Cartridge Pleat Curtains

Cartridge pleat curtains are excellent for curtains made in large or distinctive patterns because they are not very full and so curtains lies flatter, making the pattern easier to read.

Giving a much more contemporary feel to the curtains, cartridge pleats have the added advantage of being very thrifty with cloth as they are made at approximately 1.3 times fullness, rather than the 2 or 2.2 of more conventional headings.

Cartridge pleat headings work best when hung from a pole rather than a track and the curtains are best when hanging below the pole.

Measuring for Cartridge Pleat curtains

With curtain poles already in place

We require:

  1. the pole width excluding finials
  2. the length from the bottom of the pole to where you would like the curtain to finish with 1cm deducted – this will be the finished length of the curtain.

With curtain poles not in place

Cartridge pleat curtains work best hung on curtain poles. We would strongly advise that the curtain poles are in position before you measure for curtains. It is disappointing to have your curtains made up and then to realise that your pole cannot be fitted where you had planned. A dicey bit of wall, steel lintels etc can all make fitting the pole unpredictable. With pole in position when you measure, your curtains will then be properly ‘made to measure’.

We would recommend that the pole be 30 – 44cms wider that the window (15-22cm either side). If space is limited on one or both sides ‘recess’ brackets may be a consideration; some of the curtain poles that we stock can be supplied with recess brackets, please enquire.

We would recommend that the bottom of the pole is between 6 & 12cms above the top of the window depending on the space available.

With pole in position, follow the measuring instructions above.

Fitting Instructions

  1. Your curtains will already have pin hooks in place; one on each pleat.
  2. Hang your curtains up, removing any rings not required.
  3. The curtains should hang below the pole, but minor adjustments to the length (1cm or so either way) can be made by repositioning the curtain hooks – just make sure that when repining the pin hooks you go through the ‘buckram’ (stiffening) in the curtain heading, the lining alone is not  is strong enough to hold the weight of the curtain.

Top Tip 1

If your pole or track is ‘sticky’ to pull get some silicone spray – spray it on a cloth and then rub all over the pole/track and the rings/sliders (‘Pledge’ furniture polish has quite a lot of silicone in it which makes it just as good for wooden poles if you have some in the cupboard – do spray it on a cloth first).

Top Tip 2

If after a couple of years your curtains stop ‘stacking’ nicely as they did when they were new, just take a bit of time to arrange the pleats how you want them and then tie some bands of cloth or polythene around them, leave for a couple of days then untie & they should be retrained.

See our information page for curtain care instructions.