How to prevent mold on shower curtains?

Question for those of you here—how do you prevent mold on your shower curtains?

Previously we had a single synthetic liner that felt like cloth (possibly nylon or polyester). It was supposed to be mold resistant. It looked good and seemed to work well. That was the case for about 6 months. Then like all other liners it began to get moldy. First with pink mold and then black mold.

  • We tried to wash it with white vinegar. The pink mold was gone, but the black mold didn’t disappear.
  • We tried to wash it with bleach. The black mold didn’t disappear.
  • We tried to washed it it again with bleach. The black mold didn’t disappear. So we tossed it.

Since then we’ve been purchasing cheap plastic liners from Amazon. They last for 5 or 6 months and then get covered with mold and mildew. Once that starts to happen we simply toss the liner in the trash, scrub the shower and purchase a new one. We’re about to toss the third one we’ve had.

Now this is hardly the environmentally friendly thing to do. I’d like to go back to one that we can wash. Is there a specific brand shower liner or curtain that you recommend? Is there something we can do to prevent the mold from coming back so quick?

Open to all ideas here.

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Your issue is not the brand of shower liner.

You can and should put your shower liner in the washing mashine, but that is entirely too long to go without washing it!

You should be taking it down and washing it every month or two. Unless it looks like mold has started to appear I just use normal detergent along with a few towels. The towels will help scrub any mildew off in the washing machine. If mold has started to appear I do add bleach.

DO NOT PUT IT IN THE DRYER!

Once it is done let the liner air-dry, but don’t let it stick to the tub. If there is mold on the tub, it will come right back. Hang it over the shower rod like a towel. Just make sure that it is spread out so it can dry better. The following day, you can hook it back to the shower rod.

Just keep your shower liner in order and you won’t need to worry about mold getting to your shower curtains.

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I agree. If you want a mold-free liner, you’ll have to start washing it more. Here are a few other things to consider:

Make sure there is plenty of ventilation in your bathroom. The mold that grows on the walls and liner of your shower loves that humidity! Consider investing in a more powerful bathroom fan. You should leave it on for at least 30-minutes following a bath or shower. Also consider leaving a window or door open.

Use shower curtain hooks that don’t clip. These are the best shower hook because it’s less of a pain to get the curtain down to clean it. I can never go back to the ones that clip. My suggestion would be S-shaped or Omega-shaped hooks. The S-shaped ones are designed for a single liner, while the Omega-shaped hooks are designed for a curtain as well as a liner.

Make sure the shower liner dries completely. When you do wash the shower liner make sure it has the opportunity to dry. There was a reddit post some years ago that mentioned putting an empty laundry basket or two between the bathtub and the liner. That’s what I’ve been doing and it seems to work fine.

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Don’t leave the shower liner bunched up in the corner of the bathtub. It will never dry that way. Make sure when you’re done showering to put the liner on the outside of the bathtub and spread it. That way it will have more room to breath and you’ll have less mold to deal with.

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Thank you for the advice everyone!

I have purchased the linked shower curtain (even though it isn’t on sale anymore:confused:)and a washable liner.

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For what it’s worth, I just made a few new purchases replacing an old shower liner.

Made By Design Fabric Shower Liner

I wanted something that I could wash. It feels super wasteful tossing a giant plastic sheet every few months (my complex doesn’t recycle). First impression is that this feels pretty good. It is fairly heavy and has weights at the corners to keep it from bunching up.

Threshold Waffle Wave Shower Curtain
Target’s Threshold curtains have been recommended elsewhere. I did go with the waffle weave because the other options were more of a cream or off-white color. It isn’t as white as the Made by Design liner, but it is pretty close.

Brushed Nickel Tension Rod
I’d prefer to have a mounted shower rod, but this will work fine for the time being. I went with this rod because the fancier—and more expensive ones—just seemed to have more ornamentation. The twist to tighten mechanism appeared to be the same.

Threshold Double Shower Hooks

So far I’m most impressed with these shower hooks. The real game changer is the little beads on top that help the hooks roll. It’s incredibly easy to move the shower curtain and liner—even over the edge in tension-based shower rods. One side of the hook is for the curtain, the other is for the liner. Highly recommend.

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