which bathtub shower door??

[ProudGrandma]

We are getting a new tub/shower combo.  I am trying to decide what the pros and cons are off a door vs curtain?  Are there different kinds of doors? Is one better than another?  What I specifically want to know is cleaning and use.  We have harder water and we dont' have a softener in our home....so cleaning is a bit of a pain.

 

so, what are the pros and cons?

[Ottakee]

Doors were great when I had kids a bit older that wanted to PLAY in the tub and splashed a lot but were safe to leave with the doors shut but me sitting on the outside.

 

Curtains are easier to clean as that door track is a HUGE pain to keep clean.

[Belacqua]

I've hated every shower door I've ever had. I'm pretty good at cleaning things, but those doors (and their grimy little tracks) invariably defeated me. I lived with one, but when we moved into this house I got rid of the door and put up a curtain. Something I can chuck in the washing machine vs. something I could scrub for hours and still be dissatisfied? No question.

 

I have not noticed any splashing with the curtain. It offers more privacy than the door (which is nice even if there's nobody else in the bathroom; I'd rather not have to see myself in the mirror when I'm showering...). And when I get sick of the design, I can get a new one. Love my curtain.

 

 

[Chris in VA]

Before we moved in to this rectory, they redid the bathrooms, including putting lovely shower doors around the tub.

 

YUCK.

 

HATE the doors.

 

After 10 years, I'd finally had enough and asked to have one of them (2 bathrooms) removed. I felt bad they had spent all that money, but I hate housework as it is, and it just never got really clean (and stayed that way...lol).

 

Now I have a lovely blue and brown hummingbird curtain, hung with charming, leaf-shaped hangers.

[Tess in the Burbs]

I hate doors on showers.  The tracks get so nasty deep inside and you can't easily clean them. I prefer a shower curtain.  I can throw it out when nasty and buy a new one :-)  We get a cheap clear liner to throw out when it's yucky, and a nice curtain over that.  

[Kim in Appalachia]

HATE SHOWER DOORS!  I think they should be done away with.  Keeping the seals and track clean in a nightmare, and I clean my bathroom religiously.  Go with the curtain, you will be much happier.  

[StephanieZ]

If you can go high end and get a frameless (no tracks!) shower door, then that is beautiful and easy to clean. Personally, I'd get a patterned glass (rain pattern or similar) b/c they don't show smudges and water drops, etc, but the high end houses all seem to do clear glass. My aunt's company does gobs of them in all the high end houses, and they really are beautiful. Look here at her facebook page to see gobs of pics of them. https://www.facebook.com/RestonGlass

 

Tracked doors are a PITA to keep clean. Not the end of the world, of course, but a PITA if they are used daily and thus require weekly true cleaning. (That daily shower cleaner really does help, though, and is what saves my sanity on our mater bath/shower, but I still will get rid of it when we redo the bath soon. I'll get a frameless door on the new shower stall, and an open tub in the stand alone tub.

 

Custom frameless ones like those pictured on her site are probably 2-3k or so to start if done by a good glass company with high end materials. But, there are some frameless systems at big box stores, so if you have an installer who can do it right, and a standard configuration, that is good, and could be much cheaper, and about the same easy cleaning. If you have people who are willing to squeegie after each shower, then it will be really easy to keep clean.

 

I agree that doors are a PITA if you have very young children whom you need to assist bathing. If that is happening on any regular basis, I'd go with a curtain for sure. 

 

Personally, I am just now putting in a shower with a standard door (with a track) in our basement bathroom, because it was super cheap and easy, and this is a super rush project, and it is an oversized shower stall, no bath, so no issue with accessing little kids, as we don't have any tiny kids, and won't have grandkids for a decade or more, and the shower is large enough that a parent and little child could be in there together if desired (or use one of the other four bath tubs in the house). The shower down there will not be in daily use -- just for guests, etc, so it's not going to be used daily, so cleaning won't be a big deal since it'll rarely need cleaning. If I were doing a daily use bath (as I will be doing four in the next few months -- major remodel going on in our house) . . . I would either do a lovely frameless system or do a curtain. No more tracked doors are going in my house except the basement (rarely used) bath. In the other bathrooms, I'll either do a frameless system or a nice simple washable curtain. I had a white curtain with a white liner for probably 10 years, and washed it dozens of times, and it was in great shape when I left it in a rental property. It was so much cleaner and nicer than the ugly shower doors we have in two of our bathrooms now. Ick.

