How do you hang up curtains that don't have rings built-in to allow them to be attached to a pole?

[RinglessCurtains]

My DD recently bought a set of curtains from Dunelm. When she got them home and opened them up, she noticed that the curtains didn't have any rings (eyelets) in them allowing them to be hung up on a pole. She subsequently decided to return them to the store on the basis that they aren't fit for the purpose they were purchased for - to be hung up on a pole, like every other set of curtains I have seen in my several decades of life. There was no way to know that these were ringless curtains based on the packaging. She said she just assumed they would have the rings, as every other set of curtains she has seen in people's houses (or owned herself) has had them. There was also no gap in the top of the curtains to allow a pole to slide through them.

The thought has since occurred to me - how are you supposed to hang them up if they don't have rings or a gap in for the pole to go through? Do you stick them on to the pole with velcro? Clothes pegs? Superglue? None of those suggestions seems appealing to me, and the pegs in particular would look ridiculous I imagine.

My take-away from this thread is that curtains are a hell of a lot more complicated than I would have initially thought. I always assumed they are quite a simple thing. You buy them, you hang them up on a pole. Easily done. Didn't know there are so many different types and methods of hanging them up! 😁

I’ve heard it all now 😂

did they have heading tape? You gather the curtains up, attach hooks then attach to the rail which has hoops on it. I’ve never bought eyelet curtains, I prefer those with heading tape

There's two main types of curtains, pencil pleat and eyelet. I'm actually amazed that neither of you know at least that info.
Personally I prefer eyelet as there's less to go wrong (ever pulled the cord on a pencil pleat too hard so it snaps?)

Come on people, this isn't real.

Shaking my head in disbelief

Yeah. I have a similar level of knowledge regarding curtain fittings. I didn't go out of my way to acquire it...

Bet the staff had a giggle once she’d left 😂

Did she not notice the different types of curtains when she was looking? How old is she? I like the ones with the big metal eyelets that go directly on the pole as you reference. This is mainly because I was not allowed them when I lived with my parents as they like the kind with curtain hooks and tracks.

At the point the hooks pass through the material it has multiple folds (don't forget the lining) and is incredibly thick & strong. The hook passes through rear layers and is not visible from the front.

Our current ones (8ft tall, heavy material c/w blackout lining) have been up 4yrs and show no sign of damage (took them down last week for decorating).
Had similar curtains at our previous house for 10yrs with no issues whatsoever. All Dunelm M2M.

M2M, @Nourishinghandcream? So they made them especially for you and put no tape on? I live and learn.

I have M2M triple pleat curtains but they do have tape.

Looks like they aren't rings attached to the pole, either!

You do know that curtains other than with an eyelet header exist, don't you?

Sweet 😄

Unsure if this is a serious thread but have you never seen curtains hung on a track with curtain hooks???? When buying curtains you need to check the fitting.

I've always had curtains with tape rather than eyelets and have always hung them on a pole with rings rather than a curtain track, so I think of this as the normal way to hang curtains rather than 'a way round it'. Curtain tracks are ugly and old-fashioned and most curtain poles come with rings ready to put the hooks though.

if the hooks went through the material itself the curtains wouldn’t last long.

Mine are over 25 years old and perfect. The hooks don't penetrate the fabric as such but go into the space where the pleats are sewn together to create the pinch pleat. This style is quite common in other countries and tend to be used for expensive hand made curtains.

No, we specified the type of pleat from the standard options but that was it. Wanting a tape (or not) never came into it.

The material at the top of the curtain is folded over for almost the full depth of the pleat (4-5 inches) so along with the lining, this means there are 4-layers of material and the top of the curtain is very stiff. The hooks pass through the (rearmost) folds of material near the pleats meaning it holds it shape perfectly.
All done as per the Dunelm fitting guides supplied at the time, the (sharp) metal hooks also come as standard with the curtains.

I guess if you’ve never seen traditionally styled curtains, you’ve never seen them !!

It’s unusual, but people have all kinds of families, upbringing and life circumstances.

xx

Amusing

Agreed, @Nourishinghandcream Pinch-pleat pin-hooks. We have them on our curtains. They’ve been up for years and so far, so good.

We've also had curtains with header tape as described upthread. it’s just a different style, albeit perhaps one that’s more traditional. You can also hang curtains that are essentially just pieces of fabric by buying curtain rings for the pole, then getting clips to attach the fabric.

I suppose it’s possible that OP's DD had never seen any of these types of curtains….🤔

I would say that there's a pretty even split of curtains in Dunelm with either eyelets (as your daughter wanted) or header tape, which require the purchase of hooks. I'm sure they must have had a good laugh in Dunelm when she took them back and declared them "unfit for purpose".
I can't believe that you've never come across this type of curtain before.
Maybe 2 minutes on Google will educate you both for future reference.

Not all houses are suitable for curtain poles so have to use a track, our bay window only fits a track easily as there is no room for a pole. Even when I use a pole, I hang the ones with heading tape from them.

You can also buy - from Amazon and elsewhere - curtain rings with spring clips attached. Said clips can be attached to any kind of fabric at all, so no heading tape is required.

I'm guessing this may have been a wind-up post (why else use a new username?).
Post a silly question then sit back and watch the fun with no intention of coming back, is happening a lot.