Blogs > Green your Home > Bed & Bath
Shower Curtains
by Stephanie P.
Help me find a sustainable shower curtain
I have a vinyl? pvc? who knows - but it's definitely not sustainable - shower curtain that I've had for nearly 10 years. I just realized this after looking at old photos of my apartment. Wow. I've kept it mainly because I like the clear/silver dot design that is no longer offered. But it's old and looks it, not a good reason to add it to the recycling pile, but after reading about off-gassing from vinyl and pvc curtains, I'd like to find a sustainable one as a replacement. Online I've searched and only have found the various claims that hemp is resistant to bacteria and mold, can be washed, but wear thin or tear. Plus the hemp ones are expensive, and not translucent, which I need to get some light into my shower.
So what do I do? Is there a safe bio-plastic? alternative? I'd love a translucent material but not pvc or vinyl, if you know of any please post a review, thanks!
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The shower curtain we hate to love
I have an aging vinyl shower curtain -- it has pink lawn flamingos on it -- I've trimmed down the bottom edge because it was collecting mildew and the grommets are rusting. Like Stephanie P - I've read all the reports about vinyl and offgassing. Vinyl is a problem all the way down the production line.
So - what do you do with an old vinyl shower curtain? I've had a nylon curtain in the past -- it was washable and worked great (it ended up staying with a former housemate). My shower curtain will be around for a long time -- though the grommets may rust away. How do I dispose of it?
Also - bathrooms are small, dark places. Using a clear shower curtain allows me to shower without using the light -- so it's a choice between turning on more lights or keeping the clear shower curtain. What's a girl to do?
Jenn's keywords: vinyl shower curtain, nylon
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Sally K. says:
actually the hemp curtains wear well...they do mildew if not properly cared for...I have one in my bathroom that doesn't have much light (no ceiling light) and found that the hydrogen peroxide bleached hemp curtain lets in more light than most other curtains that I have had; a cheaper alternative is cotton duck....go to web sites such as terralunasol.net or environmentallysoundproducts.com and compare prices