Bamboo curtain rods are an attractive and unique decorating idea for window treatments. Not only is bamboo beautiful, it is considered an eco-friendly product.
Benefits of Bamboo
Whenever you have the chance to use a product made from bamboo in your home, you should take advantage of it. The reason for this is because bamboo is a very eco-friendly product. It is a highly renewable resource because of how rapidly it grows and how many different environments it can grow in.
Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet. Some species can grow as fast as 1 meter per day. Bamboo is extremely versatile and adaptable and can grow easily in many different ecosystems. It is beneficial to the environment it grows in because it uses high amounts of carbon dioxide, a common greenhouse gas, while producing large amounts of oxygen. Bamboo is a natural cellulose fiber, needing only microorganisms and sunlight to break down and return to the Earth. This makes bamboo is a 100% biodegradable product.
Bamboo grows abundantly in many rural areas that are economically challenged. The use of bamboo products helps support the economy and helps preserve the culture of these rural communities.
Using Bamboo Curtain Rods
You can buy curtain rods that are made from bamboo, usually in one or two inch diameters. However, make sure you read the description carefully, before you buy. Some bamboo curtain rods are not actually made out of real bamboo. These rods are made out of other types of wood and resin and are painted to look like real bamboo.
The other option is to make your own bamboo curtain rods. This can be done by buying bamboo poles and cutting them to the size you need.
There are two types of bamboo poles you can use to make curtain rods, solid bamboo and hollow bamboo. Solid bamboo is not completely solid. Instead, it is a very thick walled type of bamboo. This bamboo does not split easily and is commonly used as a construction material for homes in the Far East, and it is used to make furniture. The nodes are very prominent in these bamboo poles, and they are not perfectly straight.
Hollow bamboo is the most common. The poles tend to be straight, however, this type of bamboo is prone to splitting. Bamboo is a tropical plant, which makes it better suited for humid climates. In dry, arid climates the bamboo is more likely to split.
Bamboo is a grass plant, therefore, it is always thickest at the bottom and gets thinner as it nears the top of the plant. You should expect some variations in the diameter of a bamboo pole. Hollow bamboo is much more consistent in its diameter than solid bamboo. The size of bamboo pole recommended for curtain rods is 1.7 to 1.9 inch hollow Tonkin or 2 to 2.5 inch Moso bamboo. Bamboo poles can be spliced together to make a longer pole. If a crack does occur, you can turn it towards the wall to make it less noticeable.
You can pre-drill holes in bamboo poles if you need to screw it to the brackets. Two inch drapery rod finials can be attached to the pole. You will need to cut off the screw on the end and attach the finial to the bamboo rod using a hot glue gun. Just keep in mind that, if you do this, you will need to put clip on curtain rings on the pole before gluing the second finial to the pole.
Where to Buy
You can find real bamboo rods at the following online stores. Keep in mind that some of the accessories may not be made of bamboo:
If you would prefer to make your own bamboo rods, you can find bamboo poles at the following places online:
