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Do many people experience curtain cling?
Certainly. Shower curtains may be stylish and decorative, but unfortunately, nothing holds them back. That's why, in a national survey, 43% of respondents said their shower curtain "sometimes," "often" or "always" crowds their space or actually touches them. Some people don' mind. Others (like us) dislike the sensation. Why do curtains cling?
Believe it or not, this question has been featured in Scientific American magazine, with several theories given to explain the phenomenon, but no definite conclusion. Scientists can't agree on which of the subtle forces of nature are at work. It's obviously due to airflows, but why does air flow that way? Even the Wikipedia community is divided on what causes the dreaded "Shower Curtain Effect". Some say it's the same aerodynamic force that gives lift to a plane's wings (the Bernoulli Principle). So, air flowing out of the shower from above the rod moves faster than the airflow flowing in from the bottom. This creates more pressure in the lower area of the shower, creating curtain “lift” (or cling). Another school of thought embraces the “buoyancy theory” which states that fluctuations in temperature and air pressure cause the curtain to blow in. A third explanation is that the spray from the shower creates a "horizontal vortex" like a small cyclone that sucks the curtain in. Other theories have scary names like "reverse Coanda effect".
Whatever the cause, curtain cling annoys millions of people every day. ShowerBow can take on any of these laws of physics, as well as the curtain dervish.
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However, based on inconclusive hearsay, we think that there's a shower curtain dervish who lies in wait until we close the curtain and turn on the water!
