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After additional testing, we’ve added a new upgrade pick, the Crate & Barrel Pebble Matelassé White Shower Curtain, and also now recommend the Amazer Shower Curtain Hooks.
A good-looking shower curtain is an easy and inexpensive way to spruce up even the most drab bathroom. We spent 30 hours on research, interviewed two designers and a house cleaner, and tested 13 candidates in a variety of materials to find our favorite: the Threshold White Waffle Weave Shower Curtain. It offers the best combination of good looks, reasonable price, easy care, and durable materials.
This white shower curtain will fit into any bathroom. It’s affordable, machine-washable, reinforced with metal grommets, and made from a durable cotton/polyester waffle weave.
The Threshold White Waffle Weave Shower Curtain is the best under-$40 option we found because it’s easy to clean and durable, and it has a simple, timeless style that will complement any bathroom. If you want something more decorative, we make some suggestions in the design section of this guide.
If you’d prefer a curtain with a neutral stripe pattern, this one is super-affordable and will look good in most bathrooms. For more decorative options, we recommend the entire Threshold shower curtain line.
Although not as simple and classic looking as our main pick, the Threshold Light Stripe Shower Curtain’s neutral striped pattern should work in most bathrooms. At around $20, it’s the cheapest 100-percent cotton curtain we tested. Its soft, gauzy feel stood out among the polyester and heavy cotton curtains we tested. If you’re looking for a shower curtain with a bolder pattern, we recommend that you check out the rest of the Threshold line. Decorative shower curtains can be surprisingly expensive, but Threshold has some great patterns at the most reasonable prices we’ve seen. Several of our staff members own and like their Threshold shower curtains.
This curtain is thicker and more luxurious than our other picks, with an attractive pebbled texture that elevates any bathroom. Compared to our main pick, it shrank quite a bit in the wash but still gave ample coverage.
The Crate & Barrel Pebble Matelassé White Shower Curtain is a splurge-worthy addition to any bathroom. The subtly pebbled matelassé fabric (which is Oeko-Tex certified to be free of harmful chemicals) feels pleasant in hand and drapes beautifully from a curtain rod. The 100 percent cotton material shrank about 5 inches in both dimensions in the wash (less than many other upgrade options we considered) and should still provide ample coverage. Nonetheless, if you’re worried about sizing, this shower curtain is also available in extra-long.
This curtain is easier to install than any other we recommend—the large grommets quickly and easily slide onto any rod, so it doesn’t require hooks—and it comes with a snap-on liner. It’s available in 19 colors.
Hookless curtains are especially convenient thanks to grommets that attach directly to the curtain rod and a snap-on fabric liner. The polyester Hookless Waffle Fabric Shower Curtain has a waffle weave that we think will look good in most bathrooms (and it comes in around 19 color options). It also has a semi-transparent panel along the top of the curtain, which is great for letting light into the shower without a window.
This washable polyester shower liner works as well as liners that cost twice the price. It resists soap scum better than flimsy plastic liners, and it’s thick and polished enough to double as a shower curtain.
May be out of stock
*At the time of publishing, the price was $11.
We recommend the inexpensive Maytex Water Repellent Fabric Shower Curtain Liner. It works as well as polyester liners we tried that cost twice the price, and it doesn’t attract that inevitable soap film the way plastic liners do. The Maytex liner is machine-washable, and it would be a great complement to any of our curtain picks.
These hooks slide smoothly along a curtain rod, can easily fit a curtain and its liner, and come in tons of colors.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $6.
Most shower curtains require hooks to hang them, and we like the Amazer Shower Curtain Hooks. They glide seamlessly across most shower curtain rods, they’re easy to install, and they’re simple to remove when it’s time to wash the curtain. These rings also have plenty of clearance, so they’ll easily fit a bulky shower curtain plus a liner. Unlike many rings that come in one or two metallic finishes, the Amazer hooks come in 15 colors and finishes, so you can find a good match for almost any decor (or add a fun pop to an otherwise neutral curtain).
