Straight answers about curtains, blinds and tracks

Wave Fold and S Fold curtains both hang in a regular, alternating wave, and many retailers use the two names for the same look. At Speedy Blinds they are two headings: Wave Fold hangs on hooks and S Fold hangs on pendants, so the heading construction and the way each connects to the track are different.

Curtain pre training is a factory step that sets a curtain into its intended folds before it is packed. At Speedy Blinds we do it under controlled conditions, so the folds of a Wave Fold, S Fold or eligible pleated curtain have a head start when it is hung. Not every fabric can take it.

Curtains can either clear the floor or puddle. It is a design decision, and neither is wrong. A curtain that clears the floor looks cleaner and is easier to live with and to clean. A puddled curtain is a deliberate look where extra fabric rests on the floor, and it needs more arranging.

Expect linen curtains to show texture, creasing, slubs, yarn variation and some movement in the fabric as temperature and humidity change. These are characteristics of linen, not faults, and they're worth knowing about before you order, not after. Ask your retailer for a sample and the care information for the exact fabric.

More fullness does not make a Wave Fold curtain hang straighter on its own. Extra fullness changes how much fabric is in the curtain, how deep the wave is and how big the stack is when the curtain is open. It can't make a stiff or unsuitable fabric hang straight.

Yes, you can supply your own curtain fabric for suitable curtain work, but it has to come through a retailer. Speedy Blinds makes up approved fabric for retailers, and they need to talk to us before any fabric is sent, so it arrives identified, usable and with enough length for the job.

Group C is a separate Speedy Blinds curtain range with its own construction rules, size limits and tolerance. A Group C curtain is Wave Fold only and made in one continuous drop with no joins, and its manufacturing estimate is three weeks rather than the five business days of the standard range.

A Wave Fold or S Fold curtain hangs in one even wave along a track instead of in sewn pleats. A tape in the heading and spaced runners (gliders) in the track hold the wave. Many retailers use both names for the same look. At Speedy Blinds they are two headings: Wave Fold on hooks, S Fold on pendants.

A Wave Fold or S Fold curtain hangs in one even wave formed by a heading tape and spaced runners (gliders) in the track. A pinch pleat curtain has groups of folds sewn permanently into the heading, with flat fabric between them. The wave reads as simple and modern, pinch pleat as tailored and classic.

Curtain fullness is how much fabric is in a curtain compared with the width of the track it covers. A curtain made with twice the track width in fabric is often called double fullness. More fullness gives deeper, closer folds and a bigger stack when the curtain is open. Less gives a flatter, lighter look.

Sheer curtains filter daylight and give privacy during the day, but not at night with the lights on. Blockout curtains darken the room and give privacy at any hour. Many homes hang both on a double track: the sheer closed by day, the blockout drawn at night.

Lining is a second layer of fabric behind the curtain's face fabric. It blocks or reduces light, shields the face fabric from the sun, adds body so the curtain hangs fuller, and puts an extra layer between the room and the glass. Not every curtain needs one. Sheers are made without it.

A retailer measures the window and sends the order to a workroom. There the order is checked, the fabric is cut to length, widths are joined, the sides and bottom are hemmed, the heading is sewn on, and the finished curtain is inspected, folded and packed for the retailer to install.

Follow the care instructions for your fabric, because fabrics differ. In general, dust or vacuum curtains gently and regularly, deal with marks early by blotting rather than rubbing, keep them dry and aired, and check before you wash, steam or dry clean. The wrong method can shrink or damage a curtain.

Speedy Blinds deducts 5mm from a curtain drop because curtains stretch. We make the curtain 5mm short of the ordered drop so that as the fabric settles under its own weight it comes down towards the length that was asked for. The same 5mm comes off a track width so it fits its opening.

Yes, most curtains drop or stretch a little after they are hung. The fabric relaxes under its own weight over the first weeks after installation, so the curtain hangs slightly longer than on the day it went up. How much depends on the fabric, and heavy fabrics and long drops settle more.

