The New York Times - Give your bathroom a little personality

A variety of cleaning supplies needed to clean a shower curtain, shown side by side.
How to Clean Your Shower Curtain

Things New Moms Need That Nobody Tells You About
A pair of heather linen blackout curtains on a black curtain rod.
The Best Blackout Curtains
The text, 'Top 50 Bathroom Picks' in front of a background of rubber duckies.
50 Wirecutter Picks to Glow Up Your Bathroom for $50 or Less
Read more from Home

Looking for something else?
A variety of cleaning supplies needed to clean a shower curtain, shown side by side.
How to Clean Your Shower Curtain

Things New Moms Need That Nobody Tells You About
A pair of heather linen blackout curtains on a black curtain rod.
The Best Blackout Curtains
The text, 'Top 50 Bathroom Picks' in front of a background of rubber duckies.
50 Wirecutter Picks to Glow Up Your Bathroom for $50 or Less
Read more from Home

The research
A classic waffle-weave shower curtain: Threshold Waffle Weave Shower Curtain
A modern cotton shower curtain: Brooklinen Shower Curtain
A statement vinyl shower curtain: Quiet Town Sun Shower
A beachy shower curtain: Crate & Barrel Kasura Stripe Watercolor Shower Curtain
A luxurious shower curtain: Parachute Turkish Shower Curtain
A floral shower curtain: Anthropologie Agneta Organic Cotton Shower Curtain
Our pick: Maytex Water Repellent Fabric Shower Curtain Liner
Our pick: Amazer Shower Curtain Hooks
How we picked and tested
Care and maintenance
Sustainability
Other good shower curtains and accessories
The competition
Sources
A classic waffle-weave shower curtain: Threshold Waffle Weave Shower Curtain
A white Threshold Waffle Weave Shower Curtain hung on a shower rod.
Photo: Marki Williams
Our pick

Threshold Waffle Weave Shower Curtain
Neutral and spa-like
This affordable shower curtain will fit well in any bathroom. It’s machine-washable and made from a durable cotton-polyester waffle weave, but when we used it without a liner, it took longer to dry than our all-cotton picks.

$25 from Target
Best for: Someone who wants a classic, easy-to-clean shower curtain that will look good in any style of bathroom, and someone who doesn’t mind a cotton-polyester blend.

A closeup of a white Threshold Waffle Weave Shower Curtain against a porcelain tub, showcasing the waffle texture of the fabric.
A closeup of a white Threshold Waffle Weave Shower Curtain, showcasing the waffle texture of the fabric.
The Threshold Waffle Weave Shower Curtain has a clean-looking aesthetic and a pleasing heft to it. But it took longer to dry after use than some non-polyester options. Photos: Marki Williams

A closeup of a white Threshold Waffle Weave Shower Curtain against a porcelain tub, showcasing the waffle texture of the fabric.

A closeup of a white Threshold Waffle Weave Shower Curtain, showcasing the waffle texture of the fabric.
The Threshold Waffle Weave Shower Curtain is a stylish and versatile curtain that provides a spa-like feel at an affordable price. It comes in a clean white or soft gray—two neutral options that coordinate well with the decor of most bathrooms.

It’s well made and classic. The cotton-polyester material has a nice heft to it, and it’s labeled Oeko-Tex Standard 100 (a third-party certification verifying that it’s free from some potentially harmful chemicals). The curtain’s even, strong stitching withstood repeated laundering in my apartment building’s very old (and far from gentle) washer and dryer. This curtain also gives a bathroom that classic spa look.

It’s easy to hang and take down. This shower curtain has metal grommets, as opposed to unreinforced buttonholes; the grommets made the always-arduous process of hanging and taking down a curtain significantly easier.

It’s easy to care for. You can toss it in the washer as well as the dryer, though it will probably shrink.

Flaws but not dealbreakers
It shrinks quite a bit. After we put this shower curtain through two laundry cycles (cold-water wash, low-heat tumble dry), we found the width shrank by 2 inches and the length by 4 inches. These new dimensions were still more than adequate for our bathtub setup, but those lost inches may be a dealbreaker for you.

It stays wet longer. If you’re not using a liner, know that the thickness of the fabric (which lends the curtain its luxurious feel) also lengthens the time it takes the curtain to dry (just under six hours for us).

Specs:
Listed size: 72 by 72 inches
Size of our test sample out of the package: 72 by 72 inches
Size after washing: 70 by 68 inches
Materials: 60% cotton, 40% polyester (white); 30% cotton, 70% polyester (gray)
Colors: white, gray
Cleaning instructions: Machine-wash and tumble-dry this shower curtain.
A modern cotton shower curtain: Brooklinen Shower Curtain
A light blue pinstriped Brooklinen Shower Curtain hung from a shower rod.
Photo: Marki Williams
Our pick

Brooklinen Shower Curtain
Quick-drying cotton
This shower curtain comes in four modern patterns. It can be used without a liner, and it’s machine-washable, so it’s one of our lower-maintenance (but pricier) picks.

