In the opinion of the expert and / or experienced curtain hanger, which
is the best rail to use and to be fixed on a vertical surface?
2 Curtains to cover a window approx 3.2 Metres wide x 2Metres drop,
(medium weight curtain).
The rails all seem to be plastic these days, and I'm not sure of the
long term Slide-ability and Dependability of these things.

Regards
Don

On Tue, 08 Mar 2011 06:00:46 +0000, Donwill wrote:

The rails all seem to be plastic these days, and I'm not sure of the
long term Slide-ability and Dependability of these things.

They last a long time, there are some plastic rails/runners here that
are probably pushing 20 years old. Spares are a bigger problem, we
can't get runners that fit anymore and it is those and the track
brackets that have become brittle, the track is fine. I'd avoid shed
own or unbranded stuff as they will change lines and not carry parts
for the previous versions.

Slide-abilty is much improved by wiping with a cloth that has had a
squirt of silicon based furniture polish on it at fitting and once in
a while after that.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Mar 8, 8:24*am, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:
On Tue, 08 Mar 2011 06:00:46 +0000, Donwill wrote:
The rails *all seem to be plastic these days, and I'm not sure of the
long term Slide-ability and Dependability of these things.

They last a long time, there are some plastic rails/runners here that
are probably pushing 20 years old. Spares are a bigger problem, we
can't get runners that fit anymore and it is those and the track
brackets that have become brittle, the track is fine. I'd avoid shed
own or unbranded stuff as they will change lines and not carry parts
for the previous versions.

The runners are usually cheap enough. Just buy the spares when you buy
the rails.

MBQ

On 08/03/2011 08:24, Dave Liquorice wrote:
Spares are a bigger problem, we
can't get runners that fit anymore and it is those and the track
brackets that have become brittle

I got a pack of circa 1980 Swish runners on EBay recently. Obviously
sill manufactured, but shops aren't prepared to stock them.

Donwill ) wibbled on Tuesday 08 March 2011
06:00:

In the opinion of the expert and / or experienced curtain hanger, which
is the best rail to use and to be fixed on a vertical surface?
2 Curtains to cover a window approx 3.2 Metres wide x 2Metres drop,
(medium weight curtain).
The rails all seem to be plastic these days, and I'm not sure of the
long term Slide-ability and Dependability of these things.

Regards
Don

I have avoided plastic rail for the house refurb. I am using this:

http://www.tracksandpoles.com/track_...am_white.shtml

It's the same stuff your great aunt had, except hers was brass. They do
brass BTW, though the price will make you cry. However, the painted ali
stuff above is very reasonably priced.

It hangs off any surface - if you mean off a vertical wall face, the
Universal Bracket (ignore the pic, they are white) are the ones to use.
Actually, they fit to either vertical or horizonal.

The track hand bends nicely (I used a can of paint as a former because I
have lots of cans in different radii).

You'll need runners and end stops of course. My advice, though it is
optional, is to use the extention bracket and form an overlap in the middle
- gets a nice gap free closure.

The track is very stiff in the vertical plane - a clip every 18-24" is
sufficient for light curtains, and heavy curtains would be OK with a clip
every 12" or so.

Running action is beautiful, though some of the runners are can be a bit too
tight out of the pack, so you may need to open them up a tweak.

HTH

Tim

--
Tim Watts

On Tue, 8 Mar 2011 01:10:48 -0800 (PST), Man at B&Q wrote:

The runners are usually cheap enough. Just buy the spares when you buy
the rails.

Could do but how do you store 'em so that they aren't also brittle in
twenty years time?

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 08/03/2011 09:12, stuart noble wrote:
On 08/03/2011 08:24, Dave Liquorice wrote:
Spares are a bigger problem, we
can't get runners that fit anymore and it is those and the track
brackets that have become brittle

I got a pack of circa 1980 Swish runners on EBay recently. Obviously
sill manufactured, but shops aren't prepared to stock them.
Lovely word that *Swish*, I suppose they could call a motorised version
*Zoom Zoom* but it wouls probably upset Mazda.

Don

Donwill wrote:
In the opinion of the expert and / or experienced curtain hanger, which
is the best rail to use and to be fixed on a vertical surface?
2 Curtains to cover a window approx 3.2 Metres wide x 2Metres drop,
(medium weight curtain).
The rails all seem to be plastic these days, and I'm not sure of the
long term Slide-ability and Dependability of these things.

