Curtain Pole Polishing and Silicone Emulsions

So my curtains have been sticking for weeks on the poles and I got around to cleaning them today. It's amazing the amount of crap that builds up. I presume everyone knows that furniture polish is great for making the rings slide easily? Also good for the rails on mitre saws.

Mr Sheen contains silicone emulsion and PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil which I presume are what do the polishing.

An emulsion is a non-soluble solid suspended in a liquid (e.g. emulsion paint or milk). More info on silicone emulsion here.
https://www.elkem.com/products/silicones/emulsion/

This is what accumulates on curtain poles. © Eugene Brennan