How to Clean a Shower Curtain Liner Without a Washing Machine

Knowing how to clean a shower curtain liner without a washing machine is extremely important because shower curtain liners can get extremely dirty. Soap scum, mildew, and even mold can accumulate on the shower curtain liner if not cleaned properly. 

Think about how often you take a shower, or bathe your kids. Every time you use the bath, your shower curtain liner gets exposed to soap scum. If left unclean, mold starts to grow – and no one wants to deal with that.

Let us show you the simple way of cleaning a shower curtain liner by hand, and without a washer. After reading this post, you’ll be left with a spotless shower curtain liner.

How to Clean a Shower Curtain Liner Without a Washing Machine

For whatever reason, you might not be able to wash your shower curtain liner in the washer. Maybe it’s not machine washable, or you’d just rather take things into your own hands.

Fabric shower curtain liners made of polyester may be able to go inside the washer, however, plastic vinyl shower curtain liners are a little bit more tricky to clean. 

But, there’s no need to worry, we’ve listed all the best methods on how to clean a shower curtain liner without a washing machine whether it’s fabric or vinyl.

Hand Washing a Fabric Shower Curtain Liner

We’ll go ahead and start with how to wash a fabric shower curtain liner by hand. Polyester is a common material used in clothing, so hand washing a cloth shower curtain liner is very similar to hand washing your clothes. 

If you know how to hand wash clothes then these methods should be a very easy task for you to learn. 

Laundry Detergent

You can hand wash your dirty shower curtain liner with laundry detergent right in your bathtub. Washing with laundry detergent is best for fabric shower curtain liners.

Many fabric liners are made from polyester which should wash well with a mild detergent. Follow these steps below to wash your fabric shower curtain liner:

1. Remove the liner from the shower rod, as well as the shower rings if possible.
2. Place your shower liner into the bathtub, or bathroom sink, and fill the tub with hot water until the liner is submerged.
3. Add a small amount of laundry detergent – about ¼ cup laundry detergent.
4. Mix the water around with the liner until the water and liner become soapy.
5. Let the shower liner soak for around 10 minutes.
6. After the liner has soaked, wash it by squishing and squeezing the liner in the washer until the water becomes dirty.
7. Drain the water and rinse with warm water until the liner is no longer soapy. 
8. Hang the shower liner back on the shower rod with the rings.
9. Allow time to air dry before showering or bathing.

Avoid using fabric softener as it’s hard to remove from cloth shower curtain liners.

Dish Soap

Dish soap can be used as a substitute for laundry detergent. It won’t wash the fabric curtain liner as well as detergent, so only use this method if your liner isn’t too dirty. 

You can take the shower liner down and wash it with the same method as the laundry detergent, or you can spot clean. Actually, the best way to use dish soap to clean a shower liner is for spot cleaning. 

Follow these steps to learn how to clean your liner with dish soap:

1. You can either take the shower curtain down or leave it hanging to clean it this way.
2. Spray the shower liner with water using the shower head.
3. Mix dish soap and water in a spray bottle and spray the entire shower liner.
4. Leave for 5 minutes and wipe with a sponge or small towel. 

Hand Washing a Plastic Shower Curtain Liner

Plastic vinyl shower curtains take a bit more elbow grease to get cleaned. You usually need to scrub these shower curtains until the grime has been removed. 

Plastic shower curtains are great for keeping water from escaping the shower, however, they aren’t so great at keeping soap from sticking to them. Though, fear not, the methods below are guaranteed to get those stubborn stains out of your plastic curtain.

Vinegar

Vinegar is always my go to natural all purpose cleaner for everything. It’s the perfect mold killer. The best way of using vinegar is by creating a water and vinegar solution.

You can use cold water and distilled white vinegar in a spray bottle or you can apply a cup of vinegar directly to your liner in the bathtub.