Regards
Don
It may not be what you want, but we used steel poles and steel rings
from Jim Lawrence. Very period-ish.

In article o.uk,
says...
The runners are usually cheap enough. Just buy the spares when you buy
the rails.

Could do but how do you store 'em so that they aren't also brittle in
twenty years time?

I'll bet you they don't go as brittle kept in a drawer somewhere as they
do in bright sunlight behind a curtain.

--
Skipweasel - never knowingly understood.

On Tue, 8 Mar 2011 12:04:30 -0000, Skipweasel wrote:

I'll bet you they don't go as brittle kept in a drawer somewhere as they
do in bright sunlight behind a curtain.

Maybe but these runners and brackets are above the reveal and never
get direct sunlight. The few spares we do have are also brittle. Not
quite as bad as the ones in service but not far off.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 08/03/11 10:12, Donwill wrote:
On 08/03/2011 09:12, stuart noble wrote:
On 08/03/2011 08:24, Dave Liquorice wrote:
Spares are a bigger problem, we
can't get runners that fit anymore and it is those and the track
brackets that have become brittle

I got a pack of circa 1980 Swish runners on EBay recently. Obviously sill
manufactured, but shops aren't prepared to stock them.
Lovely word that *Swish*, I suppose they could call a motorised version *Zoom
Zoom* but it wouls probably upset Mazda.

Swish are still going, but I'm not sure they are still making curtain
accessories.

http://www.swishbp.co.uk/

On Mar 8, 6:00*am, Donwill wrote:
In the opinion of the expert and / or experienced curtain hanger, which
is the best rail to use and to be fixed on a vertical surface?
2 Curtains to cover a window approx 3.2 Metres wide x 2Metres drop,
(medium weight curtain).
The rails *all seem to be plastic these days, and I'm not sure of the
long term Slide-ability and Dependability of these things.

Regards
Don

Plastic rails are the cheap end of the market, and only last a few
decades. They're better than the fashion for poles though, imho.
Plastic rails tend to stick when the runner channels get dirty, taking
down & giving a good clean restores them to working perfectly. Some
people also use silicone furniture polish, I dont find it necessary
though.

There are 2 main types of curtain hanger for plastic rails, C type and
9 type. The latter is easier to get hold of, and cheaper.


NT

On 08/03/2011 06:00, Donwill wrote:
In the opinion of the expert and / or experienced curtain hanger,
which is the best rail to use and to be fixed on a vertical surface?
2 Curtains to cover a window approx 3.2 Metres wide x 2Metres drop,
(medium weight curtain).
The rails all seem to be plastic these days, and I'm not sure of the
long term Slide-ability and Dependability of these things.

Regards
Don
Thanks to all for the useful info.
Regards
Don

On 08/03/2011 10:07, Tim Watts wrote:
Donwill ) wibbled on Tuesday 08 March 2011
06:00:


In the opinion of the expert and / or experienced curtain hanger, which
is the best rail to use and to be fixed on a vertical surface?
2 Curtains to cover a window approx 3.2 Metres wide x 2Metres drop,
(medium weight curtain).
The rails all seem to be plastic these days, and I'm not sure of the
long term Slide-ability and Dependability of these things.

Regards
Don

I have avoided plastic rail for the house refurb. I am using this:

http://www.tracksandpoles.com/track_...am_white.shtml

It's the same stuff your great aunt had, except hers was brass.
It's the same stuff that I used in my youth, Brilliant!! & the nylon
runners should improve the slideability :-)
They do
brass BTW, though the price will make you cry. However, the painted ali
stuff above is very reasonably priced.

It hangs off any surface - if you mean off a vertical wall face, the
Universal Bracket (ignore the pic, they are white) are the ones to use.
Actually, they fit to either vertical or horizonal.

The track hand bends nicely (I used a can of paint as a former because I
have lots of cans in different radii).

You'll need runners and end stops of course. My advice, though it is
optional, is to use the extention bracket and form an overlap in the middle
- gets a nice gap free closure.

The track is very stiff in the vertical plane - a clip every 18-24" is
sufficient for light curtains, and heavy curtains would be OK with a clip
every 12" or so.

Running action is beautiful, though some of the runners are can be a bit too
tight out of the pack, so you may need to open them up a tweak.

HTH

Tim


Have ordered from the linked site. Excellent !!!!!.
Many thanks Tim.
Don