Shower Curtains (Bath Linens)

Most showers hang two panels, not one: an outer curtain chosen for looks and a liner behind it that actually stops the water. Standard sizing runs 72 by 72 inches. The outer panel stays outside the tub and dry, while the liner tucks inside and takes the spray.

Twelve grommets, the reinforced holes across the top edge, is the standard count. It exists because fewer holes let the panel sag between hooks and channel water onto the floor. Liner material sets the behavior: PEVA and EVA are plastic films that repel water completely and eventually crease and crack. A tightly woven polyester fabric liner dries fast, hangs straight and goes through a washing machine. Magnets or a weighted hem at the bottom stop the classic problem of a light liner blowing inward onto your legs, which happens because moving water and warm air lower the pressure inside the shower.

Against a glass shower door, a curtain costs a tenth as much, needs no drilling and gets replaced whenever the pattern tires, at the price of some leakage at the ends. Bath rugs collect whatever a badly hung curtain lets past. Nothing else in a bathroom occupies this much visual space, so the panel carries the room's color the way a large piece of art carries a living room.

Renters, budget bathrooms and anyone changing a color scheme cheaply should start here. Tub and shower combinations almost always need a curtain, since a fixed door blocks the tub for bathing. Long or extra wide showers need a 72 by 84 inch or wider panel. Standard sizing leaves gaps that soak the floor within a week. Plastic liners are the wrong call in a poorly ventilated bathroom, because film grows mildew inside its folds and cannot be washed.

Inspect the top hem for a reinforced band of fabric behind the grommets, since that band is what stops the holes tearing out under the weight of a wet liner. Close the curtain fully after every shower instead of bunching it, because folds hold water and mildew starts in them. Wash a fabric liner monthly with towels on warm, and treat a plastic liner as a consumable replaced roughly every six months.