Smooth metal or plastic strip... advice

tea and coffee

Need a thin strip of something to go along the top of a curtain pole because the rings are catching on the pole and it makes it very hard to close the curtains- I need to stick something across the top of the pole to help the rings glide...
Any suggestions on what I could get in a builders provider that might work.. I would be gluing it on

10-10-20

The narrowest of PVC should suffice:
https://www.lenehans.ie/hardware-diy/extrusions-profiles/strip.html

Pickup a suitable PVC glue too, but not a plumbers PVC glue as it's too crude.

chooseusername

tea and coffee wrote: »

Need a thin strip of something to go along the top of a curtain pole because the rings are catching on the pole and it makes it very hard to close the curtains- I need to stick something across the top of the pole to help the rings glide...
Any suggestions on what I could get in a builders provider that might work.. I would be gluing it on

A few drops of olive oil or a pat of butter on your fingers and run it along the top of the pole.

Thoie

Honestly, I use sellotape for that. It's only the top edge that catches, so I wrap a strip of tape around the whole "circle" if there's a join for an extendable pole, then another two layers along the top length ways and it's sufficient to stop the snagging. If it comes off eventually in the sun, I just stick a new piece on.

Fine Cheers

Was going to suggest sellotape too. Why are the rings catching - could you replace with slightly bigger ones maybe ?

tea and coffee

Thanks for the sellotape suggestions- works great for now. Might consider the metal solution down the line- my concern would be it not moulding to the curve of the top of the curtain pole
Yes - the rings are probably too small... the pole didn't come with rings and I used old one. Large replacement rings are surprisingly expensive and hard to source.

Thoie

tea and coffee wrote: »

Thanks for the sellotape suggestions- works great for now. Might consider the metal solution down the line- my concern would be it not moulding to the curve of the top of the curtain pole
Yes - the rings are probably too small... the pole didn't come with rings and I used old one. Large replacement rings are surprisingly expensive and hard to source.

What are the pole and rings made of? Any pictures? If they're wooden, then if/when the sellotape wears off, I'd give them a good clean and use a wax furniture polish on both. I'd automatically assumed metal expanding style pole, no idea why!

There may also be a height thing coming in to play - how close to the rings is your hand when you're pulling the curtains? If you're pulling on the curtain a few feet below the pole, then you're putting downward pressure on the rings, increasing the "drag" as you go. You can buy/make a stick for pulling the curtains to help. I only discovered this when a short friend mentioned how awkward the curtains in my spare room were (years ago). We both stood there playing with the curtains, and I realised she couldn't reach high enough to glide them smoothly

jmBuildExt

chooseusername wrote: »

A few drops of olive oil or a pat of butter on your fingers and run it along the top of the pole.

Serve it with a side of chips and a garden salad.

looksee

The olive oil suggestion was the best of the lot. I polished mine with furniture polish and they work absolutely fine since.