How to Prevent Water From Leaking Outside a Shower Curtain: 6 Tips & Tricks

A leaking shower is one problem that can’t wait. Water on the bathroom floor can be an enormous safety issue, presenting an immediate slipping hazard. When it sits too long, extra moisture can also cause mold to develop in the bathroom, or it could lead to even deeper structural issues beneath the floor.

Your shower curtain could be the culprit if you face a persistent puddle problem after every shower. Fortunately, it’s often a simple fix. We’ll help you solve the issue for good with these six tips and tricks to prevent water from leaking outside your shower curtain.

The 6 Tips & Tricks for Preventing Water Leakage Outside Shower Curtain

1. Use Your Liner Correctly

Use a durable waterproof liner along with your shower curtain. Fabric curtains are often decorative, but they’re rarely supposed to keep water off your floor.

Liners are available in various low-maintenance and mildew-resistant materials, including:

Plastic and vinyl are the cheapest options, but they’re also the flimsiest, hardest to use, and most harmful to the environment. Upgrading to a heavy-duty fabric option offers a spa-like feel in the shower, and you benefit from having a washable, long-lasting liner. Or, if you like the mold resistance of vinyl, choosing a PEVA liner will give you the same benefits without the toxic chemicals.

The liner goes inside the tub or shower, creating a slide for water to run down toward the drain. Meanwhile, the shower curtain hangs on the outside of the tub. If you’re using a fabric liner, you can put it outside the tub when you aren’t using it for decoration, but make sure that it is dry, so water does not drip on the floor.

2. Watch the Shower Angle

Sometimes, the simplest way to fix a leaking shower is to turn the showerhead slightly. If water is spraying out of the shower and onto the floor, angle the showerhead so it’s pointing closer to the wall opposite the liner and the middle of the shower.

3. Attach Clips or Suction Cups

Affixing a curtain holder to the wall will solve most leaking shower curtain issues. A shower curtain clip sticks to the wall, giving you a slot to insert the shower curtain and hold it in place. You can also buy suction cup clips for a simpler temporary solution or glue suction cups directly onto your liner. For the best results, position the clips as far down the wall as possible, near the rim of the tub.

4. Use a Splash Guard

Splash guards are inexpensive solutions for rounded tubs, creating a small blockade where the tub meets the wall to help prevent the shower curtain from leaking. Even though the liner may run from wall to wall at the rod, it leaves a space at the bottom because it follows the tub’s shape. These L-shaped blockers are the perfect aids to fill in the gaps and keep water off the bathroom floor.

5. Use Magnet Weights

If your issue is a billowing shower curtain, attach magnet weights to hold it in place. While less practical than clips for keeping water inside a tub, they’re handy for holding down a curtain in a walk-in or curbless shower. You can use them in several other places throughout the house, including drapes and tablecloths.

6. Install a Water Dam

A water dam is a low wall that you can form into any shape you need. They’re versatile tools you can use around the home to help stem the tide of any unwanted water. In the bathroom, you can use them to create another water barrier for your tub or curbless shower.

Final Thoughts

Leaking water outside the shower may not seem like the most pressing concern, but without an immediate fix, you could end up with a costly injury or damage to your home. If you’re stepping out of the tub into another pool of water when you take a shower, follow these six tips and tricks to keep water from leaking outside your shower curtain. By taking a few simple steps today, you can save yourself a ton of hassle in the future.

Featured Image Credit: Artazum, Shutterstock