Almost every shower curtain guide you will find online was written for a bathroom you do not have. It assumes a bathtub, a curtain hanging inside the tub rim, and a dry floor everywhere else. Open a Kolkata bathroom door and the situation is different: no tub, a shower over open floor, a single drain in one corner, tiles from skirting to ceiling, and after nine months of humidity, damp that never fully leaves the room.
A shower curtain still works here. It works better than most people expect, and it costs a fraction of a glass partition. But it has to be specified for this bathroom, not for a catalogue one. We have been fitting curtains from 46 Central Avenue since 1971, and bathrooms are where we see the most avoidable mistakes.
What a shower curtain is actually doing in a Kolkata bathroom
In a tub bathroom, the curtain is a splash liner. In most Kolkata flats it is doing a harder job: it is a wet-zone divider. It marks off the corner where the shower is, keeps spray off the WC, the basin, the door and whoever else is in the room, and lets the water run to the drain without travelling across the whole floor.
That changes three things immediately. The curtain needs to be wider than the shower area, not exactly its width, so spray has somewhere to land. It needs a hem that clears the floor, because the floor is wet and a curtain sitting in standing water wicks it upwards and stays soaked. And it needs to be hung so it can be pulled fully flat to dry, which is the single thing that decides whether it lasts two years or two months.
If you take nothing else from this article, take that last point. Mildew on a shower curtain is almost never a material failure. It is a drying failure.
The materials, honestly compared
PVC. The cheapest and the most waterproof. It sheds water completely and wipes clean. Its problems show up over time in our climate: it yellows, it goes brittle at the fold lines, and in a warm bathroom it can hold an odour. It is a reasonable choice for a rental, a servant’s bathroom or anywhere you expect to replace it every couple of years.
PEVA and EVA. The same family without the chlorine, so no plastic smell and better flexibility. Softer to handle, drapes better, still fully waterproof. A sensible upgrade on plain PVC for a main bathroom.
Polyester with a water-repellent finish. The practical middle for most homes, and what we recommend most often. It looks like fabric rather than sheeting, it hangs with proper weight instead of clinging, it dries fast because polyester holds very little water in the fibre itself, and it washes. It is not waterproof in the way plastic is — water beads and runs off, but a sustained direct jet will eventually pass through. In a bathroom where the shower faces away from the curtain, which is most of them, that is irrelevant.
Cotton, linen or any decorative furnishing fabric on its own. No. Not in a wet zone. Natural fibres absorb, hold moisture for hours, and in a humid bathroom they will mildew from the inside of the hem upward. If you want the look of fabric, use a decorative outer panel with a waterproof liner behind it — the liner takes the water, the fabric stays presentable, and you launder them separately. Everything we have written about how cotton and linen behave in Kolkata humidity applies double in a bathroom.
The rod is harder than the curtain
This is where most bathroom projects go wrong, and no imported guide covers it, because a bathroom in London is not tiled wall to wall.
You cannot drill wherever you like. A fully tiled wall means every fixing goes through glazed ceramic. Drilled carelessly — hammer setting on, high speed, no pilot mark — the tile cracks, and a cracked tile in the middle of a wall is not a small repair. It needs a masonry or tile bit, low speed, hammer action off until the bit is through the glaze, and ideally a fixing placed in the grout line rather than the middle of a tile. If you are not sure, have it done by someone who does it regularly.
Plated steel will rust. A cheap chrome-plated rod in a Kolkata bathroom starts blistering within a season or two, and rust stains run down onto a pale curtain permanently. Stainless steel or anodised aluminium, with matching corrosion-resistant rings or runners. This is not a place to save two hundred rupees. The same logic we set out for choosing curtain rods, tracks and brackets elsewhere in the home applies here with the humidity turned up.
Tension rods are a rental solution with limits. They need two truly parallel walls and they slip on gloss tile, especially once a wet curtain adds weight. If you must use one because drilling is not permitted, keep the span short, buy a heavier gauge than looks necessary, and accept that it will occasionally come down.
For an L-shaped or open corner shower, a bent rod or a ceiling-suspended track is far better than trying to make a straight rod cover two sides. Bring us the layout and measurements and we will work out what the corner needs.
Getting the size right
Two numbers matter, and both are usually got wrong in the same direction — too small.
Width. Plan for roughly one and a half times the rod length so the curtain hangs in folds rather than stretched flat. A stretched curtain has no overlap at the ends, and the ends are exactly where water escapes. Overlap the wet zone generously at both sides.
Drop. Measure from the rod down and stop two to three centimetres above the finished floor. Not on the floor, and certainly not puddling. A hem sitting in the water that is on its way to the drain will wick, stay wet all day, and mildew along the bottom edge first — which is exactly where you always see it. If your bathroom floor slopes noticeably towards the drain, measure at the lowest point.
The general method we use for measuring for curtains in Kolkata homes holds here too, with that floor-clearance rule replacing the usual drop conventions.
Stopping the mildew, properly
Four habits, in order of how much difference they make.
Pull it fully across after every shower. Bunched at one end, a curtain is a stack of wet folds that will not dry before the next use. Spread flat, it dries in an hour. This one change does more than any anti-fungal fabric claim.
Ventilate. Most Kolkata bathrooms have one small high window and an exhaust fan that is either undersized or switched off to save electricity. Run the fan for ten minutes after the shower, or leave the window open. Through the monsoon this matters more than in any other season.
Wash it, do not replace it. A polyester curtain goes into a cold machine wash with mild detergent every few months and comes out clean. Hang it back on the rod damp and let it dry in place — do not tumble it, and do not iron it.
