S-fold suits a clean, contemporary track and works well with motorised; pinch pleat suits a more traditional or formal room and holds its structure over time; and eyelet is the simplest and most budget-friendly option for a straightforward rod.
Picture this: you’ve settled on a fabric, you’ve picked a colour, and then the person cutting the quote asks how you’d like the top of the curtain finished. It’s a fair question, and it changes more than the look of the curtain. The heading decides which track it needs, whether it can be motorised, how it moves, and how it sits when it’s open during the day. Bryn walks Central Coast homeowners through this decision on almost every job, because getting it right the first time avoids a track swap later. Here’s the honest version of that conversation.
What’s the difference between S-fold, pinch pleat and eyelet curtains?
The heading is the top edge of the curtain, and it’s what determines how the fabric folds and how it attaches to the track or rod. S-fold (also called wave fold or ripple fold) uses evenly spaced hooks that pull the fabric into a continuous, soft S-shaped wave. Pinch pleat gathers the fabric into fixed, structured pleats at regular intervals, giving a more tailored, formal look. Eyelet skips the hook system entirely: metal rings are set directly into the top of the fabric, and the curtain slides straight onto a rod.
Each of the three sits on a different track or rod system, which is the practical detail that decides a lot of the rest of this guide.
| Heading style | Track or rod needed | Motorisation compatible | Look | Typical cost register |
| S-fold (wave fold) | Dedicated wave track | Yes, readily | Clean, contemporary, continuous wave | Higher |
| Pinch pleat | Traditional track or decorative pole | Possible, with the right track | Tailored, formal, structured | Mid to higher |
| Eyelet | Simple rod | Not practical | Casual, relaxed | Lower |
How does an S-fold curtain hang, and where does it work best?
S-fold sits on a dedicated wave track, and once it’s up, it holds an even, continuous ripple whether the curtain is open or closed. That’s what makes it the go-to heading for a large, uninterrupted expanse of glass, a picture window, or a wide sliding door where a fussier pleat would break up the line.
It also happens to be the heading style best suited to motorisation. Silent Gliss, one of the hardware ranges Adek fits, makes wave track systems designed specifically for this. Pair that with a motorised drive such as Somfy’s Glydea system, and a wide S-fold curtain that would be awkward to draw by hand becomes a one-button job. If you’re planning a tall window or a run of glass that’s genuinely heavy to pull, this is where S-fold earns its higher price tag.
What does a pinch pleat curtain suit that S-fold doesn’t?
Pinch pleat has structure. The fixed pleats hold their shape whether the curtain has been up for a month or a decade, which is part of why it’s the heading style you’ll still see in more traditional and heritage-style Central Coast homes. It suits a room where the curtain is meant to read as furniture, not just window covering, a formal living room or a main bedroom with a decorative pole rather than a hidden track.
Pinch pleat can be motorised, but it needs the right track behind it, and the pleat itself doesn’t stack as neatly as an S-fold when the curtain is fully open. If a clean, flat stack-back at the side of the window matters to you, that’s worth raising before you commit to pinch pleat over S-fold.
Where do eyelet curtains actually make sense?
Eyelet is the simplest of the three, and simple has real advantages. There’s no separate track to fit, the curtain slides on a rod that can often be installed in an afternoon, and it’s the most budget-friendly heading of the three by a clear margin. It suits a casual room, a rental, a holiday house, or a bedroom where the priority is function over formality.
The trade-off is that eyelet doesn’t handle wide or heavy fabric well, and it isn’t a realistic option if motorisation is on your list. The metal rings also create a slightly stiffer fold than S-fold or pinch pleat, which is part of the relaxed look but means it won’t drape the same way a heavier velvet or a wide waterfront window might call for.
Does heading style affect how well curtains handle motorisation?
Yes, directly. S-fold on a wave track is the easiest and most reliable heading to motorise, which is why it’s the heading Bryn recommends most often for tall or wide windows where reaching the curtain by hand is genuinely awkward, a common situation on the taller glass in newer Central Coast builds. Pinch pleat can be motorised with the right hardware, but it’s a more involved fit. Eyelet, realistically, isn’t a motorisation candidate at all.
If motorisation is even a maybe for later, it’s worth mentioning that at the quote stage rather than after the curtains are made. Retrofitting a motorised track under an eyelet curtain usually means starting again with a different heading.
Does heading style affect child safety and cords?
It can, depending on the track and any control mechanism fitted alongside it. Corded curtain tracks carry a strangulation risk for young children if the cord isn’t properly secured, which is why the Australian Government has a mandatory safety standard covering the safety rules around corded window coverings. If there are small children in the house, this is worth raising directly at the quote stage: a cordless or motorised track removes the risk entirely, and it’s a straightforward swap to specify upfront rather than retrofit later.
Which heading style suits which room?
A few patterns come up again and again on the jobs Bryn fits across the Coast:
- Wide picture windows and sliding doors generally suit S-fold, because it holds a clean, even wave across a large span and stacks back neatly when open.
- Formal living rooms and main bedrooms often suit pinch pleat, particularly where the curtain is on show as part of the room’s furnishing rather than just function.
- Casual bedrooms, rentals and holiday houses are where eyelet earns its keep, because the priority is a straightforward, affordable fit over a decorative finish.
- Any window that’s genuinely tall or heavy to draw by hand points towards S-fold with a motorised track, so the curtain isn’t a two-hand job every morning and night.
- Homes with young children should have the cord conversation early, regardless of heading style, so a cordless or motorised option can be specified from the start rather than added later.
What we would not recommend
We wouldn’t recommend eyelet on a wide or heavy fabric, a full-length velvet on a large picture window, for instance. The rings simply don’t distribute that kind of weight evenly, and the curtain will hang unevenly within a year. If the fabric is heavy, the heading needs to be S-fold or a properly structured pinch pleat.
We also wouldn’t recommend choosing a heading style purely on looks without checking what track is already on the window, or what track the room can realistically take. Retrofitting a wave track where a simple rod was expected changes the quote, and it’s far better to have that conversation before the fabric is cut than after.
How do you decide, in three questions?
If you’re still weighing it up, three questions usually settle it:
- How wide or heavy is the window? Wide, heavy or full-length windows favour S-fold. Smaller, lighter windows can suit any of the three.
- Is motorisation a possibility, now or later? If yes, S-fold on a wave track is the straightforward answer. If it’s a firm no, eyelet and pinch pleat are both open to you.
- Does the room want to feel formal or casual? Pinch pleat leans formal and structured. Eyelet leans casual and relaxed. S-fold sits closer to contemporary and clean, whichever way the rest of the room is styled.
Answer those three and the heading style tends to choose itself. It’s the same conversation Bryn has on site, and it’s worth pairing with what the curtain is made from, because a heavy velvet and a light synthetic behave differently on the same track. If you’re not even sure curtains are the right call for the window in question, it’s also worth reading whether curtains are the right call at all before you go further.
Get it fitted properly, once
None of this has to be worked out from a brochure. Bryn measures and fits every job himself, so the heading style he recommends is based on the actual track, the actual window and the actual fabric weight in front of him, not a general rule of thumb.
One Adek customer described the result of a curtain job in her review as something that “totally transformed the room,” and that’s the outcome a well-matched heading style is supposed to deliver: curtains that move properly, sit properly, and don’t need to be revisited in a year. If you’d like Bryn to look at your windows and talk through track, fabric and heading together, book an in-home measure and quote through the curtain tracks Adek fits, and take it from there. No pressure, no obligation to decide on the day.