January 9, 2008

hang up

happy new year to all our readers! we wish you all the best in 2008. and (naturally) a new year comes with resolutions (though every year i say i won't make any). this year i am trying out the more encompassing idea of living a "conscious" life. thinking (and in turn questioning) more.

my early christmas gift (the shelf)
our bathroom sans shower curtain

and now, as we nearly complete our bathroom redo, i have been put in charge of the accessories. earth friendly i say. no plastic please. (sorry rubber ducky.) i would very much like a linen or hemp shower curtain (this one in particular) but worry about the fine print stating that a liner is required. as usual, i am turning to our very knowledgeable community for guidance. does anyone have any experience with these products? any suggestions? i would be so grateful.

and what - if any - resolutions have you made?
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23 comments:

  1. Lauren Christine1/9/08, 1:54 PM

    I don't know how you feel about polyester, but here's a plastic free option:

    http://www.amazon.com/Croscill-Fabric-Shower-Curtain-Liner/dp/B000BHICM0/ref=pd_bxgy_k_text_b

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  2. jenni1/9/08, 2:16 PM

    Lurker delurking here. We just use a cotton curtain and no liner. Unless the spray is directed right at the curtain, we don't seem to need a liner. We put the curtain right in the bathtub, like a liner, tho, so if you have a curtain that must remain outside the tub, what about using another cotton or linen curtain as your liner?

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  3. Emily1/9/08, 2:18 PM

    I got a canvas shower curtain from Target a few years back. We are still using it. No liner needed, despite the packaging admonitions. Water will spray through it if you turn the shower head directly at the curtain, but for everyday showers we have no problems with water outside the tub. Also, I find that it stays much cleaner than a plastic shower curtain. I've never washed it and there is no mold or any visible dirt.

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  4. remember that time1/9/08, 4:23 PM

    We use the above mentioned two cotton shower curtains except one is a shower curtain I bought and the other is a single flat sheet that I cut to the right size and hemmed (the long edge). I hemmed it so that it only overlaps the tub by about 5 inches. We have a pretty mold environment and even vinyl gets gross but the cotton can be tossed in the washer, washed on cold with an enzyme cleaner and hung back up to dry. Good luck.

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  5. Kerstin Svendsen1/9/08, 9:20 PM

    sew green readers, you are rad.

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  6. Anonymous1/9/08, 9:32 PM

    Target carries polyester liners, too. They weren't in the section with the regular plastic liners, but were with the regular shower curtains.

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  7. Anonymous1/10/08, 7:04 AM

    This website has an organic hemp curtain in different colors. They say it doesn't require a liner and water won't splash through.

    http://www.rawganique.com/BAsc1.htm

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  8. historicstitcher1/10/08, 10:02 AM

    Howers existed long before the advent of vinyl andpolyester liners!

    Choose the fabric one you like, and be prepared to throw it in the laundry on occasion.

    As others have already said: just don't spray directly at it. But I have to say, my son uses the hand-shower (it hangs lower in the tub) and as often as he sprays water directly at out fabric curtain, only a fine mist somes through.

    I always make sure to close the curtain to allow it to dry well, though. Don't leave it shoved over to one side of the tub too long after a shower.

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  9. Tracy1/10/08, 10:41 AM

    thank you thank you thank you!!!

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  10. anitapitabread1/10/08, 11:15 AM

    I know you want to avoid using plastic, but how do you feel about reusing plastic?

    You might be able to make a liner or really cool shower curtain out of reclaimed billboard vinyl. It's a synthetic material, but if you could find a source, you'd possibly be helping to keep this material out of a landfill somewhere.

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  11. Jenn @ Frugal Upstate1/10/08, 1:33 PM

    I, like several other commenters, have a double curtain on mine-pretty cloth on the outside, plain white cloth liner (polyester from Target) on the inside. The inside one hangs in the tub. It gets wet, but the water doesn't go through it. The exterior one stays nice and dry. When in the inside one gets icky, I throw it in the wash. I don't bother drying it, but just hang it back on the hooks to dry in place.

    BTW, nice site-I added you to my feed reader a month or so ago.

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  12. Unknown1/13/08, 7:41 AM

    I feel like most hotels I've been to lately only have fabric curtains, no liner...and they seem to do the trick! Your bathroom looks beautiful!

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  13. Rebecca1/14/08, 6:16 AM

    My mother gave me a polyester liner, but when I haven't had a liner, I use a heavy (duck or duck-like) curtain and tuck it into the tub when showering. Then squeeze it dry. If the hemp is too loose a weave, you MAY get spray... but why not try it out?

    I agree, beautiful bathroom!

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  14. Shona~ LALA dex press1/14/08, 7:24 PM

    http://www.ecobathroom.com/shop/cottonshowercurtain.html

    I know that my mother has an organic cotton one that she does not use a liner for, the advice from Historic Stiticher is the same she would give (trust me! when I go home for a visit I am constantly being told to close the curtain to avoid mold)

    I Googled "Organic Cotton Shower Curtain" looking for the company she bought hers from and came up with this
    http://www.ecobathroom.com/shop/cottonshowercurtain.html
    and it requires no liner!

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  15. Juli1/18/08, 7:35 PM

    I use a hemp shower curtain.

    http://www.rawganique.com/BAsc1.htm

    No liner. Love it. Love that it is so natural.

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  16. Claudia Davila (Fran)1/20/08, 11:51 AM

    Hemp is also naturally antibacterial and won't go moldy. I have one and it's great -- just tuck into the tub during the shower, and let hang-dry outside the tub after, throwing it in the laundry once in a while.

    Also, who says you can't have a rubber ducky?? natural rubber ducky :-)

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  17. Anonymous1/23/08, 2:47 PM

    I'll just add my two bits and say, whatever you choose, GET TWO! That way you can hang up another shower curtain as soon as you take the one in current use down for laundering.

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  18. Anonymous1/24/08, 7:11 PM

    I've had a cotton shower curtain with no liner for about a year now. Water outside the tub is not a problem but mold is. I was wondering what enzyme cleaner others have used with success. Love the tile.

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  19. Rebekah1/28/08, 11:19 AM

    Just found your site- I think I'll bookmark you! But my comment is that whatever you do decide, if you want that specific curtain, order it soon! Gaiam is going out of business soon, which is sad, but you may also get it on discount...

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  20. rdesigns2/11/08, 1:26 PM

    I actually have the shower curtain you linked to and use no liner. It certainly gets wet, but dries beautifully and never molds.

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  21. lauren2/13/08, 11:23 AM

    i hate to be the bearer of bad news, but polyester is made of plastic (and plastic is made from petroleum).

    i'd nix the liner, especially if you go with hemp. as claudia said hemp has natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties, so it's perfect for the shower.

    (sorry for the science lesson, i'm a materials librarian, so this is what i blah blah about all day.)

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  22. Anonymous2/13/08, 3:40 PM

    This is wonderful! We need to get rid of our old, yucky vinyl shower curtain and hemp sounds great. I even have some vintage hemp in my studio, but I'm not sure I'd want to make a shower curtain out of it...

    Time to sew!

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  23. Tracy2/18/08, 10:30 PM

    thanks all!!

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