Choose a mid-tone. Pure white shows every water mark and every early spot; very dark shows soap scum and hard-water residue. Mid-tones and small patterns stay looking acceptable far longer between washes, which is the same reasoning we give people choosing upholstery fabric for a busy household.
The bathroom window is a separate problem
People use “shower curtain” and “bathroom curtain” interchangeably, and they are two different products solving two different problems. The shower curtain surrounds the wet zone. The bathroom curtain covers the window, for privacy and glare.
Here is the point almost nobody makes, and it is the one that causes complaints: a translucent bathroom window covering that feels private in the daytime is not private after dark. Daytime privacy works only because it is brighter outside than inside. Switch the light on at night and that reverses — you become the brighter side, and a sheer or light-filtering panel will show a clear silhouette to anyone at the window. In a bathroom, that is not a small problem. It is the same physics that makes us warn people about day-night zebra blinds on a street-facing ground floor.
So for a bathroom window that faces a neighbouring flat, a common corridor, a lane or a light well, specify something genuinely opaque, or a two-layer arrangement. And in most cases we would steer you away from fabric at the window altogether: a PVC roller blind wipes clean, tolerates steam, does not hold damp, and takes up almost no space in a small room. Fabric belongs at a bathroom window only if that window is genuinely in the dry zone and well away from the shower. If you would like to compare the full range, our window blinds page sets out the options.
Shower curtain or glass partition?
An honest answer, given that we sell curtains and not glass.
A glass partition is easier to keep hygienic — it is non-porous, so mildew has nowhere to grow — and it contains water better. It also costs substantially more, needs the floor and drainage planned around it, is difficult to retrofit in an older bathroom, and shows every water spot in a hard-water area unless you squeegee it.
A shower curtain costs a fraction as much, can be fitted in an afternoon, suits rented flats, works in bathrooms with awkward layouts where glass will not fit, is replaceable, and can be changed when you redecorate. Its trade-off is maintenance: it needs the drying habit described above, and it needs washing.
If you are renovating a bathroom completely and the budget is there, glass is a fair choice. If you are improving a bathroom you already have — which is most people — a properly sized curtain on a corrosion-resistant rod does the job for a very small fraction of the cost. There is no shame in the cheaper answer when it is the right one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do shower curtains actually keep the bathroom floor dry?
They keep the rest of the room dry, which is the realistic goal. Water still runs down the inside of the curtain and reaches the floor inside the wet zone, where the drain is. What a correctly sized curtain prevents is spray reaching the WC, the basin, the door and the dry half of the floor. Most complaints about leaking curtains turn out to be curtains that are too narrow, so there is no overlap at the ends.
Which material is best for a Kolkata bathroom?
For most homes, polyester with a water-repellent finish — it looks like fabric, dries fast, and washes. PEVA if you want fully waterproof without the plastic smell of PVC. Plain PVC only where you are happy to replace it every year or two. Never plain cotton or linen on its own in a wet zone.
How do I stop my shower curtain going mouldy?
Spread it fully across the rod after every shower instead of pushing it to one end, run the exhaust fan or open the window for ten minutes, keep the hem clear of standing water, and machine wash it cold every few months. Mildew is caused by a curtain that never gets to dry, not by the fabric being wrong.
What size shower curtain do I need?
About one and a half times your rod width, so it hangs in folds with overlap at both ends, and a drop that finishes two to three centimetres above the floor. Standard sizes rarely fit a Kolkata bathroom exactly, which is why we make them to measure.
Can I use a normal curtain in the bathroom?
At a dry-zone window, yes, provided it is well away from the shower and the room ventilates. Around the shower itself, no — use a waterproof curtain, or a decorative panel with a waterproof liner behind it so the liner takes the water.
Can a shower curtain be fitted without drilling into the tiles?
A tension rod avoids drilling and is the usual answer in a rented flat, but it needs two parallel walls, it slips on glossy tile, and it will come down occasionally under the weight of a wet curtain. If drilling is allowed, a fixed rod in stainless steel or anodised aluminium is far more reliable — drilled slowly, without hammer action, ideally into a grout line.
Is a shower curtain better than a glass partition?
It is cheaper, faster to fit, easier to change and workable in awkward or rented bathrooms. Glass contains water better and is easier to keep hygienic. For a full renovation, glass is a fair choice; for improving an existing bathroom, a well-specified curtain does the job for a small fraction of the cost.
Can Avikar make one to my measurements?
Yes. Bathrooms are exactly where standard sizes fail, so shower and bathroom curtains are made to your rod width and drop, with the hooks, eyelets or track runners that suit your fitting. Send photographs and rough measurements on WhatsApp, or bring them to the showroom.
Come and settle it in ten minutes
Bathrooms are quick to solve in person. Bring a photograph of the room and the rod width and drop, and we will tell you what will actually last in that bathroom — including the times the answer is a roller blind rather than a curtain, or a curtain rather than the glass partition someone has quoted you for. Avikar has been Kolkata’s furnishings destination since 1971, more than 6,500 homes have furnished with us, and our own team handles the stitching and the fitting rather than outsourcing it. You can see the full range on our bathroom and shower curtains page, or explore made-to-measure curtains for the rest of the house.
Avikar Furniture & Furnishings
46 Central Avenue, Bowbazar, Kolkata, West Bengal 700012
Monday to Saturday, 10:30 AM to 7:00 PM. Sunday closed.
Call or WhatsApp: 8080095551
If you are furnishing more than the bathroom, our guide to furnishing a whole home in Kolkata is the place to start.
