Tip Of The Month

How to clean a shower curtain liner

I used to buy a new shower curtain liner every 4 to 6 months but I didn't like the idea of throwing them away to sit in a landfill, and we ran out of ways to reuse them a long time ago, so several years ago I figured I had nothing to lose and threw it in the washing machine.

It's really simple to do and I get a clean, like-new shower curtain every time that's free of mold, soap scum and hard water stains. All you need to do is to take your shower curtain down and put it in the washing machine. I usually add 2 or 3 old bath towels, that I use on our dog, to help clean the curtain.

Next I add a small amount of detergent and bleach and set the washer to use hot water on a regular cycle (you really want to make sure you use hot water for this). I've used both a top loading and a front-loading machine to do this and I have always gotten great results from both.

After the cycle is done, pull your curtain out (it will have some water in it so be careful how you do this). You could put it in the dryer for a little bit but I just hang it back up in the shower to dry. I put it in a laundry basket to carry to the bathroom, open it over the tub and hang it back up, smoothing it out as I go. In no time your curtain will dry and you'll have a clean, like-new shower curtain for zero dollars. I have had the same curtain now for about 4 years and as long as it gets clean and stays intact, I'll keep using and cleaning it.