What is the difference between a curtain track and a curtain rod?

Both a track and a rod hold a curtain at the window. They work differently and suit different curtains, so the choice affects the look, how the curtain moves and what it can be made with.

Curtain track

A track is a channel, usually fixed to the ceiling or the wall. Small parts called runners, also called gliders or carriers, slide inside it. Each curtain hook or pendant hangs from a runner. The track is mostly hidden by the curtain, the curtain slides smoothly and the whole line is neat. Many tracks can be bent around corners and bay windows, though not every track profile can, and tracks can be drawn by hand, by a cord or by a motor.

Curtain rod

A rod is a pole, usually metal or wood, held off the wall on brackets. The curtain hangs from rings, eyelets or fabric loops threaded onto it. The rod is part of the look. Rings can catch at brackets and the curtain moves less smoothly than on a track. Rods suit eyelet and tab top curtains and some pleated curtains hung on rings.

Which styles need which

• Wave Fold and S Fold need a track made for the wave. The runner spacing forms the shape, so an ordinary rod with loose rings will not hold it.
• Eyelet and tab top curtains are made for rods.
• Pinch pleat and pencil pleat can hang from a track or from rings on a rod.

Fixing and weight

Both need something solid to fix into. A long track on a plasterboard ceiling needs the installer to find structure behind the board, and a rod needs brackets screwed into a stud or wall fixings that suit the weight. Heavy lined curtains put more load on either one, so the weight of the curtain matters when choosing. Neither is automatically stronger. What matters is what the fixings go into.

Ask your curtain retailer which heading you want and what it needs at your window. Speedy Blinds makes curtains and tracks for retailers.