Best Material for Black Background

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I'm looking to buy myself a few bits and pieces to use indoors to create a black background to shoot still-life, portraits etc.. I've done a search of the forum and found a couple of threads, which proved helpful but prompted a few more questions. I've also done searches online for suppliers and there are a few things advertised on Amazon and eBay.

The term "black velvet" is used very liberrally and doesn't always turn out to be genuine black velvet, which is apparently made from silk and is consequently expensive. Many onlne products are made of polyester and the reviews tend to say that these often produce a sheen.

Some "velvet" products are made of cotton, which is sometimes called velveteen but it doesn't always get fully supportive reviews.

On this forum, the material called baize was mentioned (as in baize on a card table or billiard/snooker table).

There' always black artists paper.

Forum references also mentioned the importance of lighting, regardless of the material used

My plan is to buy a stand to hang a material off and there are many choices for a stand online.

Has anyone had some experience here? Maybe purchased and tried some materials? Any thoughts, suggestions or ideas would be great.
 
@Garry Edwards - the resident expert on lighting (and a helpful chap to boot!!!)
 
There are quite a few lighting specialists here, I'm just the one who likes typing:)

Yes, genuine velvet was always incredibly expensive, it's probably still available but hard to find. The main demand for it died when mass production of 35mm film, with a tiny quantity used in every film canister ended:)

Genuine velvet only reflects about 5% of the incident light, when brushed in the right direction, black flock, also very expensive, only reflects about 4%.

Nearly all of the faux alternatives are far too shiny to be much use for photography backgrounds

Cotton is a good alternative, also sold as linen and/or muslin, but I've just clicked on one product, described as muslin but which is actually polyester . . .

Black artists' paper should be OK, and possibly the best choice if photographing subjects that sit on a black background, but black photographic background paper is often far too shiny, Cinefoil TM AKA blackwrap works well if absolutely flat/virginal https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285991219591

If all you want is a background that's literally just behind the subject, literally anything matt will do. I often use a black bath towel which is fine, and because it isn't sold for photographic use its also cheap. I'm not even sure whether it was actually needed or not, but I used a black towel in these shots https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/tutorials/lest-we-forget.168/

In terms of lighting, as long as no light reaches the subject then any background will of course photograph as black. Making sure that zero light reaches the background usually needs a fair bit of space between main subject and background, and is far easier if we use flash rather than continuous lighting.
 
I use paper roll for most things (Savage #20 for black). Often with still life you want a gradient/lighting pool, so you don't actually want the BG to absorb all of the light. If I want a perfectly black and shiny surface I use a stainless steel mirror and it reflects the black paper BG, which isn't lit (significantly). The main advantages of paper roll is that it is cheap and the maintenance is low... just cut it off and start anew; trying to keep any BG perfectly clean/neat is a hassle.

The other thing I've used a lot is v-flats of various size/color/reflectivity. If I were thinking of using black for portraits, 3/4, etc; I think I would probably go with freestanding v-flats; but it would be pretty unusual IMO (the floating heads of the 80's is waaay out of style).

Outside I've used a black sheet I drape over sticks drove into the ground with an attached cross bar.
 
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I find the "wrinkle free" fleece style black backdrops work well, e.g. from westcott.
 
Many thanks for all the reponses, that's all very helpful. A towel from the airing cupboard seems to be the most economic!

A roll of paper is one that I will certainly check out. The wrinkle free fleece from Westcott is certainly a high quality solution, but climbing in price. I checked out my suggestion of baize and it would work very well but it is quite pricey.
 
It has been mentioned, but lighting technique is more important than choice of fabric.

A white background 10m behind a subject that’s lit from 1m will be jet black. Whereas the ‘wrong’ black material 1m from a subject lit from 10m away in the wrong direction will never look black and might be closer to white.
 
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I usually use Matte Boards, if the area needed for the shot is to be small enough. They come in black, but also many colors. I also buy and use black felt because it has no reflecting qualities at all, like velvet sometimes does when hit with studio lights. This is background is usually clipped to the arm of a C-Stand, but sometimes I extend the C-Stand arm a bit for wider shots by adding a strip of wood with gaffing tape to extend it out the needed distance. Storing rolls of paper in my studio has not worked well for me, but a roll of background paper can be hung from the arm of a studio C-Stand in a similar way. An A-Clamp applied to the end of the roll's core will kep it from unrolling. The Medium A-Clamps work well to hold the background in place whether it be felt or Matte Board. When deciding on the design of my planned Still Life shoot, I make a decision what to use as the background and the table cover. I have a box full of many colors and print styles of linen table cloths that usually get used, or I may just use a piece of the black felt the size of the table to cover it.

My table isn't a actually a table at all. It's a wooden stool, presently sitting on a set of four 8" tall bed risers, since I can't work bending over well any more. I then add a piece of the foam toolbox tray liner material to the stool seat to keep the table top from sliding around and then place the table top on it. The top is for a table that was never built, and I place it on top of this tray liner, which keeps it from sliding around. This table top was found in a surplus sale. It was apparently made for a table that was never finished. It's 1 1/2" thick and 26" square, but with rounded corners, and the top and edges are all high pressure laminate covered, probably to become a restaurant lunch table. If I remember correctly, I paid $3.00 for it at this surplus sale about 25 years ago. I'm continuing to use it, because this stack all breaks down and stores in my gear closet easily, where a real table would consume a considerable amount of floor space in the studio whether being used or not. A gate leg table that becomes very narrow when both sides of the top are folded down would be my second choice, but I have never found one high enough that folded to become little more than a shelf in width to go up against my studio wall when it's not needed. So far, all I keep finding are about 3 ft wide when folded. I am budget minded, so won't be buying a new table for this use in my studio, so I'm still looking. I would add legs to this table top myself, but then it wouldn't fold and store easily. A card table is another possibility, but too low and wobbly for my need.

But I have sometimes just backed my table up against one of my black, white, or gray 10' wide Muslin backdrops and just used it as a backdrop for my still shoots (a benefit of having a studio with a 6 backdrop roller system). If you don't have a large backdrop and roller system, even a black bedsheet (or gray or white) can be used, if you want a background light) behind your table can be used for Still Shoots.

Charley
 
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