Finishing Touches specifies heavy duty curtain poles for velvet and interlined curtains because fabric weight, fullness and long-term load stress demand more than decorative hardware. This guide explains how to select pole diameters, brackets and fixings that carry real curtain mass without sagging, bowing, or wall failure. If you are asking, ‘how much weight can a curtain pole hold?’, this is where correct specification starts.
- Why velvet and interlined curtains require heavy duty poles.
- Typical velvet curtain weights in gsm and kilograms per linear metre.
- How interlining alters load, drape, and long-term shape retention.
- Lining choices that increase performance without destabilising the pole.
Velvet is known for its luscious visual softness, but it is a mechanically demanding window treatment. Once hung at proper fullness, it becomes a sustained load system rather than a decorative textile. Heavy duty poles exist to manage that load across time so you have a trouble-free interior decor solution.
Slim or decorative rods might save cents in the short term but will fail in predictable ways:
- Gradual bowing
- Bracket rotation
- Fixings loosening under cyclic movement
- Eventual pull-out from the wall
The pole diameter, wall bracket depth and fixing method work together as a single structural assembly. Underspecify one component and the entire system weakens.
Understanding Velvet Curtain Weight in Real Terms
Fabric weight is your first indicator of load pressure:
- Velvet curtain fabrics commonly range from 300–400 gsm, with premium or dense velvets reaching 490–550 gsm.
- Add a standard cotton or polycotton lining at approximately 122–128 gsm and the mass increases immediately.
- Using a typical furnishing width of 1.37 metres, velvet with standard lining weighs roughly 0.72–0.93 kilograms per linear metre before headings, hems or fullness are added.
These numbers matter because the pole does not carry fabric weight evenly.
How Interlining Changes Load & Aesthetics
Interlining shifts the curtain from flexible, flowing handle to structural, sumptuous aesthetic. Bump or domette interlining adds roughly 220–260 gsm between the face fabric and lining. This pushes finished velvet curtains beyond 1.0 kilogram per linear metre in many installations.
Interlining improves thermal performance, light control and acoustic buffering, but its most visible effect is on shape retention. Folds hold their line, hems resist flaring and the curtain settles into a defined, eternally elegant fall.
That improvement needs special attention: higher sustained load on the pole and greater leverage at bracket points. This is where lightweight poles shudder and fail.
Lining Options and Their Structural Implications
Lining selection changes more than light control:
- Standard sateen linings stabilise velvet and protect the face fabric from UV exposure.
- Dim-out linings soften daylight without full blackout while adding moderate weight.
- Blockout linings increase mass significantly and stiffen the curtain, raising load stress.
- Thermal linings improve insulation but often introduce bulk that magnifies the downward force.
Each choice feeds back into pole diameter, bracket spacing and fixing strategy.
Hardware That Carries the Load Safely
Heavy duty poles rely on steel brackets with solid backplates, adequate projection and correct spacing. For velvet and interlined curtains at these loads, 32 mm and 34 mm pole diameters provide the stiffness needed to prevent visible sagging over time and sufficiently spread the load.
Bracket placement must follow the wall structure:
- Timber framing requires direct fixing into studs using coach screws.
- Brick or concrete requires rated masonry anchors matched to hole depth and substrate strength.
- Centre brackets will reduce the pole deflection on long runs and limit rotational stress at end brackets.
- For maximum stability with heavy fabrics, space brackets every 60cm, with a maximum of 90cm.
Building regulations SANS 10400-B (Structural Design) and SANS 10400-K (Walls) require loads to be safely transferred to the structure.
Specify heavy duty curtain poles correctly with Finishing Touches and avoid sagging and costly rework.