This white shower curtain will fit into any bathroom. It’s affordable, machine-washable, reinforced with metal grommets, and made from a durable cotton/polyester waffle weave.
If you’d prefer a curtain with a neutral stripe pattern, this one is super-affordable and will look good in most bathrooms. For more decorative options, we recommend the entire Threshold shower curtain line.
This curtain is thicker and more luxurious than our other picks, with an attractive pebbled texture that elevates any bathroom. Compared to our main pick, it shrank quite a bit in the wash but still gave ample coverage.
This curtain is easier to install than any other we recommend—the large grommets quickly and easily slide onto any rod, so it doesn’t require hooks—and it comes with a snap-on liner. It’s available in 19 colors.
This washable polyester shower liner works as well as liners that cost twice the price. It resists soap scum better than flimsy plastic liners, and it’s thick and polished enough to double as a shower curtain.
May be out of stock
*At the time of publishing, the price was $11.
These hooks slide smoothly along a curtain rod, can easily fit a curtain and its liner, and come in tons of colors.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $6.
To get an idea of what makes a good shower curtain—including how to care for them and how to account for subjective design issues—Tyler Wells Lynch spoke with three experts: Jan M. Dougherty, a house cleaner who has cleaned thousands of bathrooms and shower curtains; Annie Hall, of Annie Hall Interiors in West Newton, Massachusetts; and Jeff Schwartz, of J. Schwartz Design in Boston. We also combed through a bunch of buying guides, fabric resources, and customer reviews to identify some of the basic requirements, as well as a few dealbreakers.
Alex Arpaia, who researched and wrote the 2019 update to this guide, is a Wirecutter staff writer who has also written guides to small bathrooms and bath mats.
People who don’t have glass-enclosed or doored shower stalls need, at the very least, a shower curtain liner. The difference between a liner and a curtain is sometimes confusing—a polyester or vinyl liner, which sits inside the tub, is necessary to prevent water from leaking into the tub or spraying all over your bathroom. A shower curtain, which sits outside the tub, makes your bathroom look more polished than it would with a liner alone.
If you have a clawfoot or standalone tub, you might need two curtains and two liners. The curtains and liners should trace completely around the outside and the inside of the tub, respectively. “You should measure their length to allow for a bit of overlap of the curtains and of the liners to trap water within while allowing easy entry and exit—so not too long or too short of an overlap,” Jeff Schwartz told us.
An effective shower curtain liner should keep the curtain from getting wet. Keep an eye out for mildew, and wash and dry the curtain frequently (ideally, once a month). Also be sure to suspend the curtain high enough that it doesn’t skim the bathroom floor or bath mat; shower curtains should be suspended at least 2 or 3 inches above the ground to prevent mildew.
The most important aspect of a good shower curtain is whether you like the way it looks in your bathroom. We searched for shower curtains that would look nice in the largest variety of bathrooms, focusing on minimal patterns, and white and neutral tones, or those that came in a few solid color options. We based our decision partly on the advice of designer Jeff Schwartz, who told us that a lot of people want a bathroom to have a clean, “spa-like” environment rather than being a “riot of color.”
“If that’s your preference,” Schwartz said, “we recommend choosing a neutral off-white, soothing gray, or cool pastel and using it for all your accessories.”
We focused on standard-size shower curtains, which tend to measure about 72 by 72 inches. Other sizes typically fall into the long (72 by 84 inches) or extra-long (72 by 96 inches or larger) categories; a standard tub-and-shower combo measures around 72 by 60 inches.
For most of our picks, we considered curtains that you can find for less than $40. For our upgrade pick, we expanded our search to include curtains that cost up to $100. Unless you’re going for a specialized look, there’s little reason to spend more than this.
The experts we spoke with agreed that machine-washable cotton or polyester curtains are ideal because they’re easier to clean than vinyl plastic alternatives (PEVA, EVA, PVC), and we also think they look better. Although all shower curtain fabrics are susceptible to mold and mildew, vinyl needs more manual scrubbing to remove built-up soap scum and mildew.
