Hemp Shower Curtain- Fighting the Mold and Plastic Monsters

Living in Nova Scotia has lots of perks, but also comes with some pretty clear realities- dampness, wet, drizzle, rain and... mold in the bathrooms. Yep, unless you have a ridiculous fan in your bathroom and a wicked dehumidifier, mildew in the caulking around the tub is a part of life.

Although in writing it looks kinda bad, really it just means that you have to change the caulking around your tub about once a year... make sure to clean your tub and keep an eye on how it's doing. Not difficult and not that gross. I did realize, however, once we moved to Vernon- a semi-arid desert- that mold around the tub was reason to panic, run screaming out of your house and worry incessantly about cancer.

Needless to say, our apartment doesn't have awesome ventilation and it was only a matter of time before we were going to have to change the caulking. However, what I wasn't prepared for was the shower curtain.

I clean our bathroom at least every other day, which includes scrubbing the tub and lower part of the curtain. Do you know how difficult it is to scrub a hanging curtain? UGH. So difficult. After two and a half years of losing the battle of Lisa vs Mold on the shower curtain I was at my wits end. Our non-pvc plastic curtain was tossed in the washer, unhooked and scrubbed with a hard plastic brush, sprayed with my eco-cleaner every day... and Mold was proclaimed the winner. After our third non-pvc plastic shower curtain I was completely disgusted that I would have to buy yet *another* plastic curtain. Who cares if it's not pvc- it's still plastic, not-recyclable and totally wasteful.

So after three years of thinking about it, I caved and bought a hemp shower curtain. One reason why I waited so long was the price. Hemp shower curtains run from 70-100$- ack! So much money for a shower curtain. But no frigging way was I going to buy another plastic curtain. The lady at P'Lovers assured me she hasn't bought a curtain in three years and adores hers. Honestly, I think they are ugly and decided to keep our pretty cover part and put the hemp behind it.

Three weeks later and what do I think?


Hemp Shower curtain PROS:

• Made in Canada and from a natural renewable fibre
• Naturally anti-mold
• Dries really really fast
• No plastic smell... no plastic! :)
• SO easy to clean, just toss it in the wash with towels etc once a week.
• Not even a smidgeon of mold or dirt.

Hemp Shower curtain CONS:

• Gets pretty wet. My shower (first of the day) I keep the curtain outside of the tub to decrease curtain wetness... but it has to be moved to the inside to dry or it will drip all over the floor. Which isn't good since our tub isn't properly sealed and the floor is a bit spongy...
• Since it gets wet, we no longer can leave our bathmat on the tub, as it won't dry. It now has to hang on a towel rack, and our towels are now on the back of the door. Ah well.
• It's ugly... I wouldn't want to have it as my only shower curtain.
• It needs to be washed once a week, or at the very most every two weeks. Otherwise mold will grow and you'll have to cut and re-hem the curtain. 
• The price.... sigh.

Overall, I would never go back. Cleaning this shower curtain is so much easier, and doesn't require one whole load only for the curtain. Tuesdays have become our shower curtain wash day, and we usually toss in whatever rags, towels or facecloths that need to be washed as well. So far, our regular Bio-vert laundry detergent has been working wonderfully. No harsh chemicals required.


As for the price... it will eventually pay itself off when you consider that I would have to had continued buying plastic shower curtains. It's something you could put on your gift list, or 'save up for' list. Still, I am really enjoying putting an end to the plastic cycle, the fact that I no longer am breathing in the nasty chemicals released by heat and moisture from the plastic and the ease of keeping mold at bay.

Blessings!

article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com