The Truly Unfortunate Reason Your Shower Liner Turns Weird Colors

The Truly Unfortunate Reason Your Shower Liner Turns Weird Colors

It's gross and unfortunate and kind of unpreventable. We're sorry, really we are, to break the news to you. But the bottom of your shower curtain liner turns bizarre colors that range from pink to purple to black because, well, you're bathing with mold every morning. Shudder.

"Mold comes in many different colors," says Carolyn Forte, Good Housekeeping Institute's director of home appliances and cleaning products. Oh, joy.

Since mold is a fungus that grows in warm, damp and humid environments, your shower is basically its heaven. It's tough to completely prevent mold from growing, though Forte says there are a few things you can do to drastically help the situation:

  • Run the fan or open a window while showering.

  • Keep the fan running for 20 minutes after you shower to rid the room of moisture.

  • Squeegee your shower after bathing to remove excess water.

  • Spritz the bottom of your shower curtain liner with bathtub cleaner and rinse. This will help you prevent future mold growth.

Forte adds that you should always stretch out your shower curtain after you bathe to speed up the drying process, which again (there's a serious goal here) prevents moisture from getting trapped.

When bathtub cleaner does not remove the discoloration from the liner, it's time to get a new one. And while we're talking about shower curtains, let's discuss your bathroom tiles:

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.