How to Clean a Clogged Shower Head
September 15, 2009 by Karen Weideman
Filed under home projects
If your shower head doesn’t seem to be working as well as normal, then chances are it’s clogged. Many shower heads get clogged with mineral deposits. Rather than paying a professional to come in, you can try these tips instead.
- Try to unscrew your shower head yourself. Many of them can unscrew with your hands. If this doesn’t work, you’ll need some plyers.
- Wrap your plyers in tape (this is to keep them from scratching up your shower head). Remove showerhead.
- Use a toothpick to remove large clumps of build up.
- Submerge the showerhead in vinegar. You can use a bowl, bucket, etc. Soak the showerhead all day or overnight. If you don’t want to remove the showerhead from the wall, then you can try filling a bag (maybe a Ziploc) with vinegar and tying the bag around the showerhead with a rubber band or something strong enough to hold the weight of the vinegar. The vinegar will dissolve the mineral deposits.
- Remove showerhead from vinegar submersion and reattach to the shower.
Enjoy your clean showerhead!
image sxc.hu
You might want to be careful soaking your shower head in vinegar for too long if it’s chromed.
The reason I say this is I had a clogged kitchen sprayer…pretty little thing, all shiny chrome. I soaked it in a glass of vinegar overnight, just as you suggest here.
In the morning it was a dull grey where the vinegar had eaten away the chrome.
It sprayed real good, though.
Thanks for the tip. Maybe it would be best to soak the showerhead on a day when you’re home and can keep an eye on it.