Which Umbra Hembars Can Be Used with Guidewires?
Guidewires are nylon coated steel wires that help to guide a blind evenly for the full length of its travel. They help prevent the fabric from moving too much. For example, if there’s a draught or the blind is being tampered with. The guidewires still allow some movement, whilst providing stability and security.
Guidewires are generally more cost-effective and less obtrusive than side channels, which hold the fabric and hembar within the channel itself. Guidewires only hold the hem bar, which in turn keeps the fabric in place.
With guidewires, as opposed to side channel, there will be a gap between the blind fabric and the window recess that light can pass through. For a blackout solution, consider a system with zip-retention side channels like KuroLok.
Guidewires tend to be associated with places like schools, rather than homes, as guidewires can look a bit too industrial for a domestic setting. The main purpose of using guidewires is for performance and practicality, not aesthetics. Gudewires are also handy on sloping or horizontal blinds to ensure the blind follows the angle of the window.
There are different thicknesses of guidewire available. Umbra’s standard one for free-hanging rollers is 1.5mm thick, whereas the one we use on our Helios Rl system is a more robust 3mm thick.
We offer guidewires on our Helios and Sirios roller systems. But do you know which of our hembars are compatible with guidewires?
Non-compatible Hembars
Firstly, let’s start with the ones you can’t use with guidewires (sorry!)
Ellipse 43
Ellipse 43 gets its name from its unique ellipse shape, which is ideal for blinds being fitted within a blind box. The bar within is 43mm high, and a slim 11mm deep, so it’s easy to tuck away. Ellipse 43 features sleek, light grey end caps that sit flush against your fabric. This means that from front on there are no visible end caps to spoil the appearance of your blind.
Currently, the custom end caps for Ellipse 43 don’t have anywhere for the guidewire to feed through as they’re completely flat. This means ellipse 43 is not compatible with guidewires.
PK-S
PK-S is a thin, flat piece of rectangular metal that sits inside a welded fabric pocket. This hembar is lightweight and ideal for smaller blinds.
This hembar, because of the sealed fabric edges, doesn’t have any end caps so there’s nowhere for the guidewire to feed through. This means it’s incompatible with guidewires.
Luxury 31/39
Luxury 31 and 39 hembar is a stylish and sleek rectangular hembar, available in two different sizes. This hembar is available in multiple different colours, including bronze, with matching end caps in the same colour.
These end caps are completely flat to compliment the shape of the hembar, so there’s no attachment for guidewires.
Compatible Hembars
I know what you’re thinking, ‘So which hembars can be used with guidewires?!’ Let’s find out.
Type Z
Type Z can be used with Helios for special projects. Type Z is a very heavy-duty and robust hembar which makes it ideal for very wide blinds.
If your project had very large Helios blinds, and you required guidewires, we could use Type Z hembar for this – just like we do on our Helios RL system!
Type 1
Type 1 hembar is a round aluminium hembar with a 20m diameter. Available in 4 standard colours, this hembar is perfect for smaller blinds due to its light weight. Type 1 has two different hembar options, one flat end cap that keeps the blind looking sleek, and one designed for guidewires.
The guidewire end cap features a small eyelet which the wire passes through, to keep the fabric evenly spaced from the blind to the wall during travel.
Type 2
Type 2 hembar is our ‘teardrop-shaped profile. This is always used on our Kuro system, and is available on free-hanging rollers.
Much like Type 1, this hembar has two different end caps depending on whether or not you require guidewires. The end cap for Type 2 with guidewires features a plastic eyelet which the wire passes through.
Type D
As the name suggests, Type D hembar is curved on the front and flat on the back, like a capitalised ‘D’. This hembar is fairly slim and lightweight, which makes it great for narrower blinds in domestic settings. It is available on all free-hanging rollers and has two different end caps depending on whether or not there’s guidewires, much like Type 1 and Type 2.
The key difference between the standard end cap and the guidewire end cap is the colour. On our Type D hembar, the guidewire end cap is made of clear plastic. This makes it much less noticeable that there is an eyelet on the side of the end cap for the wire to pass through.
For more information on our hembar options, click here:
Not sure which one is right for you? Get in touch with a member of our sales team to discuss your requirements: