How To Get A Shower Head Clean

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If you've noticed that the water from your shower head has been shooting out in all directions as of late, or even worse, your flow has become so bad you can't take a decent shower, it's time to clean your shower head. The holes in a shower read get clogged with minerals, but the good news is that you can clean them, so there's no need to rush to buy a new shower head.

Vinegar is often touted as a great way to clean a clogged shower head, but if you can't stand the smell or don't have any vinegar at hand, you may be wondering how to clean shower head without vinegar. There are multiple solutions available, fortunately, and many of them don't require any vinegar.

In this article, we'll talk about how to clean your shower head without vinegar and some preventative measures to keep future clogs to a minimum.

How often should you clean shower head and why

6 Ways to Clean a Shower Head Without Vinegar To prevent serious build-up, you should give your shower head a clean every week, and a deep clean once a month.

For many people, cleaning their shower head can become more of an afterthought, and that's quite easy to understand. After all, you get into the shower to get clean, doesn't the shower head virtually clean itself every time you use it?

The answer is no, and even though a shower had doesn't have to look filthy to grab your attention, organic matter and mineral deposits build up over time and they are the cause of irregular spray patterns.

Moreover, you should also think about hygiene reasons — because they're installed in a hot and humid environment, shower heads are the ideal breeding ground for bacteria, germs, and mold.

The tips below work for both regular and dual shower heads, but make sure you also read the instructions of the manufacturer regarding cleaning.

Why vinegar is not the best solution

A quick Internet search on how to clean a shower head nearly always leads to vinegar. Whether it's white distilled vinegar or brown vinegar, this is the first thing that many websites recommend using the remove mineral deposits and grime from a shower head.

However, the truth is that white vinegar is not really the best solution for cleaning a shower head. Severe problems with lime scale typically don't go away when you only use vinegar, so you need to look at alternative solutions. If you don't want to have to deal with issues like these very often, it's also a good. Idea to look for a shower filter for hard water.

Moreover, even though vinegar reacts to the mineral deposits and typically cleans a shower head as expected, many people can't stand the smell and are looking for alternative ways to clean a shower head without vinegar.

Below you will find the best solutions to clean shower head without vinegar and still obtain great results every time.

What you'll need

6 Ways to Clean a Shower Head Without Vinegar Before starting the cleaning process, you should gather a couple of items that you are going to need.

These include the following:

A pair of gloves
Facemask
Baking soda
A brush
Large bowl
A towel or some rags
A scrubber sponge
Hot water
A reliable cleanser

Lemon juice cleaning

6 Ways to Clean a Shower Head Without Vinegar Lemon juice is a natural alternative to cleaners that contain chemicals and works wonders for cleaning a showerhead. You will need a couple of lemons and a container with hot water that is large enough to fit the showerhead in.

Remove the showerhead from the shower installation and then make a solution from hot water and the juice of 2 to 3 lemons. It's always a good idea to use juice from freshly squid lemons instead of store-bought juice.

Next, place the showerhead in the container and leave it to soak in the hot water and lemon mixture for up to 30 minutes. Rinse the showerhead in water and then brush off any leftover limescale with a brush. Your showerhead should be now sparkling clean, not to mention smelling quite fresh from the lemon juice.

Coca cola cleaning

6 Ways to Clean a Shower Head Without Vinegar Coca-Cola might not be the cleaner of choice for many people, but in fact you may be surprised to find out that it can do wonders for cleaning your showerhead. There is a perfectly reasonable explanation behind this claim, and it has to do with the small amount of phosphoric acid and Coca-Cola had that is more than enough to clean stains and limescale deposits.

The easiest way to clean a showerhead with Coca-Cola is to disconnect it from the wall. Feel a large bowl with Coca-Cola (regular or diet should work just as well) and dip the shower head in it. Allow it to sit for 20 to 30 minutes and then scrap the showerhead thoroughly with a brush.

If you still see that there is still grime or lime scale deposits left on the showerhead, you can debate again in Coca-Cola for another 20 to 30 minutes and then do the scrubbing again.

Unlike in the case of baking soda or oven cleaning, nothing happens if you leave the showerhead in a bowl of Coca Cola for a longer period of time. Coke is not acidic enough to damage the finish of the shower head, so you shouldn't be afraid to leave it there long as you need to make it sparkling again.