[Jackie]

I had a shower with a swing-out glass door that I liked. A quick swipe with a Magic Eraser kept it clean and there was no track to get gunked up. I had a different one with a track and it was much harder to keep clean. So if you are deciding between a track or a shower curtain, I vote curtain.

 

I use white fabric shower curtains. No liner. I can throw the curtain in the wash and add bleach as needed.

[sbgrace]

Our old home had shower doors. I was so glad to be rid of those things! They are just about impossible to keep clean.

[elegantlion]

Hate shower doors, prefer curtains. I can wash a liner or toss it and buy new. I also prefer the look of a curtain. With a door, besides the cleaning part, i always had this innate fear, I'd trip and send myself through the glass door, then it would hurt, and I'd be naked or covered in a towel while bleeding when the paramedics showed up after my then dh freaked out and scared the crap out of me and ds. 

 

So to save yourself from being seen naked and bleeding when the paramedics come, buy a curtain.  :lol:

[PeterPan]

We have hard water here, so I use washable shower curtains, throw them in with oxyclean every so often, done.  I can't imagine scrubbing glass doors, mercy.  We have plenty to spend our time on without adding to it like that.  

[Scarlett]

I hate doors.

 

My dh has built me a shower that requires no door and no curtain. I love it.

[KungFuPanda]

I'd skip the doors and get a curved shower rod and a curtain. The curved rods really do make a big difference and you can toss the curtain in the wash when it's gunky.

[Pawz4me]

I prefer doors.  I've never had any problem keeping ours clean.  A swipe with a Magic Eraser and any kind of cleaner (or none) does the trick.  I know our water isn't hard, though, so I'm sure that makes a difference.  And I've found that some soaps leave less scum than others.  We use Dove, which doesn't seem to create much of a problem.  Our track is fairly easy to clean.  It's just a single strip of metal, so all I have to do is swipe it off with the Magic Eraser.  Not exactly difficult or time consuming.  The only problem at all is where the outer door touches the side of the track, and under the outer door.  But I've found those areas easy to clean with the occasional use of some Qtips.  I maybe spend ten minutes once a month on that.  I'm sure I could find some kind of small brush to do the job (and a brush would probably work better than Qtips), but it's just not enough of a big deal that I can remember to look for one.

[Wildcat]

Count me among those who despise tracked shower doors! I fought those for 11 years in our other house, and swore I would never have them again. I hate them enough that it would be a big turn off in house hunting. Seriously.

 

We have two tub/shower combos in our current house, and they have curtains. I love them. I have a white liner on the inside that I wash when it needs it, and a pretty one on the outside that I can change with my decorating whims.

 

I refuse to look at a home with those horrid clear glass showers in the master baths. Not only am I a prude and want some privacy while showering, but I convulse at the thought of cleaning all that clear glass. I love the frosted glass in the trackless door I have in my swing-out master shower.

 

I agree with a PP who said to get a curved rod if the thought of a curtain makes it seem tiny to you. Ours are regular, and none of use has an issue with them.

 

 

[kitten18]

I had a shower with a swing-out glass door that I liked. A quick swipe with a Magic Eraser kept it clean and there was no track to get gunked up. I had a different one with a track and it was much harder to keep clean. So if you are deciding between a track or a shower curtain, I vote curtain.

 

I use white fabric shower curtains. No liner. I can throw the curtain in the wash and add bleach as needed.

I agree.  I have a swing-out door on my master shower and it is fine.

 

For the other two bathrooms with tub showers, they were supposed to have track sliding doors (when our house was being built).  I had them switched to just a tub surround that I could hang a shower curtain on.  The saleslady kept trying to talk me out of it, telling me that it was a downgrade. :huh:  I don't care, I'm not cleaning those door tracks.

 

 

ETA - I have read the tip that if you like the look of the doors but don't want to clean them, you can hang a shower curtain on the inside so the door/track doesn't get dirty.

[MBM]

I would do what Scarlet's husband did and build a shower that doesn't need a door.

 

If you can't do that, Basco sells frameless, tempered glass doors that you can get with a finish called AquaGlide XP Clear that will supposedly help keep it clean. You could also use a product called Valore, which has a really weird website, but some people swear by it.

 

http://www.bascoshowerdoor.com/products/finish-and-glass-options.aspx

 

http://www.pfokus.com/pFOkUS_Glass_and_Tile_Water_Repellant_and_Cleaner.html (Valore)

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/keeping-your-glass-shower-door-75518 (some comments about Valore)

 

An old Water Pik does a good job cleaning shower door frames. Just spray with a cleaner and then rinse off with the Water Pik. Much easier than scrubbing.