Use clear packing tape to wrap the dowel and curtain rod.
Standard metal curtain rods bend over time under the weight of curtains. Instead of incurring the expense of replacing the curtain rods, make a quick repair with a wooden dowel rod and clear packing tape. Curtains with rod pockets will completely conceal the repair, and tab curtains can be arranged so the tabs cover the repair. Fixing a bending curtain rod will prolong the life of the curtain rod. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Climb a stepladder to reach the curtain rod, if necessary. Lift the rod, at both ends, away from the brackets attached to the wall, ceiling or window frame. Standard metal curtain rods have two halves. The smaller half slides into the larger half of the curtain rod, allowing the rod to expand to fit windows of different sizes. Take care to avoid adjusting the length of the curtain rod. During this repair, the rod needs to stay exactly the same length that it needs to be when reinstalled onto the brackets.
2. Push the curtains away from the bent section of the rod. Don't remove the curtains. Bend the curtain rod in the opposite direction to straighten it as much as possible.
3. Position the wooden dowel behind the metal rod. Standard metal rods have folded edges with a hollow area between the back top and back bottom edges. Nestle the dowel in this hollow area.
4. Holding the dowel behind the rod, mark the dowel with a pencil at the starting and stopping points of the bent section of the rod. Measure 2 inches to the right and to the left of the bent section marks. Make a mark at each place on the dowel. These are the cutting marks.
5. Saw through the dowel at the cutting marks from Step 4.
6. Measure and cut three pieces of clear packing tape, each one 5 inches long.
7. Nestle the cut dowel into the hollow portion of the rod. If you're using a cafe rod (a straight, rounded rod that slides into itself but has no hollow portion behind it), align the dowel behind the cafe rod as evenly as possible to reduce visibility of the dowel. Hold the dowel in place.
8. Wrap the tape around the curtain rod and the dowel behind it at each cutting mark and in the center of the dowel. Overlap the tape for extra support.
9. Pull the curtains gently over the repaired curtain rod. You might have to ease the rod pocket over the repaired area if the rod pocket is snug because of the added dowel. Reinstall the curtain rod onto the wall brackets.
Tags: dowel behind, bent section, clear packing, clear packing tape, curtain rods, packing tape