Baking soda cleaning

6 Ways to Clean a Shower Head Without Vinegar Cleaning a shower head with baking so that is one of the most popular methods you will encounter all over the Internet after solutions that ask for vinegar.

Baking soda typically does wonders at wiping off even the most difficult of stains, but the method is also very popular because it's very easy to employ while being inexpensive at the same time.

This is how you clean a shower head with baking soda:

With the help of a sponge, scrub the shower hand thoroughly to remove any solid dirt and debris that is visible to the naked eye. Next, put some baking soda in a large bowl that's big enough for the shower head and pour just enough water to form a paste.

Apply the paste on the shower head, either with a brass or with your hands, in which case you will need to wear gloves because baking soda may cause damage to your skin. Leave it in the bowl for a maximum of 15 minutes and then use a brush to wash off the paste from the shower head.

If you have a rain shower head, you may want to adapt this process and apply the paste directly on the shower head.

Make sure you don't wait longer than that because this will make the baking soda difficult to wash off. Wipe off all the excess baking soda paste and then wash it off with hot water. Finally, wipe off the excess water and have a look at the results. The mineral deposits and line scales should disappear, and you are showerhead should look like new.

Before using your shower again, keep the water running for a couple of minutes in order to get rid of any baking soda residues that may have been left behind.

Oven cleaner cleaning

6 Ways to Clean a Shower Head Without Vinegar Oven cleaner is another solution for cleaning your showerhead because it works great as a cleaning agent that removes stuck grease and other debris from the oven. Cleaning your showerhead with it should be quite effortless, but you need to remember that this is a type of abrasive cleaner, which means that it can damage your skin. Moreover, over and cleaner has a pungent smell, so it's always a good idea to wear a mask before using it to clean your showerhead.

Start by putting on your gloves and then spray the cleaner all over the showerhead, making sure you do it evenly. Leave it for up to 20 minutes and then rinse it off with hot water. Make sure you don't wait longer than that because that may damage the finish of the showerhead.

One of the reasons using oven cleaner for cleaning a shower head is so popular is the fact that you don't have to disconnect it from the wall before cleaning.

Bleach cleaning

6 Ways to Clean a Shower Head Without Vinegar Bleach is another way to go about cleaning a shower head, but contrary to popular belief, it's not really an effective way to do it. Several studies have actually shown that using bleach to clean a shower head can increase the number of bacteria. You should try to use safer, non-toxic methods of cleaning whenever you can.

Cleaning off rust

Rust is typically more difficult to eliminate from a shower head, but the good news is that it's not impossible to give a slightly rusted shower head a new lease of life.

Lemon and salt is a good combination for cleaning off rust from a showerhead. The lemon juice acts as an acidic base, and the salt will absorb the rust and act as an abrasive when you begin to scrub.

This is a very easy method, as all you have to do is pour some lemon juice on the rust spots to get them wet. You then sprinkle some salt all over the area and leave it for three to four hours. Use a microfiber cloth to scrape the rust away — try to avoid steel wool or scours because these may end up scratching the surface as they are too abrasive.

Finally, rinse the entire surface with water. If you still see some rust spots, repat the treatment until they're gone.

To prevent shower heads from getting rusty, you can opt for models that are mostly made from plastic, such as the Aquasana AQ-4100, for example, which also comes with the added benefit of having filter and great water pressure. The Culligan WSH-C125 is another good choice, as its chrome finish doesn't rust.

Keep it clean

6 Ways to Clean a Shower Head Without Vinegar Many people clean their shower heads very rarely, but it's super important to do it regularly, both for hygiene purposes and also to enjoy a good showering experience.

Keep you shower head clean by wiping it regularly when you clean the rest of the bathroom to remove bacteria and reduce your chances of getting sick. Cleaning your shower head regularly is also important for improving your water pressure so you can enjoy a relaxing shower.

If you have continuous issues with the water pressure, it might be a good idea to look into a shower head that's designed specifically for low water pressure.

Final thoughts

Cleaning your shower head regularly is not just something people who are obsesses with cleaning do. If you want to have a healthy and enjoyable showering experience, it's essential to clean your shower head every time you clean the bathroom.

Lots of debris, bacteria, and mineral deposits accumulate on showerheads, and you don't want them to land on you when you shower. All the methods above are great solutions if you're interested in how to clean a shower head without vinegar. They are all inexpensive, and employing them on a regular basis will keep you and your family healthy. Plus, don't forget about how enjoyable showers with good water pressure are!