Do you have a lot of water spots, mold, and mildew growth on your shower curtains? Additionally, are you wondering whether or not you can put your shower curtains in a washing machine?
Are you also wondering whether any kind of negative consequences can happen from placing your shower curtains in a washing machine?
Putting shower curtains in the washer
You can put your shower curtains (made out of cotton, plastic, or vinyl) in the washing machine. In fact, by washing your shower curtains in the washing machine, you are removing all the dirt, mold, and mildew that grow on your shower curtain over time due to moisture and dirt.
There are a lot of different shower curtains available in the market and being aware of the fact regarding what type of shower curtains can or cannot be washed in a washing machine will help you to eradicate any unwanted accidents.
Vinyl shower curtains:
Vinyl shower curtains can definitely be washed in a washing machine to get rid of all the grime, dirt, water spots, and so on.
In addition, the vinyl shower curtain cleaning process in a washing machine is very similar to the process that is maintained for cleaning plastic shower curtains.
Nevertheless, you should be aware of pre-treating the stains of your vinyl shower curtains with bleach or vinegar to make sure that all the hard stains are removed.
Plastic shower curtains:
You can definitely put plastic shower curtains in the washer. Your plastic shower curtains are prone to having soap suds and water sports all over them during all the shower sessions.
The moisture, soap suds, and so on are the perfect prerequisite for mold or mildew growth on your shower curtain which is why it is better to clean your plastic shower curtain thoroughly every week in the washer.
Moreover, you have to make sure that your plastic shower curtains aren’t exposed to high temperatures in the washing machine because that could literally melt your plastic shower curtains.
Additionally, the plastic shower curtains won’t clean themselves by just swirling in the washing machine rather they have to be stimulated by something else. This is why you have to also put some towels in your washing machine.
What temperature should you wash a shower curtain at?
When you wash your shower curtains in a washing machine, it is really important to place them at the appropriate temperature so that your shower curtains are not damaged or compromised.
This is why it is always important to look at the user manual to determine the temperature range for your specific shower curtain’s material.
Shower curtains made out of cotton material shouldn’t have any problem with hot temperatures but shower curtains made with plastic or vinyl will have melting issues if they are put in a washing machine with high temperatures.
This is why as a general rule of thumb, you should set the temperature of your washing machine at 30 or 40 degrees Celsius to wash your shower curtains.
What setting to wash a shower curtain in the washer?
The setting at which you place your shower curtains in the washer to wash is also very important to take into account.
This is because too much of a harsh wash cycle can potentially damage the integrity of your shower curtains.
Therefore, you should set your washing machine on the highest cleaning level for shower curtains made with cotton material.
Additionally, if the shower curtains are made with plastic or vinyl, you should use a low cleaning setting to make sure of proper cleaning without any damage.
How do you wash a shower curtain in the washing machine?
It is important to be knowledgeable about the proper steps that you need to follow to wash a shower curtain in the washing machine as this will help you to remove your confusion.
Identify the eligibility:
One of the very first things that you need to do while washing your shower curtain in the washing machine is that you must have to identify whether or not that particular shower curtain you have can be washed in a washing machine.
Accordingly, if you have a plastic or vinyl shower curtain, it is more than ok to put them in the washing machine to get rid of all the problems.
Moreover, shower curtains made out of cotton, polyester, linen, and so on can also be easily cleaned in a washing machine with mild detergent.
Gather all the elements:
After you are done deciding on the eligibility, you now need to make sure you have all the elements ready at your disposal.
Therefore, you have to make sure you have a towel, vinegar, baking soda, liquid solutions, and so on.
Remove the hooks:
In this step, you now need to make sure that your shower curtains are removed safely from the hooks.
Accordingly, this is really important to remove all the metal hooks because the metal hooks can get damaged or develop rust.
Place your shower curtain in the washer:
This is the time when you have to toss your shower curtains into the washing machine.
In addition, if you see that your shower curtains contain a lot of stains from all the water spots and soap suds, then you must have to treat these stains first before putting your shower curtains into the washer directly.
Add towels:
In this step, you have to add some white towels to the washer so that your shower curtains don’t get all tangled up or don’t get wrinkled from sticking to each other.
This is because curtains made out of vinyl or plastic can be very slippery and they won’t clean themselves by swirling and that’s why it is really important to put some towels in your washing machine.
This is why the presence of the towel will help scrub the stains, mold, dirt, and so on off of the shower curtains to leave you with a properly cleaned one.
Add laundry detergent:
You have to be careful while placing laundry detergent in your washing machine because the laundry detergent should be mild and shower curtain friendly.
Therefore, you also have to make sure that you put a standard amount of laundry detergent and also ½ cup of baking soda in the wash cycle of your washing machine.
Start the machine:
In this step, you just need to normally start your washing machine and wait for all the shower curtains to get thoroughly cleaned.
For that, you have to make sure that you set your washing machine to the highest cleaning level and select the hot wash cycle.
In addition, when your washing machine is done with the washing cycle and is now progressing towards the rinse cycle, you now need to make sure to add half a cup of vinegar which will be very necessary to combat the stains.
Accordingly, after taking out your shower curtains from the washing machine, just hook them back to the shower curtain rod because it is necessary to let the shower curtains drip dry rather than drying them in sun.
3 other ways to wash shower curtain
Although having shower curtains cleaned in a washing machine is the best route to follow but if this option isn’t available to you then there are other ways to wash your shower curtains.
Hand wash:
One of the traditional ways of cleaning your shower curtains is with your hands and therefore, all you have to do is to use some cleaning liquids with hot water and scrub your shower curtain to make sure all the mold and mildew are eradicated.
Bleach wash:
Another very effective way to clean your shower curtain is to use bleach on your white or transparent shower curtains. Bleach’s chemicals have the potential to eradicate any type of stubborn stains, mold, bacteria, and so on.
Vinegar or baking soda wash:
You can also do a vinegar or baking soda wash for your shower curtains to make sure they are cleaned and bacteria-free.
Accordingly, vinegar is a very good cleaning solution whose acidic properties have the potential to combat stains.
Additionally, when it comes to baking soda, it has the potential to remove mold from your shower curtains. So, the combined usage of this can successfully remove all the filth from your shower curtains.
Therefore, all you need is to sprinkle some baking soda on the stains to clean them, and lastly, you just need to soak your shower curtains in a vinegar wash to wash them.
Final Thoughts
Nothing can be more beneficial than having your shower curtains adequately cleaned in a washing machine. This is because the washing machine can ensure that all the germs, mold, and mildew are eradicated from the shower curtains thoroughly and effectively.