How to Clean a Shower Head

I have a tendency to overlook the everyday items that I just believe should naturally be clean. Take for instance, my washing machine - it's supposed to clean clothes so why would I ever need to clean a front loading washing machine? So when it comes to the shower and cleaning my shower head, it's another point where I'm thinking Why am I spending time cleaning it when it's meant to clean me?!

But the answer is that even your appliances doing the cleaning need their own TLC everyone once in a while. And let me just tell you that in order to have a clean shower, your shower head is definitely something you want to put some focus on. I'm going to show you just how easy it really is to clean a shower head; you won't even break a sweat!

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The Oft Overlooked Shower Head
Cleaning Supplies Needed
The Shower Head Cleaning Process
FAQs
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The Oft Overlooked Shower Head

We've lived in our house for eight years and I had never cleaned the shower head before. How can you tell? Well, you can see those hard water stains when you take a closer look. Pretty gross right?

How many of you really take a look at your shower head when you hop in the shower though? I take my showers in the morning right after I roll out of bed and I'm lucky if I can stumble into the shower without tripping over my girls' bath toys. But once I really took a look, I knew something had to be done to that shower head and quick!

Since my handy essential oils had come to my rescue when I cleaned my front loading washer, I decided to start there again. I love the fact that I can clean without using harmful chemicals.

Cleaning Supplies Needed

A bottle of Distilled Vinegar, Essential Oil, Hair Tie, Ziploc Bag

The Shower Head Cleaning Process

To start out you want to fill your sandwich bag with distilled white vinegar. The amount that you add should depend upon the size of your shower head, but you want it submerged.

I used about a cup of vinegar in my bag and added 3-4 drops of lemon essential oil. Submerge your shower head in the bag and group the bag together at the top of the shower head. Use the elastic to tie the bag on and hold it in place. You want to let the shower head sit in this mixture overnight. I always make sure to do this on a weekend when my husband doesn't have to get to work early because all I can imagine is him turning the shower on at 4 am and creating a huge mess.

In the morning, take the bag off of the shower head and simply wipe with EnviroCloth. I might have wiped the shower head twice, but I hardly put forth any effort due to the microfiber of the EnviroCloth. There was no scrubbing involved whatsoever.

Run the shower for a minute or two before hopping in so that you make sure that the vinegar and lemon oil is off of the shower head.

And that's it! With very little effort, you'll have a clean shower head and sparkling clean water for your next hot shower. Enjoy!

FAQs

How long should you soak your shower head in vinegar?

We recommend you soak your shower head in vinegar overnight for effective cleaning. But if your shower head fixture is coated with brass or nickel, do not soak it for more than 30 minutes.

How do you clean a shower head without vinegar?

You can use baking soda to clean your shower head instead of using vinegar. Follow the instructions below to use this method.

How do you clean a shower head with baking soda?

To clean a shower head with baking soda, combine half a cup of baking soda with warm water to form a thick paste. Apply this thick paste to your shower head and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then scrub the residual dirt using a toothbrush and rinse off with lukewarm water.