Help Center

Q: How long with my items take to be delivered?

Normal Lead Time: Soft furnishings Approximately 2 – 4 weeks from receipt of written order subject to fabric availability and manufacturing capacity. Bed Products Approximately 3 – 5 days from receipt of written order – subject to availability. Ready Made Products Approximately 3 – 5 days from receipt of written order – subject to availability. Cubicle Curtains Tracks Approximately 3 – 5 working days. Express services are available on. Cubicle Curtain Tracks and some made to measure soft furnishings.

General

How long with my items take to be delivered?

Normal Lead Time:

Soft furnishings

Approximately 2 – 4 weeks from receipt of written order subject to fabric availability and manufacturing capacity.

Bed Products

Approximately 3 – 5 days from receipt of written order – subject to availability.

Ready Made Products

Approximately 3 – 5 days from receipt of written order – subject to availability.

Cubicle Curtains Tracks

Approximately 3 – 5 working days.

Express services are available on. Cubicle Curtain Tracks and some made to measure soft furnishings.

What are the Child Safety Regulations for Blinds and Window Treatments

Child Safety

Children are naturally curious about their environment, whether their exploring the home or further afield. At Direct Fabrics we understand the potential hazards faced when owning a blind around children.

That's why we believe that it's so important for a child's world to be kept safe and secure. All of our blinds either have a cord-free mechanism or come with a safety device in line with the latest European regulations, and will be supplied with all made to measure blinds as standard.

It's now illegal to supply or professionally install an internal window blind which doesn't comply with the new child safety requirements. Blinds fully compliant with BS EN 13120:2009+A1:2014 are confirmed as 'safe by design', and this standard applies to all blinds fitted in all rooms in every home, regardless of whether children are present or not.

If you are due to visit a prospective client who is contemplating buying a new window covering for a child's room, then you should strongly advise them to consider designs that work without cords or chains, as follows:

Roller blinds with slow rise spring mechanism
Crank operated Roller blinds - with removable crank handle
Electrically-operated Roller blinds
Vertical blinds with wand control operation
Curtain tracks for either hand draw operation or electric

This does not just apply to the home environment however! All areas open to the public should adhere to the same guidelines to ensure that they comply with the new standard. We suggest that you ask your client to complete a risk assessment form to inform you whether you have to provide internal blinds which are compliant with child safety standards.

Although following the introduction of the new legislation in February 2014, all new made to measure blinds are to be supplied with a child safety device, why not offer to check all other window coverings in the building for child safety compliance? In any room with a shading solution already in place, designs with cords or chains must be secured with a child safety device whether or not children are living there. This is a preventative measure due to the possibility of young ones visiting the home / property at any time in the future.

How to Calculate Curtain Weight?

(Flat measurement of curtains x drop of curtains) * square metre weight of fabric. Example Regency flame retardant velvet curtains, fabric weight 363gm per square metre, plus lining 200gms per square metre. Thus circa 563 grams per square. Metre.
flat curtain measurement 1000cm, drop of 300cm. Thus 30 sqm of fabric. Total weight is 30sqm x 0.563kg = 16.89kg.

What is Acoustic Absorbtion

Acoustic absorption refers to the process by which a material, structure, or object takes in sound energy when sound waves are encountered, as opposed to reflecting the energy. Part of the absorbed energy is transformed into heat and part is transmitted through the absorbing body.

Will my room be totally blackout with a blackout fabric?

Although a fabric is blackout doesnt mean the room will be totally blackout. You will get seepage around your blinds which means light will enter your space. The light into the room will be greatly reduced. But you will still get light in a room.

See the image below of our blackout roller blinds

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Flame Retardant Products

Are my products certified for use in a public place?

We have chosen our fabrics because they are certified to British Standards for flame retardant products. These are all certified for use in public spaces in the UK. Obviously it is worth speaking with your fire officer in case you think they may require special product requirements. But our flame retardant curtain fabrics are certified to BS5867 Part 2B or 2C, Bedding to BS7175 and our upholstery to BS5852.

What are my Curtain Lining Options

We offer a range of linings for your curtains. These are offered with all the curtains we manufacture and you can choose the option based on the finish of curtains that you require. The main thing to understand is what you are trying to achieve, then you can select the best choice for what you are doing.

Here are some ideas of what you are trying to do

Domestic Curtains or Hotel Curtains - Usually a blackout lining to stop light entering a room and to make the room dark
Hospital Curtains ro salon cubicle curtains - Unlined and combined with a dimout material so reduce light inherently
Room dividers our acoustic bonded blackout lining - reduce sound transfer, blackout and also thermal.
All lining options from Direct Fabrics are flame retardant certified to BS5867 and can be used in commercial environments.

