Having to replace dirty and disheveled shower curtains and shower liners might be more convenient than cleaning them, but wouldn’t it be better if you could reduce the amount of waste your household is producing? Rather than throwing dirty shower curtains and liners in the bin, wasting money, and putting more strain on the environment, try cleaning them instead.
In this article, we will show you how to clean a shower curtain using easy, fast, and convenient methods.
If you’ve ever wondered, can you wash a plastic shower curtain, the answer is yes. It’s not difficult at all to clean a shower curtain, but you do need to be mindful of a few things, including:
● If it’s plastic, it could melt, so keep the washing machine on a cool or warm setting
● Add bath towels in with the curtains during machine washing
● A plastic shower curtain will melt into a useless lump in the dryer
● Hang your shower curtain out to air dry instead
There are two methods you can use to wash a shower curtain, and the one you use will depend on how grimy your shower curtain is and how long it’s been since the last time you cleaned it.
Place the shower curtain and a couple of bath towels into the washing machine. Select a gentle wash cycle using cold or warm water, but never hot.
A half-cup of baking soda and vinegar can be added to the detergent to help eliminate odors.
You can handwash a plastic shower curtain without removing it from its rod. This method works best with regular weekly cleaning.
Dampen a clean cloth before sprinkling baking soda over the fabric, so there is a fine layer of the powder over the entire surface.
Scrub the shower curtain with the cloth lightly at first, without worrying too much about the tougher stains.
Rinse the cloth in warm water again and ring it out until it’s damp. Wipe it over the curtain a second time, making sure you remove all traces of the baking soda. Keep adding water to the cloth as needed.
Add more baking soda for the third round, and be a little more vigorous on the set-in soap scum or mildew stains this time around.
Get a fresh, clean cloth, dampen it as before, and rub the shower curtain down while removing every trace of baking soda. Keep rinsing until you are sure all baking soda has been removed.
You can ward off mildew and mold by spraying down your curtain with a half-and-half mix of vinegar each day and more vigorous scrubbing of the bottom of the shower curtain each week.
A machine wash of your shower curtain is less labor-intensive, but it may not get it as clean as you like, so we will go over how to clean a plastic shower curtain for a better result.
Take the curtain off the rod, remove the curtain rings or hooks, and place them aside. Put the curtain into the bathtub and fill it with hot water.
Drop in a generous splash of white vinegar. You can use bleach for plastic curtains but never mix the two together, just one or the other. Give the water a good stir with your hand or large brush to blend the vinegar or bleach well. Let the curtain sit for about 15 – 20 minutes, which is enough time to get the rest of the bathroom clean.
Once the 20 minutes is up, the next step is to give your curtain a manual scrub. Use a coarse sponge or brush to dislodge the bathroom scum that has lodged in the bottom pockets and folds. A toothbrush will be more efficient for cleaning in and around the metal rings.
Rinse the curtain. A detachable showerhead on a hose works well, but a tap should suffice if that’s all you have. Just make sure you get some water pressure on the entire surface area of the curtain to remove all traces of the cleaning solution and any lingering residue you loosened with your scrubbing.
Remove the curtain from its rod and use the opportunity to give the shower curtain rod a quick clean.
Mix half a cup of baking soda into half a cup of powdered laundry detergent. Place the curtain in the washing machine with a bathroom towel or two and use a warm or cold gentle cycle. Don’t use bleach on a cloth shower curtain unless it is pure white.
Add a cup of vinegar to the load when the machine is on the rinse cycle. It’s good to wait until the water level has reached full capacity before adding the vinegar, as this will prevent odors and residue.
Once the cycle is complete, hang the shower curtain out to dry. You don’t want to hang it on the rod with the hooks just yet, as this could cause it to bunch up. Hang it over your shower rod and flatten it out to ensure it dries evenly. You should never use a dryer to dry your shower curtain as this could damage or shrink it.
Shower curtain liners are plastic, so you may be wondering how to clean a shower curtain liner without damaging it. A machine wash is not the best way to go about it. Instead, we highly recommend the same handwashing method described above for plastic shower curtains to keep your shower curtain liner in good condition.
Before you re-hang the shower curtain, check that the hooks are clean because they can collect quite a bit of grime between washings and are susceptible to mold buildup. Soaking the rings in a bucket of water mixed with half a cup of vinegar will loosen any grime. After 20 minutes of soaking, use a small brush or toothbrush to scrub them clean.
How often should you clean your shower curtains is a good question and will depend on the size of your family and the material of the shower curtain. A cloth shower curtain protected against moisture by a plastic liner should only require cleaning once or twice yearly.
The plastic liner is more exposed to moisture and bathroom scum build-up, so we recommend a quick clean at least once a week. This process should protect against most grime. A deeper clean on your curtain liner may be required every month or two to keep your bathroom clean and fresh.
If you have a plastic shower curtain, we recommend a weekly clean to prevent grime from taking hold.
Toss them away and replace them with new ones from the Nicetown store. It is OK to replace shower curtains and liners made of plastic every six months due to an affordable cost. If you have a shower curtain instead of a shower door, you may not think about washing or replacing it unless you’re redecorating your bathroom.
