Posted on

How to hang pinch pleat or goblet pleat second-hand curtains

How to hang pinch or goblet pleat second-hand curtains

When you buy pinch pleat or goblet pleat second-hand curtains from us there is some ‘stuff’ you need to know. The first thing is to buy curtains that are wider than you need if you want them to look great. This is because stretching the curtains to meet when you close them is not a good look. It is much better if the curtains have additional width so they look more relaxed when drawn closed.

However when you receive your curtains the next tricky step is to insert the hooks that we send you with the curtains. These hooks are evil monsters that need to be treated a bit carefully! Each hook resembles a squashed ‘s’ shape with a blunt end and a very sharp end. The sharp end is what you need to insert into the back of the pinch pleat or goblet pleat header. In order to do this grab a pleat in one hand and insert the hook up into the pleat at the back.

Tracks and Poles for second-hand curtains

Make sure all the hooks are at the same height or the curtains will look odd when you hang them. The height at which you insert the hooks depends on whether you are using a track or pole. If you are using a pole then do you want to see the pole above the curtains or not. If the answer is yes then insert the hook near the top of the pleat or further down if you want the pole to be hidden.

Getting this right will add greatly to your sense of enjoyment of your ‘new’ second-hand curtains. The hooks aren’t really evil monsters, they just look like it when you open the jiffy bag! Treat them with care and all will be well and so will your curtains.

If you think further reading would help then where better than this great article in House & Garden magazine.

If you have any questions relating to this guide or anything else please contact us on 07976 945697. Alternatively please use the Contact Us Form to send us a message.

Alternatively if you would like us to sell curtains for you just click here to find about how we do this.

Posted on

Understanding the ‘Best Width’ of second-hand curtains

Second-hand curtains that have either pinch pleats, goblet pleats or even taped pencil pleats have a definable fixed width. This is based on the measurements taken of the tops of each curtain and this width is not easily altered.

If you have a window that is 180 cms wide you should not be looking for a pair of curtains of the same width. This means the curtains will have to be stretched tight to be fully closed which is not a good look. Far better to have some give in the drawn curtains as they look relaxed and therefore hang much better.

In addition, most customers buying second-hand curtains would want their curtains to hang beyond the window to not take away light. This means that your track or pole should probably be at least 20 cms wider each side of the window. In the example above of the 180 cms window this means that the track or pole should be approximately 220+ cms.

The introduction of Best Width for second-hand curtains

When we advertise second-hand curtains on our site we don’t talk about window size. Instead we talk about the width of the track/pole that you would need. For curtains with pinch pleats, goblet pleats or fixed tape pencil pleats, we therefore came up with the idea of giving you a ‘best width’ for the curtains and decided on reducing the total width measurements by 15 cms less to allow for a better look. So for the example above where the width of the track or pole is 220 cms you would be looking for curtains at least 235 cms wide. This is why we give you the ‘best width’ and the total width.

This concept does not apply to normal pencil pleat curtains as we measure the ungathered bottom width of one curtain. This measurement then translates to the maximum width the pair will fit as one ungathered curtain approximately equates to two gathered curtains.