BigFoot Clear Shower Curtain 72x72 Review: Is a Clear PEVA Curtain Worth It
BigFoot Clear is a straightforward transparent PEVA shower curtain with magnets along the bottom hem, and it doesn't reek of chemicals the moment you unbox it, then clings tight to the tub thanks to those same magnets. It's not a premium product and doesn't pretend to be: for the money, it's an honest, no-nonsense pick for a rental, a kids' bathroom, or as an inner layer under a fabric curtain. If you want something built to last for years and with a bit of style, look at heavier fabric options instead.
Ever stepped into a shower where the curtain plasters itself to your legs like a jellyfish, then spends the next two weeks smelling like a plastics factory? That's exactly the problem people are trying to solve when they search for an "odorless clear shower curtain" — and it's the question BigFoot is built to answer.
This curtain isn't trying to be stylish. It's clear, print-free, no pretensions — and oddly enough, that's its biggest strength. In a small bathroom, a clear curtain doesn't visually eat up space the way a heavy patterned fabric one does. And if you're renting and want to spend the bare minimum getting the place livable, this is exactly the kind of thing you won't mind tossing and replacing in a year.
The first week is the real test
The biggest fear with cheap PEVA curtains is that "new inflatable pool" smell that makes you want to air out the whole apartment for a day after unboxing. BigFoot mostly dodges that: there's a faint plastic whiff for the first few hours after you take it out of the packaging, but it fades fast if you hang it up and let it breathe in a ventilated bathroom before first use. No magic involved — the manufacturer just doesn't seem to be cutting corners on plasticizer quality quite as aggressively as some no-name listings on the same marketplaces.
What genuinely deserves credit here is the magnets sewn into the hem. It's a small detail that fixes a big annoyance: a standard lightweight curtain gets sucked in by the air current during a shower and sticks to your body. With magnets, it clings to the tub edge instead and stays put. Not flawless — on acrylic tubs without a metal rim, the magnets have nothing to grab onto, so the effect is weaker. But on a standard cast-iron or steel tub, it does exactly what it promises.
Where it genuinely falls short
Transparency cuts both ways. On one hand, it doesn't darken the bathroom. On the other, everything sitting on the shelves behind it is on full display, so if your shampoo bottles and razors live in chaos back there, that chaos is now public. Some people will shrug that off; others will buy the opaque version for exactly that reason.
Second: it's a film, not fabric. It's lighter, thinner, and after six months or so of daily use, fine cracks or whitish creases can show up along the fold lines — that's just the nature of any PEVA curtain, not a flaw unique to this one. If you've got a big household showering morning and night every day, plan on replacing it every year to eighteen months rather than expecting it to last forever.
And third: condensation. Clear plastic beads up with water droplets far more visibly after a shower than matte fabric does, so you'll want to wipe or at least shake it out more often — otherwise that pink mold film that plagues every plastic shower curtain eventually shows up along the bottom edge.
What to compare it against
The real competitor here isn't another clear curtain — it's a fabric polyester one, like the Dynamene with its waffle texture. Fabric looks more expensive, shows condensation far less, and doesn't have that "plastic" look at all — but it's heavier, takes longer to dry, and almost always needs a separate waterproof liner underneath since it doesn't hold water on its own. In practice, you either go with BigFoot as a standalone solution, or you buy a fabric curtain plus a clear waterproof liner to go under it — which means paying twice.
Compared against the classic magnet-free plastic curtains at the same price point, BigFoot wins outright, because the lack of odor and the magnets are precisely the two things that make people return cheap curtains to the seller in the first place.
The price itself is modest — a bit over 15 dollars on the marketplace — but that sticker price never tells the whole story once shipping and import charges land on your side of the border. Check the full landed cost — item, forwarding, and duty rolled into one number — for your country on dede.sh before you decide. Either way, this isn't a curtain for people counting every cent on a resale margin; it's for people who just want the bathroom problem solved quickly and without drama.
So, buy it or not
Buy it if: you're renting, furnishing a kids' bathroom, kitting out a vacation house, or you just want to close the "how do I keep the shower contained" question cheaply and without the chemical smell. The magnets genuinely work — this isn't a marketing gimmick.
Skip it if: you want a curtain that'll last three or four years without showing wear, or if bathroom aesthetics matter to you and clear plastic just isn't your look — in that case, look toward fabric options like the Dynamene mentioned above.
The trade-off is honest: you pay less and skip the chemical smell, but you accept that it's a film that will eventually dull and has a limited lifespan. For most renters and second bathrooms, that's a deal worth making.
FAQ
There's a faint plastic smell for the first few hours — that's unavoidable with PEVA. But if you hang the curtain and let it air out before first use, the smell is mostly gone by evening. That's noticeably better than unbranded alternatives, where the odor can linger for days.
They hold if your tub has a metal rim — cast iron or steel. On acrylic tubs without metal, the magnets have nothing to grip, and the effect is much weaker. Check your tub's material before buying.
It depends on your priority. Fabric looks more expensive and shows condensation less, but it doesn't hold water on its own and needs a separate waterproof liner — so you're effectively buying two products. BigFoot solves the problem with a single purchase and costs less.
Realistically, a year to eighteen months of active use before cracks or whitish creases start showing up along the folds. That's the fate of any film curtain, not just this model, so plan on periodic replacement rather than a lifetime purchase.
No, it's already a self-contained waterproof solution. Liners are needed specifically for fabric curtains, which don't hold water on their own.
