The Dreaded Shower Curtain Liner

I had one of those moments last week, as I was turning on the water for the shower, where I saw the tub for the first time in a long while. And looked closer. Grabbed my glasses, and practically smashed my face to the floor to get an even closer look. It was filthy!!!! Grime, slime, and muck lined the lower walls, and the corners (which is what grabbed my attention in the first place) were just plain scary.

No time to clean the shower right at that moment, but it had me paying attention to other things...like the shower curtain liner. Knowing the state of the tub, I dreaded taking a careful look at the liner. Yep. As predicted, it was a horrific mess.

Have any of you run into this problem? Please don't answer that question if the answer is 'no.' I have a hard time figuring out the best way to clean the liner, and have tried all sorts of things before with no luck. Too bad they don't come with a manual full of cleaning instructions. (If they do, now would not be the time to tell me!)

Our liner has magnets or weights in the bottom corners to keep it closed even when the water is hot and steamy. The problem, as I see it, is that the weights don't allow the curtain to air out, and they cause the curtain to trap gunk up against the walls of the tub. This also means the bottom of the liner gets gross easily. Mine was bad enough I was ready to toss it and just buy a new one, but my practical side got the better of me. I mean, I don't just toss my jeans in the garbage when they get grungy and need a good wash. Therefore, the shower curtain liner deserved a chance, too.

I cleaned the tub really well, and I thought maybe I could sponge most of the gunk off of the liner, too. But that didn't work well at all. I contemplated risking throwing it in the washer, but decided we don't have enough money to replace a washer if I ruined it. So I did the next best thing I could think of - filled the tub with hot water and a mix of non-chlorine bleach and Mrs. Meyer's All Purpose Cleaner. Couldn't tell you the ratio, as I initially measured, but then just poured...and poured....and poured. I let the liner and our bath mat soak in this solution for 1.5 hours. As I pulled them out to dry, I could see that this had done the trick for the curtain liner, and helped (but wasn't as effective) the bath mat. The best part is that this method didn't require hours of scrubbing needlessly. The scum just came off as the liner soaked. Hooray!

Do you have any methods for cleaning your shower curtain liner? And do you clean it regularly?

~Ms. S

Shower Upgrade

It's been way too long, I know. I've failed on my promise to update weekly, but on the plus side, I haven't updated because I've been busy meeting up with friends (long over-due get togethers) and trying to get more hours in for my AmeriCorps position. Also on the plus side, I currently have a shower upgrade to share, but an even more exciting project will begin Saturday (I hope)!

Without wasting anymore time...how do you all feel about your shower? Is it an oasis where you can relax? Does it ease you nicely into your morning? Can you always find everything you need for your routine? Before our shower upgrade, here's how I would have answered the above questions.

1. Not really all that unhappy about the shower, but it could be better
2. Definitely would not call it an oasis
3. While it eases me into the morning, it doesn't do it 'nicely.
4. No

The problem? Well, I am a person who tends to have multiple shampoos/conditioners, multiple body washes, and multiple face scrubs. This was never a problem when I lived by myself, but when you add another person who also needs space for soap, a razor, and shampoo the storage space gets a little cramped. Husband and I needed some kind of a system to rid our tub rim of its contents. Literally every single corner was filled with something.

When my friend Sara moved into her condo a couple years back, she invested in a tension rod with shelves to remedy this exact thing. Since we're practically the same person, I didn't really need to think about the best solution for our shower. We needed a tension rod. Thank you, Sara, for making that decision for me years in advance. :)

I made this decision about a month before taking on the project because I wanted to find a good tension rod. Have you ever used a metal shelving system in your shower? It's supposed to be rust-proof, right? Yeah. I used to have a metal thing that would hang over the shower head. Not only did it fall at least once every other week, by the time I moved it was in bad shape! So I wanted to find something with plastic shelves at the very least.

The Saturday Mr. S helped friends of ours insulate their attic, I decided I would take on my project. A trip to Menards provided me with the shelf I was looking for, so I came home to put it together. Upon reading the instructions carefully, I assembled the pieces and took it into the bathroom. It didn't fit. It was too tall and no matter how hard I pushed, I couldn't force it into place. So I took out the smaller extension and tried again. Too small - there was no tension whatsoever to hold the rod in place. Gah!

My idea was to buy a smaller spring to use with the rod in its tallest form. Thankfully, Husband had a better idea. We went back to Menards (the next day) with the intention of purchasing an additional spring, but they didn't have the right kind. Instead, we purchased a dowel rod that would fit into the rod on top of the spring to provide the necessary tension with the smaller extension rod taken out. We realized after getting this home that we didn't have a saw. Oops. So we ended up using a 'State Fair' knife to cut our dowel rod to the appropriate length.

We now have a fantastically organized shower with nothing on the sides of the tub! It's glorious and wonderfully relaxing. Admittedly, it still surprises me nearly every morning that everything is in one spot. My shower has never, ever been so organized. It's a project I highly recommend undertaking as it's cheap and super easy!

Now, the project in the works! For my birthday (which is on Friday the 12th), Husband has decided to get me a wardrobe for our bedroom!!!!!! In my next post, I will showcase our completely inadequate bedroom closet which will explain why I am so excited about my present. You'll get to come along on some of our antique shop trips and auction and estate sale trips, as our goal is to find one to fix up. Hopefully it will be exciting. :)

Check back soon!

~Ms. S