Damn curtain poles !

[KangarooKenny]

Has anyone gone back to curtain tracks ? I’m so fed up of curtain poles. The rings get stuck, the rings separate from the curtain hook, they look tatty.

Not gone back to tracks, they can have their limitations too. Do you want help with your specific curtain issues? They sound unusual and I can't quite understand what is going wrong.

I've just realised you probably don't have eyelets. Have you tried something like rubbing a candle on the pole so the rings move more smoothly? Better quality rings and hooks, so they don't separate? Are your curtains especially lightweight or heavy?

Poles and eyelet curtains are my preference.

Metal curtain hooks were a game changer for us when DS insisted on a pattern that ony came in pencil pleat. We've pretty much got the cheapest Dunelm (or maybe Amazon) sold, but they are so much less likely to come out than the plastic ones.

Agree with pp, I have eyelet curtains on a wooden pole with no issues.

Have you tried eyelet poles? They need neither rings nor hooks, very easy to use and maintain. Pick the ones from metal as they serve much longer. A track need hooks also, so if you try to avoid hooks, pick eyelet poles and curtains👌

My curtains are on hooks that hook onto the rings. The pole is in 3 pieces so the rings get stuck at that point - we bought some special tape to go on the pole but it doesn’t help any more.
The curtains are lined so maybe a bit heavy on the hooks. So the string that the hooks are through stretches and they hang down, looking tatty.
I think tracks are going to be cheaper than replacing the curtains !

Your hooks should not be through the strings
They should be through the pockets in the heading tape.

Yes, as PP said, don't thread through the strings. They are for creating pencil pleating - which will make them look pretty. You need to thread through the pockets in the tape. I'm sure you can find a million YouTube videos on this.

Once you've hung the curtains correctly, they might work better on your poles. Or, the poles aren't put together properly or are faulty/ cheap, as any joins should be quite smooth.

You can also try cleaning the poles with some furniture polish spray on a cloth (an aerosol type like Pledge/ Mr Sheen), as the silicone will make the rings slide more smoothly.