Hand-held showerhead covered with mildew and buildup. A text overlay reads "How to Deep Clean Your Showerhead"

Your shower caput tin harbor mold, harmful leaner, and crusty mineral buildup. Fourth dimension to clean it.

Closeup of mineral buildup and mold on dirty shower head.

Information technology seems like your showerhead ought to be self-cleaning, but it'due south not. All that water coursing through information technology carries minerals, particularly if you live in a hard h2o area, and those tin build up in the nozzles. Your showerhead provides a warm, damp area in betwixt uses — the perfect convenance spot for mold. In fact, scientists have found that residential showerheads harbor mycobacterium, which can cause lung disease.

Signs Your Shower Head Needs Cleaning

You lot may non exist able to spot bacteria and slime buildup in your shower head, just there are other signs that it's time to give information technology a deep cleaning:

  • H2o sprays in a different direction than it should
  • Some nozzles in the shower head don't spray at all
  • The pressure level coming out of the showerhead is low even with the water turned on all the way
  • You meet pink or orange slime around the nozzles, or
  • There's grey, greenish, or white chaff growing on the showerhead.

How to Deep Make clean Your Shower Caput

If it's been a while since yous concluding cleaned your shower caput, or if yous've never cleaned it at all, this method will get rid of the buildup and get your showerhead working similar new.

Materials Needed

  • Deep bowl
  • Baking Soda
  • Vinegar
  • Soft toothbrush
  • Dry rags
  • Tweezers (optional)
  • Wrench (optional)

Steps

  1. Remove your shower head by unscrewing it, using a wrench if necessary. Shake out any excess water.
  2. Use the tweezers to remove the filter screen. This is located at the end of the showerhead, where it attaches to the pipe. Rinse the filter screen on both sides to dislodge any mineral buildup, and then set it bated.
  3. Sprinkle the showerhead inside and out with 1-2 tablespoons of baking soda. Dip your toothbrush in water and utilise this to scrub the surface of the showerhead lightly. Do not rinse.
  4. Submerge the showerhead into a bowl filled with ii inches of vinegar. This will cream a flake, and the foaming action will dislodge more buildup. Allow the showerhead soak in the vinegar for a few hours or even overnight.
  5. Scrub the showerhead gently with a toothbrush and rinse it with plain water. Let information technology fully air dry, then reinstall the filter screen. Reattach the shower head to the pipe.

Culling Method

If you tin can't remove your showerhead, you can make clean information technology in place by slipping a plastic purse filled with vinegar over the head. Spike the bag to the shower pipage with a rubber ring. Let this sit down for an hour, remove the handbag, wipe the showerhead with a rag, and run the h2o to rinse away any residue.

Cleaning Hand-Held Shower Sprayers

You lot can clean hand-held shower sprayers and their hoses post-obit the steps above. If you lot can't fit the hose into a large bowl, a deep pot or even your bathtub volition piece of work. Submerge the sprayer and hose in vinegar for at least an 60 minutes, then rinse well, shake out excess water, and let it completely dry overnight.

Keeping Your Shower Head Clean

How oft you lot'll need to clean your showerhead depends on how quickly mildew and mineral buildup returns, merely normally, once or twice a year is plenty. You can continue mildew from growing on your shower head past misting it with a homemade daily shower cleaning spray, which helps forestall mineral buildup, too.

Never use bleach on your shower head since information technology tin can damage the gasket and filter screen. Bleach can besides permanently discolor some metals, then stick with the vinegar and blistering soda method to clean your showerhead instead.

More Info You Might Like:

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Bootleg Bathroom Disinfectant
How To Make clean Stinky Drains