Most shower curtains have 12 button-hole slits along the top of the fabric for attaching the hooks that hang from the rod. Some curtains have small plastic or metal grommets in place of those holes to reinforce the fabric and protect against tearing. “Hookless” curtains have large grommets designed to slip right over the curtain rod itself. We don’t think one style is necessarily better than another, although we did find that larger grommets made hanging a curtain easier.
To find the best curtains to test, we scoured online retailers for the most popular and best-selling shower curtains that came in neutral and solid color options. This search included big-box retailers like Amazon, Home Depot, Target, and Bed Bath & Beyond, as well as home goods retailers like West Elm, Crate & Barrel, and Pottery Barn. We looked at about 60 different curtains, comparing prices, owner reviews, availability, and fabric type. We tested seven contenders for our initial review, and tried six additional curtains as possible upgrade picks for the most recent round of testing. Although we don’t think you need to spend more than $40 on a good shower curtain, there are many pricier options available, and we wanted to find the best option for people who want a more luxurious-feeling shower curtain. We also researched and tested six different sets of curtain hooks.
In our initial tests, we measured the precise height and width of each curtain to check for any deviation from the advertised sizes. We then ran each curtain through the laundry three times (warm water and tumble dry). We did a second measurement to check for shrinkage. We then hung the curtains to assess factors such as ease of use and appearance. We also looked closely at the fabric of each curtain to check for snags, fraying, rusting grommets, or any other signs of wear and tear.
We subjected our top pick to an extra abrasion test by running a steak knife across the fabric more than 50 times, after which we let a playful cat cling to the curtain while we dragged him around the kitchen.
In 2019, we laundered the curtains to check for wear and tear (like seams unraveling), and hung each of them up to assess the quality of the fabric, how well they draped, and whether they were easy to use. We simultaneously tested our hook contenders.
This white shower curtain will fit into any bathroom. It’s affordable, machine-washable, reinforced with metal grommets, and made from a durable cotton/polyester waffle weave.
The Threshold White Waffle Weave Shower Curtain is the best option if you’re seeking an affordable shower curtain that will look good in nearly any bathroom. The heavy waffle-weave fabric drapes nicely, doesn’t wrinkle, and looks better than any other white shower curtain we saw at such an affordable price. The material is also extremely durable. The curtain’s metal grommets make the curtain easier to attach than competitors without them, and the grommets help to reinforce the fabric. All of the curtains we tested shrank a little, but the Threshold White Waffle Weave, which is made from a cotton/polyester blend, shrank less than the other cotton curtains we tested, and only slightly more than those made from polyester.
The Threshold shower curtain will look great in almost any bathroom. The heavy, cotton/polyester fabric drapes nicely, and in our tests it was the only curtain that showed few, if any, signs of wrinkling after three runs through the laundry. It’s also the softest curtain we tested, featuring a subtle waffle weave that adds a bit more visual charm than a straight sheet of fabric.
This curtain also fared well in our durability tests. After combing it with a steak knife, letting a cat claw into the fabric, and washing it three times, there was only a single, 1-centimeter-long snag. To be clear, we didn’t find much snagging in any of the other curtains we tested. But because the Threshold is made from a thick waffle weave with raised sections that could theoretically snag easily, we thought it was particularly impressive that this curtain didn’t snag in our tests.
We like this curtain’s metal grommets, which reinforce the fabric and allow for easier hanging. The Threshold’s grommets were larger than those on most competitors, including the InterDesign Zeno and Pottery Barn curtains we tried, and they felt more durable. Although some people may be concerned about rusting grommets, we saw no signs of that problem after three wash cycles (we didn’t find any complaints about it in customer reviews, either).
Most linens will shrink after their first few runs through the wash. Every curtain we tested shrank somewhat after three cycles through a washing machine and dryer (even the polyester ones), but the Threshold curtain showed negligible shrinkage. Across multiple years of testing, the Threshold curtain lost only about 5 percent of its total area to shrinkage, or about 2 inches in width and 1 inch in height. That’s more shrinkage than polyester curtains we tested, but less than most of the cotton options suffered (some of our upgrade picks shrank over 20 percent). Some Target customer reviews claim shrinkage of up to 6 inches. Overall, though, we didn’t see many complaints.
