clicks. I like near monastic silence, but with cool, clean fresh air, sky, vegetation and wildlife. To me, this is normal. I have no idea how anyone can think or create in a stifling environment in dress clothing (tight shoes or heels, a suit or dress with constricting waistline or jacket. If I cannot row a boat in it, I don’t want it on me. (And no, I don’t want to smell your charcoal grill or suffer your leaf blower racket.) ETA “you” plural“ general