Showers get dirty. Its just a fact of life. One we resolve ourselves to while donning those attractive yellow gloves and holding our "weapon" of choice. We aim at those moldy/scummy walls, we spray and we scrub. At the end of all that scrubbing, we get to stand back and marvel at our work. Then, suddenly, out of the corner of your eye, you catch a glimpse of that dirty, dirty lining. That scummy, moldy plastic shower lining is ruining your view! What can you do? Well, you can do what my amazingly frugal mother does and scrub it by hand. You could do what my less frugal buddies do and throw it out in favor of a new one. OR....OR you can throw it in the wash. Yep, that's right. You can just take that thing down, toss it in the washing machine and have a shiny clean shower liner just after the spin cycle! I discovered this trick one desperate day not long after I moved in with Papa. You see, I inherited my mother's Frugal gene and I just wasn't willing to buy a new liner, but I also wasn't willing to scrub it by hand. So, this led me to the washing machine. I figured the worst thing that could happen would be that I would have to pick little bits of plastic out of the machine before the next wash. The best thing that could happen? A clean curtain; and that's exactly what did happen!
Here's what has worked best for me:
Wash it alone on a regular cycle with warm (not hot) water. Throw in some OxyClean, or PineSol (about a capful) [its worth noting here that a quick wash with a cap of PineSol can also take care of those soured clothes forgotten in the washer for too long - thanks for heads up G'ma Dee]. In a pinch, laundry soap will work, but it tends to leave a film behind and won't get those really yucky spots quite as clean.
Let it run through the whole cycle. When its done, run a second spin cycle. When that's finished, do not put it in the dryer. I have never, in fact, run it through the dryer so I can't tell you exactly what horribleness will ensue, but plastic and heat are not really friends, so unless you feel experimental, I wouldn't recommend it.
When you take the liner out of the wash, it will be wet; and wrinkly. Shake out as much water as you can over the washer, then carefully carry the liner to the bathroom. Then hang it up, straighten it out (the wrinkles will relax out after it has been hanging for awhile) and you are done! Easy-peasy clean curtain liner.
That's what works for me! What works for you?
2 comments:
I don't have oxyclean or pinesol. I mostly clean with vinegar and baking soda. Any other suggestions as to what to put in the washer?
Julie, I would throw a couple tablespoons of vinegar in there; it could even cut down on the number of water spots that get left behind on your curtain as well (if you care about that). Also, tea tree oil can be a natural way to be rid of fungus and mold (works well on cloth diapers too). If the vinegar doesn't work as well as you'd like it to, I'd try adding some tea tree oil to the mix (a couple drops of the essential oil should do it). Please let me know how it turns out. Thank you so much for the opportunity to think of greener ways to do this!
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