Who knew there were so many choices when picking out shower curtains? You used to just pick up the plastic pouch, take the shower curtain out, be overwhelmed by the plastic smell, and then hang it in the bathroom to air out for awhile before actually using it. Now there are many choices to sort through before determining which shower curtain will work for you. In this article, we will look at general construction and hanging choices.
Number of Pieces
There are different shower curtains on the market that allow you to have one curtain, two separate curtains, or two pieces attached to one curtain unit. The one curtain choice means that you will not need a separate liner to use with the curtain. The two separate pieces could be the shower curtain and the liner, or if you wanted to have an outer decorative curtain and a water resistant curtain on the inside. There is another curtain on the market that has an outer curtain and the ability to snap on an inner curtain. This makes for one full unit, with the two pieces attached together.
Attachments
There are a number of ways that the shower curtain can be attached to the rod. There is the familiar plastic rings that you open and line up with the holes and snap closed over the rod to hold the curtain. There are metal rings that you can use as well, similar to the plastic rings where you open an area of the ring and slide the curtain through attaching everything to the rod. Another choice is to have hooks that go over the rod where the shower curtain slips onto the hooks. Shower curtains also have button/snap options where pieces of fabric are folded over the curtain rod and snapped or buttoned on the corresponding area that is attached to the main curtain. An interesting choice is the shower curtains that have built-in grommets where the shower curtain is pushed onto the rod. There are no snaps, buttons or hooks. The shower curtain is merely pushed on or pulled off.
Space Enlargers
Nothing is worse in the shower than having the shower curtain stick to you as you are trying to wash yourself. Sometimes the shower area seems so small. If the wind blows either through a window or air from under the door, then the curtain comes even closer to your wet skin. There are two fixes for this and each one gives you the ability to feel like you can breathe and stretch out. The first is to use an arched shower rod. This mean that the shower rod can take the shape of a half circle instead of the straight rod that is so familiar. If you do not have the arched rod, you can purchased arched curtain hooks which allow for the same result. The hooks push the shower curtain out to give you more room to wash and move around.
