How to clean a shower head

Step by step, without taking it off

1. Fill a plastic bag with white vinegar and pull it up over the shower head, so the face with the nozzles sits in the vinegar.
2. Fasten the bag around the neck with a rubber band or a zip tie.
3. Leave it to soak: overnight for chrome, 30 minutes for brass, gold and nickel. The table below has the rest.
4. Take off the bag, pour the vinegar away, and run hot water through the head for a minute.
5. Scrub the nozzles with an old toothbrush. Nudge any stubborn ones clear with a toothpick.
6. While the vinegar is out, do the faucets the same way: wrap them in a vinegar-soaked cloth for 15 to 30 minutes, then wipe.

How long to soak it, by finish

Soak time depends on the finish, not on how bad it looks. Vinegar is an acid: it dissolves the scale, and given long enough, it starts on thin plating too.

Not sure which one you have? Treat it as the gentler finish. You can always soak it again.

When vinegar isn’t enough

Old, thick scale, often left by whoever lived there before you, can take more than one round. In order:

1. Soak again. A second soak does more than a harder scrub.
2. A citric acid descaler, the kind sold for kettles and coffee machines. It works like vinegar, a little faster, and doesn’t smell. Follow its label, and the same finish rules apply.
3. A limescale remover like CLR, on chrome or stainless steel only. CLR’s own label rules out brass and anything painted, coated or sealed.
4. Take the head off and soak it in a bowl, so the vinegar reaches the inside too.

How to take a shower head off, and put it back

1. Turn the head counterclockwise by hand where it meets the pipe coming out of the wall.
2. If it won’t move, wrap the nut in a cloth and use an adjustable wrench or pliers over the cloth, so the finish doesn’t scratch. Hold the pipe steady with your other hand.
3. While it’s off, look inside the connection for a small mesh screen or washer, and rinse it.
4. Wrap the pipe’s threads with 2 or 3 turns of plumber’s tape, going clockwise.
5. Screw the head back on by hand, then give it a gentle quarter turn with the wrench and cloth. Run the water and check for drips.

Is the pink stuff mold?

Usually not. The pink or orange film in showers is most often a bacterium, Serratia marcescens, which lives on soap residue in damp places. Vinegar removes scale, but it isn’t a disinfectant, so scrub the film off with your usual bathroom cleaner and let the shower dry between uses.

If black spots stay on the rubber nozzles after a good scrub, a new shower head is often less work than another round.

Skip these mistakes

• Soaking brass, gold or nickel finishes for hours.
• Skipping the hot-water flush, which leaves the loosened scale inside the head.
• Letting vinegar or CLR drip onto marble or other natural stone, which acid can etch.
• Waiting until the water sprays sideways. By then the scale is thick; every 3 months keeps it thin.

Sources

• Molly Maid, How to Clean a Showerhead
• CLR Brands, CLR Calcium, Lime and Rust Remover
• Moen, Verso rainshower care (50/50 vinegar and water)
• NDSU Extension, Red substance in tub, toilet is bacteria (2010)
• Time, steps and frequency: the CozyHaus guide Descale the showerhead.

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