Washing shower curtain?

[barleyreed]

Sorry for such a dull thread! We have two white shower curtains around our bath and because the bottoms go brown over time I end up regularly replacing them. I have tried washing with Vanish before but it didn't make much difference. Any clever way to get them fresh and white again?! It is expensive to keep replacing them! Thanks all :)

I just replace each time but I choose ones that don't cost a lot!

How often do you wash them?

I put mine in the washing machine along with the bath mat every time I clean the bathroom, around once a week (which I know is akin to being a slattern in MN world but back in RL world this is as often as I can manage). Both come out sparkling clean every time.

Probably less often than I should, maybe every 6-8 weeks, they are a faff to get down and up, the plastic track is on its last legs too!

I read somewhere someone would put poundland shower curtains on the inside and have a nicer one on the outside so the cheap one would get wet.
Not sure if it works though.

Haha boyskeepswinging - definitely a skaters here then ;) Thanks though, think I will get some new ones and try harder to wash regularly and hopefully they will last longer!! Just seems so wasteful to keep chucking them out..

Wash in bio washing powder, seems to work

Skaters should say slattern, sorry predictive text...

Thank you, will definitely try the bleach solution, amazing yours have lasted so long - thanks, good to know they can be saved! I knew Mumsnet would have some ideas.

Think I might stop buying Vanish, it doesn't seem to get rid of stains on DCs clothes either!

I just chuck mine in a 60 wash with bath towels whenever it looks particularly bad. If it wasn't such a pain in the tits to get it up and down I'd do every 6-8 weeks instead of 6-8 months... I also leave it open to dry better which helps.

If i fancy running bleach through the washing machine i bung in the shower curtain too, with fairly miraculous results. I don't do this very often though. Also, i shake off the excess water/wait a short while till the bulk of it has run off then fling the curtain over the rail. It makes the bathroom much lighter and saves me thinking a mad axe murderer is hiding in the bath if i use the loo in the night. It also means that the ends of the curtain get a chance to dry - if i didn't do this they would be right next to the bath les air could get to them.

Once a month I wash mine (fabric) on a 90 degree cycle with soda crystals and no detergent, brings it up like new and gives the machine a good clean too. Mine is quite easy to get down though, it's on flexible hoops over a rail and I stand in the bath to reach them.

Are you drying out your shower curtain after the shower is used? You need to open it fully along the side of the bath so that it air dries. If you do that then it shouldn't get mouldy. Don't pull it closed after using.

Closing it means it's fully extended and can dry though? As opposed to open and bunched up.

"open it fully along the side of the bath so that it air dries"

Wash it with normal detergent and a capful of zoflora in the drum, works brilliantly and smells lovely after

When I had shower curtains, I would put a bucket on a stool in the bath, fill with water and bleach, then leave the bottom of the curtain in it to soak. Then rinse with the shower! The curtain was too much of a nightmare to remove.

I generally soak mine in a descaler solution (kettle descaler)in a bowl and then put them in a 60c wash, these are the polyester ones not plastic

Are the browny bits mould or orangy scale, if it’s scale you need descaler but if mould you need bleach, obviously not both at once because of the fumes

I wash them every time I clean the bathroom. go together in the washer with the non slip mat.

Thanks all! It's in the machine on a hot wash with bleach, fingers crossed! If not I will try other ideas, thank you :) It was a sod to get down though so the bucket truck might be favourite next time!

I shoved mine in the washing machine. It worked but maybe not all are machine washable.

You can wash I use too

Soak them in Vanish overnight
Put into the wash on 60c with biological detergent

I just soak it in a bucket of diluted bleach overnight every couple of months or so. Quick rinse and its back to white again. So wasteful to just replace them even if they are a cheap plastic thing.