Soap scum and mildew are icky facts of life, and they just love a shower curtain.

Frugalistas refuse to toss out a shower curtain and buy new, however, when it’s so easy to clean them!

Fabric shower curtains can usually be laundered in lukewarm water and a gentle machine cycle — check the tag to be sure — but how do you clean a vinyl shower curtain?

In fact, it’s actually very easy to get a vinyl shower curtain looking as clean as new.  Just pop it into the washing machine every couple of weeks with the bath towels and a splash of ordinary laundry detergent, and wash the whole lot in warm water.

• Note that the water has to be warm — not hot and not cold. Hot water will shrivel up the curtain and end its useful life — and cold water will make it too stiff to slosh around in the washer.
• The other key here is to be sure to throw it in with the towels, because the towels will buff gently against the curtain and help to get it clean. (Saves a lot of “elbow grease”!)

Stop the washer before it progresses to the cold-water rinse, and take out your nice clean vinyl shower curtain while it’s still warmed up, and all soft and flexible.

Hang it back up on the rod over your tub, and just use the showerhead spray to rinse off any leftover detergent.

There you go!

And here’s a sneaky little mildew-fighting tip that I discovered by happy accident:

See, our upstairs bathtub is set under a sloped ceiling, so the shower rod is set a bit lower than normal. That means the average shower curtain is always a bit too long, so I just trim it off at the bottom with scissors to keep it from dragging underfoot in the tub.

And that’s how I discovered the benefits of cutting off the stupid little hem they put at the bottom of a vinyl shower curtain (why do they do that, anyway? It’s not as if vinyl will ravel and fray like a woven fabric!)…

That turned-up hem is just a trap for mildew and grime. You don’t need it, so get rid of it.  Yes, get out the scissirs and just cut it off. Without the hem to trap moisture and soap scum and such,  your shower curtain stays cleaner-looking for much longer.

Curtain photo: PlayfulLibrarian

If you can’t laugh in the bathroom, where can you?

Ideally, of course, we want to sprinkle the whimsy about the whole house, to put the stamp of personality on each and every room.

But if that’s a bold move you’re not quite ready to make, and especially if you’re in a temporary home and/or your tastes are in a state of evolution, the bathroom can be a comfy place to cut loose.

Even the most princess-like of dainty powder rooms can work better with a light-hearted touch…

Bathroom Cabinet Inside-Out, anyone?

Okay, if the look you’re going for is more of a Victorian bordello or Cleopatra’s bath, or a baroque bathroom fantasy, perhaps it’s not the right cabinet for your particular posh loo…

But check that simple yet witty graphic illustration of the contents of the storage space, the clean lines and uncluttered construction, that bold colour — yes, it’s a cabinet that’s got a lot going for it!

I’m suddenly thinking about the new mudroom that we’re aiming to add on here (contractors and weather permitting) this spring. By all means, go for the bathroom if the style suits, but just think how many other places could be jazzed up with this neat-o Authentics design — or a DIY variation, if you’re the crafty clever type. Summer cottage? Kids’ room? Laundry centre? Home office?

The bathroom is, arguably, your most important room. Why not do it up over-the-top, with a little help from the guys at Rotorooter?

(And those guys have a definite sense of humour, I know — Randy Rotorooter once advised me to hire a hot-air balloon to access my vent stack, since I was oddly reluctant to scramble up a ladder and onto a steep-pitched roof in an ice storm!)

Rotorooter’s new contest offers a chance to win the ultimate Pimped Out John, “a luxury toilet equipped with name brand seat warmer, 20-inch LCD television, gaming system, DVD player, laptop computer with fully articulated robot arm, MP3 player with docking station, refrigerator and digital video recorder.”

This sweepstakes is open to Americans only, sadly… but who doesn’t simply enjoy the whole Extreme Bathroom concept?

The bathroom is supposed to be the most dangerous room, according to the statistic wonks. It’s where most of the household accidents happen… for those of us who don’t swing from chandeliers or keep sabre-toothed tigers in the pantry.

Good thing theconnor has come up with a shower curtain reminder of the hazards of wet slippery tubs!

Years ago, I obtained a large roll of caution tape, convinced that I could find something really cool to do with it…

The caution tape shower curtain is part of a set with a matching caution tape shower caddy.

Shower caddy has four long pockets for razors, combs, and other flat items, two soap pouches that also hold other things quite well, and velcro tabs for hanging items. 100% waterproof!

Renovating? Why not reinvent your bathroom entirely in black and white? — a look that’s classy and timeless.

The beauty of going for a dramatic but neutral colour scheme in the basic decor, instead of a trendy finish like the faux wenge that made all the decorating magazines a few years back, is you’ll have all kinds of choices for changing the look when you want to update.

And it’s frugal to go with a black-and-white foundation in your decor, too, even if you splurge for the high-end fittings and cabinetry, like this gorgeous Moderna black bathroom vanity for example.

When you’re investing in the equity of your home, do go for the best you can afford in the durable items, as the low-end bargains in a tub, sink, vanity and other furnishings may look good when they’re first installed but they’ll soon look shabby and cheap.

Think about the difference between pairing a black-and-white colour scheme with hot pink and tropical accents, compared with the calm and elegant look you’d get by bringing in accents of pale gold, sage or forest green, claret, or a rich russet colour.

You can change the whole look of a black-and-white room every time you get bored, just for the cost of changing the colour of the towels, shower curtain, and other bathroom accessories!