We’ve had a lot of positive experiences with Threshold textiles in the past. The brand makes our favorite budget sateen sheets, budget flannel sheets, and budget comforter. If you aren’t satisfied with your purchase for some reason, Target offers 90-day free returns on unused and unopened packages.
Compared with other curtains we tested, the Threshold White Waffle Weave Shower Curtain didn’t have any particular trouble drying, but because it’s a bit heavier than your average curtain—and made from a 60 percent cotton, 40 percent polyester blend—it will probably retain more moisture than a light cotton or polyester curtain.
If you’d prefer a curtain with a neutral stripe pattern, this one is super-affordable and will look good in most bathrooms. For more decorative options, we recommend the entire Threshold shower curtain line.
If you’d prefer a neutral-toned curtain with a stripe pattern, we think the Threshold Light Stripe Shower Curtain will look elegant draped in any soft-white or neutral-tone bathroom. It’s super-soft and durable, and although Target sells this curtain as a standalone pattern, it is one of dozens of similarly priced, similarly made Threshold shower curtains. If you’re not sold on this particular design, we highly recommend that you check out some other options in the Threshold line.
Although we did notice some significant shrinkage after we ran this curtain through the laundry three times (more than 5 inches in each direction), we don’t consider that a dealbreaker, since the curtain was still large enough to fit comfortably across a standard 60-inch tub. The all-cotton material felt lighter than the other 100 percent cotton or polyester-cotton blend curtains we tried—even our main pick, the Threshold White Waffle Weave Shower Curtain (a cotton-poly blend).
This curtain is thicker and more luxurious than our other picks, with an attractive pebbled texture that elevates any bathroom. Compared to our main pick, it shrank quite a bit in the wash but still gave ample coverage.
If you’re looking for a luxurious shower curtain that will elevate your bathroom’s appearance, and you don’t mind spending a little more, go for the Crate & Barrel Pebble Matelassé White Shower Curtain. The Crate & Barrel shower curtain’s fabric drapes elegantly and has a weight to it that feels luxurious in hand. Its fabric feels somewhat softer than the Threshold shower curtain’s, but the Crate & Barrel lacks metal grommets, making it a bit more difficult to hang from a curtain ring. The Crate & Barrel also shrank more than the Threshold in our laundry tests, but it was on a par with our budget pick, and it shrank far less than other upgrade contenders we considered.
Matelassé is a term for woven fabric that looks as if it’s been quilted or padded but does not contain any actual stuffing, and it’s this technique that lends the Crate & Barrel curtain its effortless style. Its round, pebble-like texture looks attractive up close, yet is small enough that it gently fades into the background, appearing solid from afar. It’s a subtle look, unlike the Threshold’s fabric, which has large woven squares.
The Crate & Barrel curtain’s materials are also top notch. Its thick texture feels luxurious, with a pleasant yet substantial drape. It’s made from 100 percent Oeko-Tex certified cotton, which means it’s produced without the use of certain harmful chemicals (the Target options lack this certification). After it was laundered, the Pebble Matelassé had some shrinkage but no damage, although we didn’t do the knife test on it. It shrank less than other upgrade options we tested, losing about 6 inches in width and 4 inches in height—on a par with the striped Threshold budget pick. If you’re especially concerned about shrinkage, this curtain is available in an extra-long size, at no additional cost. The Crate & Barrel has stitched curtain rod loops, which may be somewhat less durable than the Threshold’s metal grommets, but they felt strong in our testing.
Crate & Barrel reviewers award this curtain 4.7 stars across 101 reviews. The positives mention loving the texture, and the negatives point out the shrinkage. Since this curtain was still well over 65 inches in both directions after it was washed, we don’t think this should be an issue for a standard 60-inch tub.
