How to Recycle or Reuse an Old Shower Curtain
First, make sure that you remove the magnets from the bottom of the curtain. These can be used in crafts to make refrigerator magnets. Then check the curtain for tears and clean any mildew stuck in the crevices.
I always like to keep an old shower curtain in the trunk of the car. They are great to lay down over the upholstery when transporting wet children from the beach, pool, or sports game as well as for pets. You can also lay them down in the trunk to keep the interior clean. If you break down in the rain, it can be used as an emergency poncho. A clear one can be cut and taped over a broken window until you can get it to the repair shop.
Old shower curtains also make great drop cloths. Lay one down when painting a room or when kids are doing arts and crafts. You can place one under your baby’s high chair to protect your carpet from dropped food. You can even lay them as dustcovers over furniture in unused rooms such as a guest room.
Torn shower curtains can be made into things for kids. You can cut up a clear one to use to make I Spy Bags. You can also cut one into an apron shape and make a child’s art smock or full-body bib for a baby. They can be wiped clean.
Lay one out on the floor and paint colored circles on it to make your own Twister game. You can also get crafty and paint a life-sized board game on one for the whole family to play with. Have the kids make up their own rules! They can even act as their own life-sized game pieces.
If your shower curtain is clear, you can make it into a photo holder. One curtain should make two large photo holders. Cut the curtain in half top to bottom. On one half, fold the bottom up and sew across the top so that you have one rectangle made of two layers. Then sew a grid onto the curtain so that it is divided up into photo-sized rectangles.
Cut a slit across the top or side of each rectangle so you can slide the photos inside. Be sure to make some of the rectangles vertically aligned as well as horizontally aligned. The photo holders can be hung on thumbtacks on the wall through the ring holes in the top. If you don’t want to hang photos, it can also be a great tool for organizing craft supplies inside of a closet door.
I used to lay one down under the fitted sheet for kids who still wet the bed to protect the mattress. They can sometimes shift a little, so use large safety pins to secure it at the corners or sew a piece of elastic diagonally across the corners so you can loop it around the corners of the mattress to hold it in place. Never use plastic in a baby’s crib. It is a suffocation hazard.
Are you a gardener? Old shower curtains make great mulches to stop weeds. Lay one over your garden soil, cut slits in the top for the plants, and weigh the edges down with rocks or bricks. Clear shower curtains can be used to protect lettuce and other early crops from frost, birds, or wind.
A piece of old shower curtain can be nailed down under the roof of a dog house, rabbit hutch, or chicken coop to waterproof it.
Take an old shower curtain with you when you go camping. You can lay it down on the floor of the tent if it rains and keep your sleeping bag from getting wet. You can also sit on it outside if the ground is wet.
Do you sell your own clothing or crafts from home? You can use an old shower curtain as a background drop cloth for taking photos of your items.
Kids can paint scenery on an old shower curtain with craft paints and use it as a backdrop when putting on plays. They can be reused over and over again or painted over. Make sure you are using acrylic paints.
If none of these ideas appeal to you, try giving your old shower curtain away on Freecycle.org. Someone might have a use for it and at least it would be kept out of a landfill.