$69 from Brooklinen
Best for: Someone who wants a 100% cotton shower curtain that dries impressively fast and comes in modern patterns, and someone who doesn’t want to bother with a liner.

A light blue pinstriped Brooklinen Shower Curtain hung from a shower rod in a modern bathroom.
Photo: Marki Williams
The Brooklinen Shower Curtain is a lightweight, 100% cotton curtain that comes in four modern and cheery patterns (including the Oxford Stripe one we tested). We think it would look good in almost any bathroom.

You can skip the liner. Other fabric shower curtains we tested without using a liner took hours to dry, but the Brooklinen was mostly dry in minutes. The lightweight cotton fabric is tightly woven, and it prevented water leakage so well that we suspected it might have been treated with a waterproof coating; the company promises it was not. We dumped water on this curtain and sprayed it using the showerhead; the water mostly just beaded and rolled off, absorbing minimally.

It doesn’t shrink much. After two rounds in the laundry, this shower curtain lost only 3 inches in width and 1¾ inches in length—not bad for a curtain that’s 100% cotton (only the Anthropologie Agneta and Crate & Barrel Kasura curtains shrank less, but just barely).

A closeup of a light blue pinstriped Brooklinen Shower Curtain.
The Brooklinen Shower Curtain is shown here in a modern Oxford Stripe pattern. It also comes in a cheery pattern with oranges, abstract black dashes, and a gridded windowpane design. Photo: Marki Williams
Flaws but not dealbreakers
It’s pricey. This curtain costs almost three times as much as the Threshold Waffle Weave Shower Curtain (depending on sales).

It’s not for the shy. This curtain is airy and lightweight enough to feel like a bed sheet hanging in your bathroom, and that means your body’s outline could be visible through it. If you need an opaque layer between you and the world while you’re showering, we recommend adding our shower-liner pick.

It wrinkles. After machine-washing and -drying this shower curtain twice, it was quite wrinkled, more so than any of our other picks. (It smoothed out with the steam from a hot shower.)

It has buttonhole loops. We don’t think these will be a dealbreaker for most people, but they are more cumbersome to put on and take off of hooks than metal grommets—especially if you like to launder your curtains often.

Specs:
Listed size: 72 by 72 inches
Size of our test sample out of the package: 71¾ by 72¾ inches
Size after washing: 68¾ by 71 inches
Materials: 100% cotton
Colors: four graphic patterns
Cleaning instructions: Machine-wash this curtain on cool or warm cycle; line-dry or dry on low heat and low tumble cycle.
A statement vinyl shower curtain: Quiet Town Sun Shower
A lavender, transparent Quiet Town Sun Shower hung from a shower rod.

Marki Williams

A well-designed shower curtain is an easy way to breathe new life into a boring bathroom. Our picks are not only effective and durable, but also art pieces in their own right.

Add instant personality to your bathroom→

We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more ›

Liven up the loo

Four of our top pick bath towels, from Frontgate, Riley, Fieldcrest, and the Onsen Bath Towel.

The best bath towel

We’ve researched hundreds of towels and tested dozens. This is the softest, warmest, and most durable one we’ve found.

Looking for something else?

Upgrades We’d Make to Any Bathroom
The text, 'Top 50 Bathroom Picks' in front of a background of rubber duckies.
50 Wirecutter Picks to Glow Up Your Bathroom for $50 or Less
A variety of cleaning supplies needed to clean a shower curtain, shown side by side.
How to Clean Your Shower Curtain

The Best Shower Mat
Read more from Home

The research
Why you should trust us
The grippiest rug: Lands’ End Supima Cotton Non-skid Bath Rug
A luxurious towel mat: Frontgate Resort Bath Mat
A spa-style wood platform: ToiletTree Products Bamboo Bath Mat
How to choose a bath mat
How we picked and tested
Care and maintenance
What to look forward to
The competition
Sources
Why you should trust us
Half the battle of keeping a great bath mat around is making sure it’s easy to clean and maintain. That’s why we sought out experts who could give us rug- and mat-cleaning advice, including Jolie Kerr, Elaine Cella, Liz Eggert, and Mary Johnson of Procter & Gamble. We also looked at hundreds of bath rugs at a range of online retailers and closely considered customer reviews.

The grippiest rug: Lands’ End Supima Cotton Non-skid Bath Rug
The slate blue Lands' End Supima Non-skid Bath Rug partially rolled up on a pale tile floor.

A handsome bath mat

Our favorite bathroom mats aren’t just functional and easy to clean—they’re also good-looking.

A toilet stool is picutred on a yellow background.

Toilet stools worth the floor space

If the MoMa Design Store sold a toilet stool, we think it would be this one.

Small bathroom? Here’s how we'd organize it

The linus medicine cabinet organizers stacked with bathroom products in a white shelf.

Everything has a designated place. So satisfying. Photo: Alex Arpaia

Whether you’re looking for clever solutions for towel storage or good ways to keep medicine cabinets tidy, the items we recommend should help clear clutter and make your tiny bathroom feel more zen.

The best small-space storage solutions→

Enjoy your beautiful bathroom.

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