Why you should clean your shower head:
Let’s be honest. The shower is the one place that we can go to during our day to escape from all that is we call life. But think about it this way, shower heads are used to clean you, and if we do not make it a habit of cleaning them, how will they ever be able to clean us?
Studies conducted by experts show us that almost one-third of the shower heads are infected with a bacteria that has to do with the pulmonary disease. In addition to that, dirty showers can also contribute to the spreading of Legionnaires disease.
A cleaner showerhead will not only make your bathing environment a healthy one but will also improve the spray of water! Fortunately for us, the cleaning process isn’t so hard. Don’t go looking for plumbers just yet, you can do it easily yourself!
How to clean your shower head:
If this is your first rodeo, you might want to start by deep cleaning your shower head. Here is how:
Deep Cleaning:
Step 1: Take a large bowl and pour in 3 cups of hot water along with a cup of white vinegar.
Step 2: Now, you have to temporarily remove the shower head which you should be able to do so simply by unscrewing the attachment. Shake any access water before continuing.
Step 3: Once removed, put the shower head in the large bowl and let it soak the hot vinegar and hot water solution for at least 30 minutes.
Step 4: Take a bottle brush (or an old toothbrush, whichever you have at hand) and scrub the shower head, both inside and out. Once you have made sure that you removed as much of the gunk as possible, replace it back into the bowl and let it sit in the solution for another five to ten minutes.
Step 5: Give it another good scrub before draining out the dirty water. Make sure to rinse the shower head thoroughly with clean water.
Step 6: Leave the shower head out for as long as it takes to fully air dry before you reattach it to the shower tube. Meanwhile, you can use this time to clean up the tube and clear out any buildup with a brush. To ensure that the shower head fits securely to the tube, you may wrap the mouth of the tube with some plumber’s tape a few times.
Monthly Maintenance:
Once you have done the initial deep cleaning of the showerhead, it is not necessary for you to remove it every time to clean it. You can go through the deep cleaning process every 6 months or so, or unless you notice a significant buildup. In the meantime, you can clean it every once in a month following the method mentioned below to ensure the utmost hygiene possible.
Make a vinegar-based cleaning solution and generously spray the shower head before giving the nozzle a good scrub to remove any bio-film or residue. To clean off the solution, just run the shower and that’s it. This is relatively simple and will barely take ten minutes. But to make things even simpler, you can make a batch of the vinegar solution and store it in a spray nozzle for later use.
- How to make the vinegar solution:
1 part white vinegar
3 parts water
However, if you do find that your shower head needs a little more thorough cleanup between the deep cleanings, it’s better to take a different approach.
When you see stubborn residue, you can soak it for a while to soften up the gunk before you scrub it off, similar to what you would do during a deep cleaning but with a lot less ordeal. This time to make the vinegar cleaning solution, mix in water and white vinegar in a one to one ratio before pouring it in a plastic bag. Attach the plastic bag containing the solution around the shower head and secure it with a rubber band. You can leave the shower head to soak in for at least an hour or even overnight. Then, as usual, scrub it with a brush to dislodge the gunk and let the shower run to clean it up.