This curtain is easier to install than any other we recommend—the large grommets quickly and easily slide onto any rod, so it doesn’t require hooks—and it comes with a snap-on liner. It’s available in 19 colors.
If you’d prefer more of an all-in-one option for your bathroom—and you don’t mind a somewhat industrial, hotel-like look—the Hookless Waffle Fabric Shower Curtain is another great choice. It’s easy to hang without needing separate hooks, and it comes with a snap-on liner, so if you’re starting from scratch, the only thing you need to complete your setup is a curtain rod. We also like the semi-transparent top panel, which allows light into the shower, making this curtain an ideal pick for windowless bathrooms or stalls that don’t have an overhead light.
This curtain is embedded with large metal grommets that are designed to slip right over the curtain rod. It’s easy to hang, which is why you often see this design in hotels or Airbnb rentals. The material feels pretty soft for a polyester fabric—more so than the other polyester curtains we tested. It even has a subtle waffle-weave texture, which is visually more interesting than a straight sheet of fabric.
The Hookless curtain comes in dozens of color options (including white) to match any bathroom, but they’re all based on the same two or three patterns (a border-stripe pattern and a solid-color waffle-weave). You can find Hookless curtains through a number of retailers, and they typically range from $20 to $50. Bed Bath & Beyond offers several color options; we found a similar variety at Walmart.
All Hookless curtains come equipped with a snap-on liner, so you won’t need to buy a separate one; some of the liners are made from a polyester fabric, and others are made from PEVA plastic, which isn’t our material of choice. Polyester fabric looks better, weighs less, is much easier to clean, and doesn’t smell like plastic. The version we recommend has a polyester liner, but if you buy a different Hookless design, check to see what the liner material is.
This washable polyester shower liner works as well as liners that cost twice the price. It resists soap scum better than flimsy plastic liners, and it’s thick and polished enough to double as a shower curtain.
May be out of stock
*At the time of publishing, the price was $11.
Shower curtain liners are essential to extending the life of any shower curtain, and they’re especially useful if your shower curtain isn’t made from a water-resistant fabric (such as all of our cotton picks). We recommend the Maytex Water Repellent Fabric Shower Curtain Liner. Of the four polyester liners we looked at, the Maytex was the most affordable. The 100-percent polyester fabric means that in a pinch it can double as a standalone shower curtain. It’s machine-washable, and the fabric is surprisingly breathable (for polyester), so it’s better at warding off mildew and soap scum than many other liners we found. The Maytex has weights in the bottom two corners that do a pretty good job of holding the curtain flat inside your shower. It comes in three color options—white, off-white, and black—adding a layer of personalization that’s hard to find in liners; most come only in white. The Maytex is cheap enough that you could replace it every couple of months without breaking the bank, but it’s also durable enough that you probably won’t have to.
These hooks slide smoothly along a curtain rod, can easily fit a curtain and its liner, and come in tons of colors.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $6.
If you want shower curtain hooks that just work, we recommend the Amazer Shower Curtain Hooks. They were slightly larger than other pear-shaped, rolling shower curtain rings, leaving plenty of room to hang even the thickest shower curtains on rods of any size. And their steel and nickel loops felt more durable than those of competitors. These rings come in 15 colors and finishes, so you should be able to find ones to suit a range of styles.
If you have a heavier curtain that you frequently launder, we also liked the Maytex Metal Double Roller Glide Shower Curtain Rings. They consist of two open hooks that hold the liner and curtain separately. Unlike on most rings, on the Maytex rings there’s no hardware to open and close, and the wider spacing also helps separate two layers. But in our tests, vinyl liners or lighter-weight shower curtains often popped up off the hooks when we used the curtain, which might be a dealbreaker for homes with small children.
For this guide we focused on affordable, neutral curtains that would look good in almost any bathroom. If you’re doing a complete bathroom overhaul, the designers we spoke with recommended selecting the shower curtain last. It’s just a lot easier (and cheaper) to match your curtain to preexisting wall paint or cabinetry than the other way around. Annie Hall of Annie Hall Interiors even referred to the shower curtain as the “throw pillows” of the bathroom. “The shower curtain is the final accessory that gives the room the punch of color, or pattern, or graphic that pulls the design elements together and can make the room come to life,” she said.