Curtain fabric joins are vertical because a vertical join disappears into a fold, while a horizontal join would run straight across the curtain at eye level, catch the light and carry the hanging weight. Speedy Blinds joins curtain fabric vertically only and doesn't offer horizontal joins at all.

S Fold curtains flick outward at the ends because there is no opposing fold at the edge to hold the last one in shape. The heading tape remembers its curve, and with nothing pulling back against it the tail flicks out and droops a little. It is a characteristic of the system, not a fault.

Pinholes of light along the seams of a blockout curtain are needle holes. Sewing a self lined blockout fabric punches through the blockout coating, so light comes through wherever the stitching runs, most of all in direct sun. A separate blockout lining behind the face fabric conceals them.

Pleated curtains lean forward at the top because a stiff pleat heading sits above soft fabric, with the hook at the back and nothing counterbalancing it at the front. Most of the time the cause is a bent hook, and most of the time an installer can fix it at the window.

A wide roller blind sags in the middle because its tube bows slightly under the weight and tension of the fabric. It is called tube deflection, and the wider the blind, the more of it there is. It can show as V shaped shadowing or faint diagonal lines, and it is normal, not a fault.

Roller blind fabric edges curl because the coating and the base cloth of the fabric pull unevenly at a cut edge and respond differently to temperature and humidity. The edge can curl inward or outward, and on some blinds it gives an hourglass shape down the sides. It is a normal characteristic.

Blockout describes the fabric, not the whole window. The fabric stops light passing through it, but light still gets around the sides, over the top, under the bottom and through needle holes in seams. How much depends on how the curtain or blind is fitted. It is not a fault in the fabric.

A curtain track is planned by working out where the track sits, what it fixes into, how the curtain opens and stacks, and how the finished track will physically get into the room. Your retailer or installer does this planning at the measure, and the finished curtain drop is worked out from it.

A bent curtain track gives one continuous path for the runners (gliders) around a corner, into a wall, around a column or through a bay window, so a curtain can travel the whole way. Speedy Blinds makes each bend from the actual dimensions and angles of the window, or from an approved template.

Hand drawn, cord drawn and motorised curtain tracks each suit different windows. A hand drawn track is simple and flexible. A cord drawn track works from one fixed point and has mandatory safety rules for the cord. A motorised track suits hard to reach windows, heavy use and automation, and needs a motor and power.

A curtain return is an extra fixed section at the end of a curtain, held by its own hook, that carries the fabric back to the wall. It hides the gap between the end of the track and the wall, so less light comes down the side and you don't see behind the curtain.

A runner, also called a glider or carrier, is the small part that slides inside or along a curtain track. Each curtain hook or pendant hangs from one, so the runners carry the curtain's weight and let it open and close. On Wave Fold and S Fold tracks they are also held at a set spacing.

Ceiling fix, also called top fix, means the track is screwed up into the ceiling or the top of a recess. Face fix means it is fixed to the wall or architrave on brackets. Ceiling fix gives a taller, cleaner line. Face fix works where the ceiling can't take a fixing.

A curtain wand, also called a flick stick or draw rod, is a slim rod that hangs from the leading edge of a hand drawn curtain. You hold it to pull the curtain open or closed instead of gripping the fabric. It keeps hands off the curtain and has no cord or chain loop.

Australia has two mandatory national safety standards for blinds and curtains with cords or chains, because a loose loop can strangle a young child. A business that installs one in a home must fit it so that a loose cord cannot form a loop of 220mm or longer at less than 1,600mm above the floor.

No, Speedy Blinds does not measure or install. We are the manufacturer, and we make curtains, curtain tracks and roller blinds for retailers. The retailer handles the consultation, the site measurement, the specification and the installation, so a homeowner should go to the retailer who sold or is quoting their window furnishings.

