If you need to hang long or heavy drapes, you can increase the strength of your curtain rod or traverse rod by ordering a telescoping rod with a minimum width near your window size.
For instance, for a 48" window, order a telescoping rod that fits a 48" to 84" window and you'll double-up the rod thickness making for a studier rod.
Traverse Curtain Rods are used when you want to open or close your drapery. Your pinch-pleat drapery attaches to the Traverse Curtain Rod using drapery hooks and the Traverse Carriers open or close your drapery.
When draperies draw from the middle to the right and left of the Traverse Curtain Rod, it is called Split Draw (or Center Draw).
Split Draw is the most common type of Traverse Curtain Rod.
Split Draw rods can also carry more drapery weight and are easier to draw open or closed because two pulleys are involved in the traverse action.
Split Draw rods are also easily transformed to one-way draw rods by removing the 2nd Master Carrier and making a few minor adjustments.
When a drapery bunches up (or stacks) only on the right side of the window, it is hanging from a One-Way Draw Stack Right Traverse Curtain Rod.
There are several reasons that you might want to use a one-way draw rod. The most common reason to use a one-way draw Traverse Curtain Rod is that there's an obstacle in the way on the other side. The obstacle may be a chair, sofa, or even a wall.
Make sure you have enough room on the right side for your drapery to stack. You can learn more about Drapery Stack under Drapery Considerations.
Don't forget, one-way draw rods are harder to open and close if they're very long or if they are carrying a heavy drapery.
The only difference between a one-way left Traverse Curtain Rod and a one-way right Traverse Curtain Rod is that the drapery stack and cords are on the left side.
You would most likely select a one-way draw left Traverse Curtain Rod because there is an obstacle on the right side of the window.
You may also need to select a one-way draw Traverse Curtain Rod if you have an unusually wide window and need to use two traverse rods; like a one-way draw left and one-way draw right rod butting against one another in the center.
Again, keep in mind that one-way draw rods are more difficult to open or close if they are long or carrying a heavy drapery.
In some situations, you may need two Traverse Curtain Rods to hang in the same window. For instance, you may want to open and close sheers and open and close your drapery panels at different times. In order to do this, you can hang a double traverse rod.
Or, if you want a stationary valance in front of a set of sheers or drapery panels, you can choose to hang a Combo Curtain And Traverse Rod.
When shopping for Kirsch drapery hardware, figuring out the correct draw for the curtain rod seems to be confusing to customers. A good rule of thumb to remember when determining the draw of the traverse rod is to position yourself inside your room facing your window first. Then decide where you want your drapery to stack, or gather, when it's closed. If you want your drapery to stack on the right side of your window, the you want a one-way draw right. But, should you need the drapery to stack on the left side of your window, then you'll want to get a one-way draw left. Don't forget, you should determine the stack side as if you were inside your room looking at your window.
The most common type of traverse curtain rod is a split draw which is often called a center draw. These style rods open from the center outward and your drapery will stack on both the left side and right side of your window. Just think of a stage curtain at movies that opens to both sides to reveal the screen.
When you decide what style draw you need on your curtain rod, make sure to think about any obstacles that are near you window like a television, sofa or doorway. You may need to order a one-way draw if a piece of furniture is in the way on the opposite side of your traverse rod. And, obstacles may influence which side of the curtain rod you want your pull cord to hang on. It's really easy to change which side of the rod the cord hangs on by drawing your drapery to its closed position and pulling the loose cord through to the other side.
Kirsch curtain rods are some of the strongest traverse curtain rods you can buy. Kirsch has two collections of drapery rods available that open and close with cords, Superfine and Empire. Kirsch Superfine traverse rods are heavy duty curtain rods with a patented baked enamel finish that means they'll stand up to years of operation. And, Empire traverse rods from Kirsch are made for lighter weight draperies. Both of these Kirsch curtain rod collections are available for any draw style and window size.