I avoided cleaning my shower curtain liner for six months because taking it down, scrubbing it in the tub, and hanging it back up felt like a whole afternoon project. By month five, the bottom two inches had turned a color I cannot describe in polite company.

Then my cousin — who runs a vacation rental and cleans six bathrooms a week — told me she just throws them in the washing machine. I tried it. It worked so well I felt stupid for waiting six months. Here is the full method, including what to do if your liner is fabric, plastic, or somewhere in between.

Fabric liners (the easy ones)

If you have a cloth shower curtain or fabric liner, toss it in the washing machine with two bath towels. The towels provide scrubbing action — they rub against the curtain and knock off the soap scum. Use warm water, regular detergent, and half a cup of white vinegar in the fabric softener compartment.

Run a normal cycle. When it is done, hang it back up damp — do not put it in the dryer unless the label specifically says you can. Most fabric liners will shrink or melt. Hanging it back up lets gravity pull out the wrinkles.

Plastic and PEVA liners (slightly trickier)

These can go in the washing machine too, but on cold water only — hot water can warp the plastic. Same deal with the two towels for scrubbing. Skip the vinegar if your liner has a printed pattern; the acid can fade some inks.

Add half a cup of baking soda directly into the drum with the towels and liner. Run a gentle cycle. When it finishes, check the bottom edge. If there are still some stubborn spots, wipe them with a damp cloth while it is still wet — the machine loosened the scum but did not quite knock it all off.

Hang it back up immediately. A plastic liner left crumpled in the machine for an hour will have permanent crease marks.

The once-a-month maintenance trick

After you get your curtain clean, keep it that way with almost no effort. Once a week, while you are in the shower, spray the bottom of the liner with a mix of equal parts water and white vinegar in a spray bottle. The steam from your shower helps the vinegar work. You never have to scrub.

I keep a small spray bottle hanging from the shower caddy. Takes ten seconds while my conditioner sits. My liner has been spotless for three months now.

When to just replace it

If the liner is more than a year old and the bottom edge has those pinkish-orange mildew spots that go all the way through, the washing machine probably will not save it. Mold can embed in the material. A new PEVA liner costs about eight dollars and takes three minutes to hang. Sometimes the easiest cleaning hack is knowing when to quit.