All of our curtain linings are flame retardant to British Standards and can be used in contract enviroments

Curtain Lining Range

Unlined Curtains

Unlined Curtains are a good option if you are looking for a low cost option. If the fabric is dimout or blackout it will provide you with a good amount of shading for the rooms with these curtains, dimout will be 90%+ and blackout with a 3 pass coating will be 100% blackout. Obviously depending where the track is located it will depend how much light will come through.

Polyester Light Weight Lining

Standard polyester fr lining is a low cost option that provides extra fullness and helps your curtains drape better. The Polyester lining can be washed 50 times and is inherently flame retardant. It will provide additional shade on standard fabrics and on dimout and blackout fabrics it is used to add a more luxurious feel. But remember that your washing needs to be to the minimum of the face fabric and the lining.

Blackout Curtain Lining

3 Pass blackout lining is totally blackout and will not let any light through the material. This is our ideal choice for all curtains as it makes a room have no light come through the curtain. Certified to BS5867 Part2B so can be washed 10 times. The 3 pass coating is very hard wearing and provides a thermal benefit aswell as making your curtain drape better

Acoustic Blackout Lining Fleece Flame Retardant Lining Ivory

This lining adds extra weight to your curtains and is a thermal blackout Lining , a very heavy weight full lining that is an interlined option with the 3 pass blackout lining attached. The acoustic fleece blackout is an excellent acoustical absorber and will improve room acoustics and will also block sound entering and leaving your space. This has been acoustically tested to 9db as a room divider on its own and when combined with a face fabric will do even more.

Do I get a certificate to show my products are flame retardant?

All our flame retardant products have certification that is available. Please email the team through the contact form at the top of the website to get a copy certificate.

You will get a certificate showing that the product complies with British Standards for flame retardancy depending on the products it will be;

BS5867 - Flame Retardant Curtains

BS7175 - Flame Retardant Bedding

BS5852 - Flame Retardant Upholstery

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Made to Measure Curtains

What are the different curtain heading options?

Please read this style guide for useful for information on heading choices for your curtains. You can go through our guide for choosing which heading style will work best in your room. They are in order of price with pencil pleat curtains being the lowest cost followed by eyelets, pinch pleats and finally goblet.

Pencil Pleat Heading

Pencil pleat is the traditional style of curtain heading that is a used in most windows and gives a lovely finish. You have the flexibility from the stitched in curtain tape which allows you to alter the height above your track and pole.

Eyelet Curtains Heading

A modern finish which the pole slots through the curtains, this means you can a lovely feature of your pole with a contrast of the metal against the curtain fabric.
2 Options Available

Standard 44mm Eyelets for 28mm & 35mm Pole
66mm Eyelets for 40mm+ poles can be opted for by contacting the team

Pinch Pleat Curtain Heading

A traditional heading style that looks grand in any setting.

Wave Curtain Heading

Modern and elegant curtain heading either in a 60mm deep pleat or 80mm.

Which Size Curtain Eyelet do i need for my poles?

When you use eyelet curtains on your eyelet curtain poles. You want to have space for the eyelet to glide across the curtain pole.

We suggest using the following dimater eyelets with the following poles

Eyelet Size	Pole Diameter
44mm	19mm 28mm, 35mm Max
66mm	50mm Poles

How much space will my curtains take up when stacking back

Stacking varies depending on heading, between 15-25% of the track width....

What is Curtain Fullness & What Fullness will my Curtains be?

Curtain Fullness – This is the amount of fabric that is used to cover the width of your curtain track or pole. Depending how much flat fabric you have covering your curtain track will mean when it is gathered up you will have more fullness or pleats.

Direct Fabrics uses 2x the track width rounded to the nearest width of fabric for the amount of fullness in curtains, this is 100% of fullness.

If you want to read more see our curtain fullness guide

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Cubicle Curtain Rails

How to install cubicle tracks on suspended ceilings?

The Direct Fabrics cubicle curtain track can be installed easily to the a suspended ceiling using a noggin and some screws. By spreading the weight across the grid with a noggin the track can be installed securely and safely. Always check the weight restrictions of the false ceiling grid..

installing cubicle track to suspended ceiling

How to Install Cubicle Curtain Tracks?

Latest information on how to install the cubicle curtain track can be seen here

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Acoustics

Will my curtains stop sound as a Room partition / Room Divider?

- This is an excellent use of our acoustic curtains. standard acoustic herringbone fabric with duo lining is well suited to reduce sound passing from space to space at about 7db, combing this with our vinyl will get you approximately 10db.

https://www.direct-fabrics.co.uk/curtains/acoustic

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Measuring

How to Measure for Curtains and Blinds?

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Blinds

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Installation

How to Install Curtain Rails & Blinds into Plaster Board

The secret to a curtain rail or blind staying in place for years to come is the fixings, Using quality fixings enables you to rest assured that a window shading solution stays up and sturdy for a lifetime.

For a strong fixing using the hollow wall anchors that grip the back of the plasterboard. Provides a very strong fixing, but always speak to your builder or carpenter for their recommendation