Best way to close blackout curtains in centre

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Paul1977

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#280329 9-Dec-2020 10:01

We have some centre closing blackout curtains, and it's pretty much impossible to get them to sit without a fair bit of lighting entering through the centre. I'm sure other members have probably dealt with this, so looking for ideas.

I immediately thought magnets, but not sure if a series of individual magnets in the side seams would be best, or just insert a long strip of magnetic tape into the side seams? We'd want them to be strong enough so they clip together on their own, but not so strong that we can't easily pull them open again as you would with normal curtains.

The curtains are manually pulled open and shut, not on cords, if that makes a difference.

Would also be interested in any other suggestions.

Thanks

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#2618491 9-Dec-2020 10:13

You can get a bracket doohickey that goes on the curtain rail at the leading edge of one curtain to create an overlap.

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GRISDALE

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#2618493 9-Dec-2020 10:17

I hope someone has a good solution, this is a problem for me too.

In my old house my curtain rails came with a metal lightning bolt shaped piece that you put the first few plastic curtain clips for one of the sides through so then it made that curtain overlap the other one.

I was wondering if I could buy this piece separately to add to my existing rail but I don't know what its called, I tried searching for an overlap curtain thingy with no luck.

GRISDALE

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#2618496 9-Dec-2020 10:18

BlueShift:

You can get a bracket doohickey that goes on the curtain rail at the leading edge of one curtain to create an overlap.

OMG this is the thing I want, any idea what this is called?

Stu

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#2618500 9-Dec-2020 10:26

An overlap arm? We've had it with a couple of track systems over the years. There's also this option with some track systems.

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Paul1977

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#2618558 9-Dec-2020 11:01

It currently has overlap arms. These are usually only used on corded curtains, but we specifically had them added.

But even with the overlap a surprising amount of light "filters" through the gap since one curtain sits in front of the other but a good 10mm.

Paul1977

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#2618561 9-Dec-2020 11:10

Stu:

There's also this option with some track systems.

An overlapping track like that would be better tha overlap arms as you can have a bigger overlap - but that would require new tracks and new (longer) curtains.

These are new tracks and new curtains, and we thought the overlap arm would be sufficient. So we're after a solution that doesn't require the expense of new tracks or new curtains, that's why I'm thinking to remove the existing overlap arms and magnetize the seams instead if there is a good way to do it.

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Paul1977

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#2618563 9-Dec-2020 11:16

GRISDALE:

BlueShift:

You can get a bracket doohickey that goes on the curtain rail at the leading edge of one curtain to create an overlap.

OMG this is the thing I want, any idea what this is called?

@GRISDALE we've found the overlap looks nicer than the curtains just meeting in the middle, but they don't fully prevent the problem of light bleed. Also these don't always slide as freely on a non-corded curtain, which is probably why they don't come on hand drawn curtains. Just a couple of things to bear in mind before going down this route.

shk292

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#2618566 9-Dec-2020 11:19

How about keeping the overlap but also adding magnets - to the seam of the overlapping curtain and to the appropriate point in the curtain behind it? That would reduce the light ingress but still look good

nitro

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#2618574 9-Dec-2020 11:27

BlueShift:

You can get a bracket doohickey that goes on the curtain rail at the leading edge of one curtain to create an overlap.

need a few of these, too... where can i get one from?

Paul1977

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#2618584 9-Dec-2020 11:50

shk292:

How about keeping the overlap but also adding magnets - to the seam of the overlapping curtain and to the appropriate point in the curtain behind it? That would reduce the light ingress but still look good

I think doing on the seams on both will be easier - hoping might be as easy as creating a slit at the top of the curtain and just slide it in (but when is anything ever that easy?).

We have double tracks with the blackout nearest the glass, and a shear on the front track. The shears will still have an overlap arm for aesthetics on the front, so I don't think it matters on the back as long as it blocks the light. If I orient the magnets correctly the they should still overlap the thickness of the side seam when they stick together.

I was hoping another member might have done something similar who could provide pointers on what works and what doesn't, but if not then I'll have to (carefully) experiment and report back.

Paul1977

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#2618591 9-Dec-2020 12:01

nitro:

need a few of these, too... where can i get one from?

The curtain suppliers sourced them for us, but I think it was a matter of them testing various ones to see which would fit the track. The tracks we got didn't have a corded option, and so didn't have a specific part that would work.

As per my previous post - because the arm sits out in front of the rail with the weight of the curtain pulling it down on an angle, it can make them harder to pull across when used on hand drawn curtains (they can get a little stuck until you give them a bit of a tug). A bit hard to explain - not a problem when they are corded, but a bit of a nuisance when they're hand drawn.

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BlueShift

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#2618673 9-Dec-2020 14:18

Paul1977:

It currently has overlap arms. These are usually only used on corded curtains, but we specifically had them added.

But even with the overlap a surprising amount of light "filters" through the gap since one curtain sits in front of the other but a good 10mm.

Can you bend the tip of the overlap inwards a bit to reduce the gap?

Also - curtain drawing rods may be your friend...

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Paul1977

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#2618822 9-Dec-2020 17:04

BlueShift:

Can you bend the tip of the overlap inwards a bit to reduce the gap?

Also - curtain drawing rods may be your friend...

Bending might do a little, but not much. The hooks on the back still need to clear the front of the curtain behind. And how the fabric seems to always fall, we get more light lower down than we do at the top any way.

Curtain drawing wands would almost certainly make opening and closing smoother... but I hate how they look and refuse to have them!!!! This isn't something I'm not overly concerned about myself, I just wanted to point it out to others looking at getting overlap bars on hand drawn curtains in case it might be an issue for them.

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#2619949 11-Dec-2020 10:27

Change the tension of the 'leading edge' of the front Curtain.

Curtains have tensioning threads, along the top section where the clips go.
Move the 1st clip back 1inch, from the edge of the Curtain, so there is some 'float' at the front edge, then pull the tensioning strings, this will make that leading edge 'curl' slightly around the overlap bracket - and should seal off your light bleed quite nicely.

Paul1977

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#2620050 11-Dec-2020 11:40

concordnz: Change the tension of the 'leading edge' of the front Curtain.

Curtains have tensioning threads, along the top section where the clips go.
Move the 1st clip back 1inch, from the edge of the Curtain, so there is some 'float' at the front edge, then pull the tensioning strings, this will make that leading edge 'curl' slightly around the overlap bracket - and should seal off your light bleed quite nicely.

Thanks, I'll have a look at that.

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