Jeff Schwartz of J. Schwartz Design explained that it’s important to consider how the curtain’s color or pattern matches or coordinates with the color of the towels, wallpaper, or bed linens. If you happen to choose your curtain before painting or decorating, Schwartz recommended “choos[ing] a wall color that complements the pattern of your shower curtain, not the same shade, so that the colors don’t drown each other out.” He added, “If you do choose a fabric with a more kinetic or colorful design, make sure that it’s not too overpowering if it’s reflected in your mirror.”
The more damp or humid your bathroom is, the more prone the shower curtain will be to mold and mildew. Tossing it in with the laundry once a month is the surest way to nip that problem in the bud. All the curtains we recommend are machine-washable and can tolerate tumble drying (as is the case with most cotton or polyester fabrics). After showering, you should always close (spread out) the curtain. Leaving it bunched up slows the drying process and increases the likelihood of mold and mildew developing.
The Brooklinen Shower Curtain Set is tempting. It comes with a curtain, a liner, and hooks, and it cost $70 at the time of writing. And the curtain shrank less than all but one we tried. But the oxford stripe on this shower curtain looked drab in our bathroom. And the fabric seemed to be made of the same cotton material as the company’s sheets—it’s a luxury on the bed, but it felt insufficient on our shower rod. The metal S-shaped hooks felt flimsy, and the PEVA liner was just okay.
We dismissed the West Elm Organic Triangle Waffle Shower Curtain and the Company Store Legends Regal Cotton Shower Curtain because both shrank about 20 percent in the wash, or nearly 6 inches in both directions.
The Pottery Barn Waffle Weave Shower Curtain was pleasant to the touch, but it had smaller grommets than the Target Threshold, and it shrank far more. It also had a wide top panel that was tough to squeeze into the shower curtain hooks. Most shower curtain grommets are set a few inches down from the top of the curtain, but these were at least 4 inches in.
We appreciate that the Maytex Textured Waffle Fabric Shower Curtain (White) comes in a variety of styles and patterns, including some printed designs, but the polyester waffle-weave version we tested felt (and looked) pretty cheap and transparent.
Most of the things we like about our Hookless pick apply to the Hookless White/Brown Polyester Shower Curtain, but this version has a more artificial, plastic feel. It’s considerably more transparent, and it doesn’t have the waffle-weave texture that we like on our Hookless pick.
The Madison Park Spa Waffle Shower Curtain comes in five color options and is well reviewed on Amazon, but we don’t love the plasticky polyester feel of it, and we don’t think the pattern options would look good in a wide variety of bathrooms.
The iDesign Zeno Wide Striped Shower Curtain, like most of the polyester curtains we considered, had a rather synthetic feel.
The Uigos are a good alternative to our recommended shower-curtain rings. They didn’t feel as nicely made, but they worked just as well.
The Maytex Metal Double Roller Glide Shower Curtain Ring/Hooks are great and come in three finishes. But we had issues with shower curtains popping up and off these hooks when we slid a curtain across its rod.
The quality of the Amazer Shower Curtain Hooks Rings wasn’t as good as that of the Maytex ones, and we encountered the same problem of the curtain popping off.
We tried both the C-rings and the O-rings from Qulable and found that their plastic felt flimsy. What Qulable advertises as flexibility mainly gave us concerns over the durability of these rings. When we bent the C rings, they often didn’t fully spring back to their original form.
We also tried out the AmazerBath Plastic Shower Curtain liner. It’s a decent plastic curtain overall (although the Maytex is somewhat easier to wash), and it has a breathable weave, which should resist mildew better than others. The AmazerBath is available in 14 colors and has suction cups at the bottom, in lieu of weights.
Jeff Schwartz, president of J. Schwartz Design, interview
Annie Hall, owner of Annie Hall Interiors, interview
Jan M. Dougherty, author of The Lost Art of House Cleaning, interview
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