We bought our new house without any window dressings. Just: walls and windows. I knew I wanted drapes, so I sought out to make almost all the curtains in our entire house. I hand selected everything from the rods to the fabric to the sewing thread. I had an unexpected issue with our telescoping rods, though: the curtain rings wouldn’t glide over the bump from where the smaller rod comes out of the larger rod. I’m talking about this lil guy here:
The Situation
This was driving me NUTS!
The Solution
The Drapery Ring Glide Tape (Amazon link) was made specifically for this issue when you want to stop your curtains from catching on your extendable pole. It’s a thick strip of tape that adheres to the curtain rod. This allows curtain rings to glide easily and smoothly.
Trust me when I say it’s super easy! It would also work for shower curtains as well. There are just three steps on how to fix when your curtain snags on the rod.
Prep
I loosely measure how much tape I need from the 12-foot role by overlaying the tape across the length of the rod. I err on the side of it being too long because it’s fine to cut off excess in the end. On the other hand, it won’t work if you have two pieces butting up against each other as a result of adding more length after the fact.
Open the curtains all the way to one side and start work on the opposite side (the side without the curtain). Wipe the rod clean with the alcohol swab and you’re ready to go!
Step 1
Peel back the red layer on one end of the tape and affix the tape onto the curtain rod. I wouldn’t peel the red backing off all at once; rather, I suggest you peel it back as you stick it down in small sections to minimize the risk that the tape will stick in the wrong place.
Step 2
When you get to the other end where the curtain is, work the tape (still with the red backing!) through the curtain rings and slide the rings across so you have the ability to continue taping down. I cut the loose red backing at this point to make it less work to slide it through.
Step 3
The last step is to double check that the tape is secure. Press along the length of the rod to strengthen the adhesion.
Tip: Go beyond the curtain rod ends when determining the length of the tape you need. If you stop short of taping past the ends, the rings will land beyond where the tape is when you open the curtain, and the rings won’t be able to slide across the rod… which defeats the purpose of having the tape!
The Solve
After you’ve done the above, you will enjoy a smoother, quieter experience!