You can either take the shower liner down or clean it while it’s hanging with a spray bottle. If using the spray method:

1. Mix 1 part vinegar with 2 parts water in a spray bottle. 
2. Spray the entire shower curtain liner with the mixture and allow it to sit for 10 minutes.
3. With a coarse sponge, scrub the entire shower liner.
4. Rinse with warm water from the shower head.
5. Allow to dry.

If you’d rather take the liner down to clean, submerge it in the bathtub with a cup of white vinegar and ¼ cup dish soap. Scrub with a coarse sponge or brush and rinse with clean water.

Bleach

Bleach can also be used to remove mold and tough stains if you need something stronger than vinegar. To use bleach to clean your liner, allow it to soak in the bathtub with 1 cup of bleach.

This is best if you know you have mold growing on the plastic material. If you’re willing to use bleach, you can use it as a way to treat the liner before washing with soap.

Allow the liner to soak in bleach and water for around 20 minutes and then scrub with soap or detergent (powder or liquid). 

Baking Soda

Another favorite natural cleaner I like to use. Baking soda removes tough stains from soap scum and mildew on plastic shower liners. 

You can leave the shower liner hanging or take it down to clean with baking soda. Simply sprinkle some baking soda all over a wet shower curtain liner or on the stains and scrub with a coarse scrub brush or sponge. Then rinse with warm water. 

Baking soda can be used along with 1 cup vinegar as well to create a stronger cleaning solution.

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser 

A magic eraser is an excellent and easy way to clean plastic shower curtains. You don’t need any other soap or cleaning agent. The magic eraser does it all.

All you need to do is rinse your shower liner with warm water. Wet your magic eraser under running water and scrub your shower liner. It should remove all the stains, though, if it doesn’t get them all out you can pretreat with bleach or vinegar to loosen up the dirt.

You can also take down your plastic liner to lay it down on the floor or tub and scrub with the Magic Eraser for a more effective clean.

How to Remove Mold Off Shower Curtain Liner

If you’ve tried all the different methods above and none of them were able to remove the mold from your shower liner, you can try a mold spray to get the mold out.

For situations where the mold is packed on your shower liner, a mold spray can help make it easier to clean.

All you need to do is spray the shower curtain liner with the mold spray and let sit for 30 minutes. Then rinse with warm water and allow to dry. The mold spray should kill the mold without having to scrub or wipe the liner. 

You can use the mold spray before or after washing your shower liner with soap.

How to Clean Shower Curtain Rings 

Whether you have plastic or metal shower curtain rings, white distilled vinegar can be used to clean them. To do this, soak the rings in a mixture of 1 part vinegar and 2 parts water. 

Allow the rings to soak for around 2 hours. Rinse the rings with water and scrub with an old toothbrush if there is any dirt left on them. 

Rinse them and hang them back up on the rod to dry before placing them back on the shower curtain.

How to Keep Your Shower Curtain Liner Clean

It’s recommended to clean your shower curtain liner once every 2 weeks to keep it clean. However, to keep your shower curtain from getting dirty, follow these tips below:

• Keep your bathroom well ventilated to allow the shower curtain liner to dry after each use. You can open a window or turn the fan on for 20 minutes to let the humidity escape after showering. 
• Always open the shower curtain liner completely to allow it to dry and so moisture doesn’t stay inside the folds when closed.
• Spray or scrub the bottom of your shower liner after each use. Especially after bathing kids because we know how dirty the water can get. When the shower curtain sits in soapy, dirty water, the soap scum sticks to the shower curtain liner. You can spray the bottom with a vinegar solution to fight the soap scum. If you can remember to lift the shower curtain liner above the shower rod when bathing your kids, that would be best.
• Switch your soap bar with a shower gel or shower cream. Soap bars create lots of soap scum from the wax they’re made from. Switching soaps can help reduce the amount of soap scum on your shower liner.

Final Take: How to Clean a Shower Curtain Liner Without a Washing Machine

As you can see, cleaning a shower curtain liner without a washing machine is as easy as machine washing. There are ways to clean it without even taking it down.

So go ahead and try out any one of these methods and take a look at how clean your shower curtain turns out.