How to remove hard water stains from fabric shower curtain

Is your shower curtain — or the liner — so nasty you avoid touching it? Do guests mistake the mold for polka dots? Then it’s time to give that bathroom staple a good bath.

Table of Contents Show

What is the orange stuff on my shower curtain?
How do you get stains off the bottom of a shower curtain?
How do you get water stains out of a cotton shower curtain?
How do you clean a fabric shower curtain liner?

Follow along as handyman Bob Vila shares tips for cleaning the shower curtain and liner. It’s so easy, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

How to wash a shower curtain and how to clean a shower curtain liner

Remove the rings, then toss the curtain and the liner in the washing machine along with a couple of white towels. The towels will provide extra scrubbing for better cleaning.
Add the regular amount of detergent and ½ to 1 cup of baking soda.
Wash in warm or hot water at the highest level.
At the rinse cycle, add ½ to 1 cup of distilled white vinegar.
Allow fabric curtains to run through the spin cycle, then hang to dry. There's no need to put it in the dryer.

Note: If the curtain is plastic, you don't have to run it through the spin cycle either. It’s ready to hang in the bathroom right after it rinses.

To remove extra heavy mildew from a white or clear shower curtain/liner, add a cup of bleach to the wash water. For colored curtains/liners, try OxiClean, Clorox 2 or another bleach alternative instead.

Basically, every shower curtain is washable, but to be on the safe side, check the instructions on the care tag first.

Proactive tips:

Most bar soaps cause soap scum. Use body wash or a non-soap cleansing bar instead of bar soap.
Make it part of your daily routine to spray the shower curtain and liner with a mixture of half water, half distilled white vinegar. To tame the vinegar smell, add a few drops of lemon oil to the mix. There's no need to rinse as it will wash off the next time you shower.
Once a week, spray the bottom of the curtain and liner with the vinegar/water mixture then scrub with a brush. This will remove any buildup you might have missed with daily spraying.

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This article was originally published on TODAY.com on Feb. 17, 2016.

What is the orange stuff on my shower curtain?

Your household water supply might contain high levels of iron, which combine with leftover soap scum to form a rusty orange deposit on plumbing fixtures, tubs and sinks. Even if the water is clear when it first comes out of your faucet, it may turn orange upon exposure to air (oxidation).

How do you get stains off the bottom of a shower curtain?

Sprinkle baking soda on a damp, microfiber cloth. Scrub the entire shower curtain. Rinse with a clean, damp cloth until all the baking soda is removed. If the curtain has more stubborn stains, scrub them again with baking soda until the stains are gone, then rinse again.

How do you get water stains out of a cotton shower curtain?

Add the regular amount of detergent and ½ to 1 cup of baking soda. Wash in warm or hot water at the highest level. At the rinse cycle, add ½ to 1 cup of distilled white vinegar. Allow fabric curtains to run through the spin cycle, then hang to dry.

How do you clean a fabric shower curtain liner?

You can wash shower curtain liners in the same way you would wash any synthetic shower curtain. They're designed to be water and heat resistant, so are perfectly safe being washed on cold setting in the washing machine, and air dried or tumble dried on low.