Buying and Hanging the Perfect Shower Curtain

Cloth curtains typically give a more sophisticated look to a bathroom, but they are a bit more expensive to purchase. The advantage though is that you can wash a cloth shower curtain so that it keeps from getting dirty and moldy. A vinyl shower curtain is water resistant so there shouldn’t be any leaks into your bathroom or on the floor. After time the vinyl curtain will have mold and mildew problems that are not as easy to clean as cloth, but it can be easily thrown out and replaced with a new curtain.

One way people resolve the benefits of both cloth and vinyl is to use a shower curtain liner. The liner is usually a vinyl curtain of a neutral color that hangs on the inside of the shower, while the shower curtain hangs on the outside of the shower. This will protect a cloth or specialty vinyl shower curtain from water, mold and mildew damage that come from being in a shower. The vinyl liner is usually cheap and easy to replace. There are even specialty shower curtains made with buttons to attach the liner directly to your shower curtain.

Once you have decided which style of curtain and/or liner will work for your bathroom you need something to hang it from. You will need to pick a shower rod to match your bathroom décor and the width of your shower walls. There are two types of shower rods to choose from. There is the basic expansion rod that twists out to fit the width of the shower. It stays in place using the tension from being pushed into the walls. The other option is a permanent rod that is screwed into the walls. The permanent rod will be more durable and stable, but more expensive and more complicated to install.

To hang your curtain on the rod you will need hooks unless you purchased a hookless shower curtain. A hookless shower curtain actually has large rings sewn into the structure of the curtain to act as the hooks to hang the curtain from. If you decide to use a liner as well you can either put them on the same hooks as the curtain or you can use separate hooks and even a different rod. Using separate rods and rings will result in higher initial costs, but it will make washing or removing damaged curtains easier than removing and replacing both.

Once you’ve selected the right curtain, liner, rod and hooks for your shower curtain it is time to install them in your bathroom.

When hanging a shower curtain it’s important for it to be even. If it is off by the slightest measurement then shower curtain is likely to slide down the rod to the lower side and not provide your bathroom the protection it needs and you the privacy you seek as you shower.

In order to make it even you’ll need a measuring tape and a pencil. Measure from the floor up the wall until you reach the appropriate height for your shower curtain. The curtain should be slightly above the showerhead to prevent spraying into your bathroom. Now mark lightly on the wall with a vertical line where you want it to be. Check to see what the precise height is on your tape measure. Now on the opposing wall measure up the same distance from the floor and make the same mark to indicate the height. With your measuring tape you’ll do the same from inside the shower. Pull out the measuring tape to measure how far out from that wall you’ll be putting your rod. Make a horizontal mark on the wall going through your vertical mark. Do the same for the opposite side as well. Where the two lines intersect is the center point for where the end of your rod will be placed. These marks should be exactly opposite from each other to keep it straight.

Depending on what type of rod you have purchased you will need to follow the directions for how exactly to install it on the marks you’ve established. Before you put the rod into place you should slide the curtain onto the rod so you don’t have to fool with that later, especially if it’s a hookless curtain.