Speedy Blinds delivers retailers' orders across Melbourne metro in the full range of curtains, curtain tracks and roller blinds, by our own van. Outside Melbourne metro, in regional Victoria and other states, we send curtains only. Tracks and roller blinds aren't shipped beyond metro and are collected from the Thomastown factory instead.

Measure the width the track will cover, not just the glass, and the drop from where the track will sit down to where the curtain should finish. Your own figures are enough for an estimate. The curtains are made from the retailer's final measure, taken at your window once the track position is decided.

The drop is the finished length of a curtain, from the top of the curtain or the track down to the bottom edge. Hem allowances are extra fabric added to that length and folded under at the top and bottom. You agree the finished drop. The maker adds the allowances when cutting.

Stack back is the width a curtain takes up when it is pulled fully open. To keep the glass clear, the track is run past the window so the stack sits on the wall. How much wall that takes depends on the fabric, the heading, the fullness and the track, so there is no single figure.

Ask what the quote includes, which heading, fullness, lining and track it is based on, who takes the final measure, how long it is expected to take, and how the fabric should be cared for. A made to order curtain is made for one window, so it pays to settle the details first.

Blockout fabric stops light passing through and gives full privacy. Light filtering fabric lets soft daylight glow through but hides the room. Sunscreen fabric is an open mesh that cuts glare while keeping the view out by day, but it does not give privacy at night with the lights on.

A chain operated roller blind is simple, needs no power and suits most windows you can reach. A motorised blind has a motor inside the tube, runs from a remote, a wall switch or an app, has no chain loop, and suits high, wide or hard to reach windows. It needs charging or wiring.

Inside the frame, also called recess fit, the blind sits within the window reveal for a neat, built in look, with a gap of light down each side. Outside the frame, also called face fit, the blind sits on the wall or architrave and overlaps the opening, which covers more of the light.

On a back roll blind, the standard way, the fabric comes off the back of the tube and hangs close to the glass. On a front roll blind, also called reverse roll, it comes off the front and hangs further into the room, which clears handles and hides the roll behind the fabric.

Yes, Speedy Blinds is trade only. We manufacture curtains, curtain tracks and roller blinds for window furnishing retailers and installers, and we don't quote, measure, install or sell direct to homeowners. If you're buying for your own home, a retailer is the one to talk to, and we can point you to one.

No, a homeowner can't buy directly from Speedy Blinds. We're the workroom that makes curtains, tracks and roller blinds for retailers, not the shop. But tell us your suburb and what you're after, and we'll put you in touch with a retailer who uses our workroom. They measure, quote and install.

Speedy Blinds products are made at our own factory in Thomastown, in Melbourne's north, in Victoria, Australia. Curtains, curtain tracks and roller blinds are all manufactured there for retailers. The fabrics, motors and hardware that go into them come from suppliers and have their own countries of origin.

Speedy Blinds is fast because of how the factory is built, not because anyone is rushing your job. Efficient machinery, one reliable set of order details that feeds production, and a process that repeats take the waiting, the retyping and the double handling out of making curtains, tracks and roller blinds.

Speedy Blinds' standard manufacturing estimates are five business days for standard curtains and three business days for curtain tracks and roller blinds, counted from when we have the fabric, not from when the order arrives. They are estimates for the workroom only. Your retailer's own timing, with the measure and the installation, is longer.

The Christmas rush stretches curtain and blind lead times from the last week of October through January. Speedy Blinds sets a cut off each year for orders to be made before Christmas and gives the date to retailers. If you want curtains up before Christmas, ask your retailer early and order well before their cut off.

The Made to Spec Guarantee is Speedy Blinds' guarantee to the retailer that what we make will match the order they sent and the manufacturing tolerances we publish for that product. It covers how the curtain, track or blind was made, not the measure or the installation. A homeowner's contact is always their retailer.

Speedy Blinds is called Speedy Blinds because the business was named when blinds were the popular product. Curtains are the focus now, with curtain tracks and roller blinds alongside, and the name stayed. Speedy was never about rushing a job. It describes a factory set up to move.