<p>We redid our shower at one point and when that was happening, the door was removed from the bathroom. We liked it so much we kept it off, though I must lock my bedroom door when using my bathroom, no big deal as the doors are side by side, but it took some getting use to. As long as the light is out in the shower, even if you walk in-straight at the shower door- there is a modicum of privacy due the steam & darkness, with the light on, well that’s a whole 'nother story. Since our shower is very small, a little bigger than 3x3, it’s a veritable peep show with the light on!</p>
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<p>I actually did this in son’s room recently. You would think there are lots of holes holding that track to the tub but there were really only 2 - one on each wall. All of the rest of it was held together with clear silicone caulking. There wasn’t even any holes in the tub! I took the whole thing down by myself. Husband thought I was crazy but I figured, worst case scenario, I could replace it with a nicer one. There was no need to. Since his tub surround is white tile, I had the two holes filled in with white caulk and you really can’t tell it they are there. Then we put up a shower curtain.</p>
<p>^ I went and looked, it’s really 2 very small holes on each wall.</p>
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You can go totally low tech:</p>
<p>[Find</a> Hooks & Eyes and other Hooks, Bolts & Eyes at Aubuchon Hardware](<a href=“http://hardware.hardwarestore.com/28-447-hooks-and-eyes.aspx]Find”>http://hardware.hardwarestore.com/28-447-hooks-and-eyes.aspx)</p>
<p>I’m sure if you look around, there are nicer latches.</p>
<p>[Emtek</a> 2102 Privacy/Bed/Bath Pocket Door Lock](<a href=“http://www.handlesets.com/emtek-2102-privacy-bed-bath-pocket-door-lock/p593662]Emtek”>http://www.handlesets.com/emtek-2102-privacy-bed-bath-pocket-door-lock/p593662)</p>
<p>A lot of it depends upon what your water’s like… Having lived with clear glass showers in a few different places around the country, I know that in north Houston, it’s a heck of a lot tougher to keep the glass clean here than it was in north Los Angeles. Too many minerals in the water. Squeegeeing only does so much, and as neat as I think Lime-A-Way is, using it every day to try to abate the mineral deposits in my shower seems a little ridiculous to me. (Also, it’s monstrously bad for your skin!)</p>
<p>Just wanted to give a shout-out to the people whose doors don’t stay clean even with daily squeegeeing-- we’re not particularly messy housekeepers, we just have a lot more calcium to battle. :)</p>
<p>Can a water softener handle that?</p>
<p>Probably. We just moved in, though, and it’s our first house, so it’d be pretty far down on the list of things we need to get, since the appliances are all ten years old and the damage has been done. Just bought ourselves a couch on Saturday, so we’ve got a ways to go. ;)</p>
<p>I would move a water softener up on the list, especially if you don’t have a cleaning person. I lived without one for years and when we finally got one I couldn’t believe how much easier it was to keep the bathroom clean, what a difference it made with laundry and how little shampoo I needed! I think there can also be an issue with mineral deposits in the plumbing and appliances. Maybe you could ask Santa for one! Congrats on your first house and the joys of home ownership. ;)</p>
<p>I’ve got glass in three showers; it’s clear with areas that are etched in a design (think Matisse cutout pattern). Also have a new glass shower in a summer place. I’ve not had a problem with the glass looking bad. I do use the squegee after showering and I’ve got them in each shower, but H generally doesn’t use it (unless I remind him). I don’t think my kids used them and I imagine most guests don’t either. I did use a RainX-like product for bathrooms but stopped using it a few years ago when I went to more natural cleaning products. I’ve got well water in both places and it’s treated, which may make a difference. I do think water quality makes a big difference. We’ve got iron in the water and if we didn’t treat the water, the sinks/toilets would be a nasty rust color.</p>
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Second the emotion! All the deposits you see on your shower door are also where you don’t see them - in appliances, on dishes, in pipes, in your clothes…</p>
<p>You will save on dishwasher and laundry detergent, clothes lasting longer…</p>
<p>If you don’t put the system in now, certainly do it the first time you replace one of those appliances.</p>
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<p>That was my grand plan… The fridge, washer, dishwasher, hot water heater, etc. are all sort of getting towards the end of their lifespans, and the previous owners weren’t nearly as anal retentive about cleaning as I am. Didn’t necessarily consider the clothing (though as an engineer, I’m such a fashionista, don’t you know… 
) but that’s a really good point.</p>
<p>Pricing water softeners now…!</p>
<p>In our first house we had a very small captive bathroom with a shower stall in a corner. Not much room in the bathroom. </p>
<p>When we updated the bathroom we replaced the shower stall panels with clear ones and the ability of your eye to see the few extra feet to the wall really made the smaller room look at lot better, as well as more modern. My bias would be for the clear glass.</p>
<p>Can someone that has had both a door and a curtain tell me which they prefer? I never have liked the doors that I’ve seen at friends houses… but then again, I’ve always had curtains so maybe I am partial. My BF currently has a curtain on the shower at his house and he’s been talking about putting in doors and I’ve been trying to tell him that I don’t think we should do that…</p>
<p>^ there are different kinds of doors. There are bypass doors you tend to see on tub/shower combination. Absolutely hate those things - makes it very hard to clean the tub. I just removed those from son’s tub/shower and replaced them with a shower curtain.</p>
<p>I’ve also had a shower curtain on just a shower stall and didn’t like it. It was hard to keep the water off the floor (but it was small shower stall so that might have something to do with it). I much prefer a door (glass or otherwise).</p>
<p>I think those are the kind he wants… like this</p>
<p>[Sterling</a> Plumbing Deluxe 59-3/8 in. x 70 in. Framed Bypass Shower Door in Silver Finish - 5976-59S at The Home Depot](<a href=“http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xhw/R-202020066/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053]Sterling”>http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xhw/R-202020066/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053)</p>
<p>He keeps insisting that his bathroom is “windy” and that the shower curtain “sticks” to his arm so it needs to be replaced with a door that I know he’s not going to want to keep clean. Men. LOL.</p>
<p>I can’t step through a door like that without ducking, which means I would hit my head on it fairly often.</p>
<p>I’ve been able to fix the billowing curtain problem by not sealing the curtain to the wall on both sides - leave the back open a few inches, and aim the shower head down so the water doesn’t hit the back of the tub.</p>
<p>I don’t like shower doors…when I had them on a shower stall…if you opened the shower door it dripped all over the floor. It was a constant puddle or wet rug. I have a double size shower stall with a curtain, and a tub/shower combo with a curtain. I like them because when the get disgusting (and they do…just like the doors do), they can be replaced relatively cheaply and easily. If you get sick of those doors or don’t like them, they are a pain to replace and costly.</p>
<p>And I like being able to change the decor of my bathroom by replacing the shower curtain with a different color or print.</p>
<p>Is there any kind of method that would take out the hard minerals in water without being “softened.”? I dislike the slimy feeling of softened water on my skin especially after a shower.</p>
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<p>Those are the kind I hate. Hard to get the tub clean without straining your back or actually getting into the tub. Plus the tracks get yucky. And the doors are prone to coming off the tracks.</p>
<p>I’ve used velcro on the shower curtain and the edge of the shower stall before to keep the curtain from ‘blowing’.</p>