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According to decorator Carrie Carrollo, a good shower curtain is the easiest, cheapest, and most impactful way to make a “boring rental bathroom” more appealing. There are tons of options beyond vinyl sheets printed with novelty patterns (although if that’s what you want, we’ve got you) — from simple, ultradurable PEVA to hand-sewn canvas inspired by Joself Albers’s color studies.
What we’re looking for
Material
Shower curtains can be divided into two main categories: those made from impermeable, waterproof materials, and fabric curtains that can absorb water and therefore need to be paired with a waterproof liner to keep them from getting soggy. In the first category, the most common materials are PEVA or EVA (polyethylene vinyl acetate and ethylene vinyl acetate), types of vinyl. These materials are popular because they’re made without chlorine, an ingredient in PVC that is associated with pollution and adverse health effects. (PVC is also the culprit behind that horrible new-shower-curtain smell, which results from the material off-gassing; a PEVA or EVA curtain doesn’t have the same chemical scent.)
Fabric curtains are made from a range of lightweight materials, such as cotton percale, canvas, and linen. They’ll need to occasionally be taken off their hooks and put through the wash to keep mold and grime in check, but are usually nicer-looking than synthetic curtains and, under the right circumstances, can last for longer.
Size
The standard size for a shower curtain is 72 inches by 72 inches, which gives you about a foot of clearance compared to the width of an average-size bathtub. Some curtain styles on this list include extra-tall options, in case your rod is mounted high, and curtains designed for stall showers, which are 36 inches wide.
Best overall shower curtain
Material: 12-gauge EVA | Size: 72 inches wide by 72 or 84 inches long
Quiet Town’s Sun Shower is the rare vinyl shower curtain that looks good enough to use on its own. Strategist senior editor Crystal Martin owns it in bright orange and says that “looking out through this transparent curtain feels like wearing OJ-colored glasses,” she says. “It’s a small morning treat that I’ve come to love.”
I’ve been using the amber colorway above for over a year and absolutely love it — it’s ideal for my small apartment bathroom. The Sun Shower’s transparency makes the room seem bigger than a matte curtain would, and the color creates a rich, warm cast as the light from a window filters through it. Laura Fenton, the author of The Little Book of Living Small, agrees: “For years, I used clear plastic shower liners as my ‘shower curtain’ because they made my small bathrooms look bigger,” she says, but the problem was that they “always looked like cheap shower liners.” She describes the Sun Shower curtain as “a fancy version of my budget solution”: the same transparency with thicker, higher-quality material.
Best less-expensive shower curtain
Material: PEVA | Size: 13 sizes
This wildly popular shower curtain is made from a PEVA material that has no plasticky smell. The appeal of this curtain is its slightly thicker vinyl, which is enhanced by clear weighted stones sewn into the bottom — all designed to prevent it from blowing up against you while you shower. It comes in 14 solid colors and a range of sizes, including stall-width options and four different lengths.
Best fabric shower curtains
Best waffle shower curtain
Material: Organic cotton | Size: 72 inches by 72 inches (pre-shrunk)
“I can’t resist anything waffle weave,” says Carrollo, “and I love this one.” It’s made of plush organic cotton and comes preshrunk, so you don’t have to worry about an awkward fit after the first wash cycle. She thinks it would be great to “balance out a bathroom with a more bold design on the walls or floor.”
Best less-expensive waffle shower curtain
Material: 60% cotton, 40% polyester | Size: 72 inches by 72 inches
For a less-expensive waffle-weave curtain, Strategist food and dining writer Emma Wartzman likes this option from Target’s in-house brand Threshold. “The white keeps my small bathroom looking clean and bright, but the waffle weave gives it just a bit of visual texture,” she says.
Best colorblocked shower curtain
Material: Cotton canvas | Size: 72 inches by 72 inches
Quiet Town’s hand-sewn canvas shower curtains have landed on multiple Strategist holiday gift guides for their solid construction, durability, and unexpected, stylish designs, such as the curtain above with a small circular portholelike window (the brand recommends pairing it with a liner to avoid spray escaping the hole). “My current shower curtain is depressing. This one, on the other hand, is fantastic,” says Strategist writer Dominique Pariso.
Best gingham shower curtain
Material: Cotton percale | Size: 72 inches by 72 inches
“It’s surprisingly difficult to find a gingham shower curtain that doesn’t look awful,” says Martin. Her search led her to this cotton-percale option from Schoolhouse, which she price-watched to buy on sale. “It was worth it,” she reports. “It’s a really nice, soft cotton; the check is the exact right size; and the color is an interesting red-earth brown.”
Best linen shower curtain
Material: Linen | Size: 72 inches by 72 inches
If you’re looking for a soft, textured curtain that’ll seamlessly match the rest of the linen throughout your house (duvet, sheets), Strategist senior editor Simone Kitchens recommends this style from Parachute. She bought it in white (it also comes in chambray gray) and says it feels soothing in any setup — including her former pink-tiled 1950s bathroom in Los Angeles.
Best combination shower curtain
Material: Cotton and PEVA | Size: 71 inches wide by 72 inches long
The Shower Liner System from Outlines combines a nontoxic, mildew-resistant, fully recyclable part called the “Keep” that you keep, and another part called the “Replen,” which is the lower portion of the shower liner that needs replacing. The Keep is made from 100 percent white cotton canvas, and the Replen is made from certified EVA — a much safer alternative to PVC. This liner system is designed to reduce plastic waste by two thirds. I’m using it now and can report that it looks great and the Replen is easy to attach.
Best synthetic shower curtains and liners
Best shower-curtain liner
Material: PEVA | Size: Five sizes, including extra-long and stall
Made with an eco-friendly PEVA material, this waterproof liner comes in clear, frosted, and white vinyl, and comes in five sizes, including an extra-long option and a narrower width for shower stalls.
Best hookless shower curtain
Material: PEVA | Size: 71 inches wide by 74 inches long
If you’ve procrastinated buying shower hooks, this hookless curtain has flexible grommets that can be mounted directly to a rod.
Best novelty shower curtain
Material: PEVA | Size: 70 inches wide by 72 inches long
If you’re looking for a more interactive PEVA curtain liner, this one has a map of the world (national capitals and major cities included) to study for the geography trivia questions while in the shower.
Best stall-size shower curtain
Material: Polyester | Size: 36 inches wide by 72 inches long
Not everyone needs a bathtub-width shower curtain; some require only a shower-width one. This version is made of durable, washable polyester and comes in 15 colors.
Some more bathroom decor we’ve written about
Our experts
• Carrie Carrollo, home decorator
• Laura Fenton, author of The Little Book of Living Small
• Simone Kitchens, Strategist senior editor
• Crystal Martin, Strategist senior editor
• Emma Wartzman, Strategist food and dining writer
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