How To Clean A Shower Head With Apple Cider Vinegar

It is highly important to maintain your shower head and clean it every once in a while. This is important because mineral deposits will build up around the holes on the shower head. That will result in loss of water pressure and your shower head won’t work properly.

So, what can you do to prevent this kind of problem? Well, cleaning your shower head with apple cider vinegar can surely help.

And, we are here to explain to you how to clean a shower head with apple cider vinegar. So, let’s begin.

how to clean a shower head with apple cider vinegar

Method 1 – Submerge the Shower Head

Now, let’s see how you can use apple cider vinegar in order to clean the shower head properly. Just follow this step by step guide and your shower head will be perfectly cleaned.

1. Detach the Shower Head

First of all, you will need to remove the shower head from the faucet. Now, not every shower head is disconnected the same way, so, you’ll most likely need to read the instruction manual.

If you can’t find it, then slowly turn the shower head counterclockwise and try to disconnect it from the faucet. Do this step carefully since the last thing you want is to damage the shower head.

2. Pour Apple Cider Vinegar in a Sink

Next, you will need to do some preparation steps so you can properly clean your shower head. Simply put, you will need to pour apple cider vinegar in a sink.

Don’t use too much vinegar since you will waste it that way. You will most likely need a certain amount that is enough for a shower head to be completely drowned in apple cider vinegar.

3. Use a bit of Baking Soda

After that, a little help of baking soda is always a good thing to have. Now, take approximately ½ of a cup of baking soda and put it in the sink.

You will then see a chemical reaction that these two ingredients can provide and you got yourself one really strong cleaning solution. You are now ready for the cleaning.

4. Put the Shower Head in the Sink

This step requires you to place the whole shower head in the vinegar and baking soda solution. Don’t try to push the shower head if there’s not enough solution in the sink. Just add more vinegar and more baking soda.

This way, you will ensure that your shower head will be perfectly cleaned. Next, you will need to wait for about 1 hour so the solution can dissolve all sorts of build-ups on your shower head.

5. Rinse

After everything you did so far, it is only left to rinse the shower head.

First, drain the solution from the sink and pull your shower head out of the sink. After that, use tap water to rinse the shower head.

You now have a perfectly cleaned shower head!

Method 2 – Attach a Bag

This method requires you to use a bit more effort and time, but, it’s really effective and provides great results. So, let’s see how you can clean your shower head with a bag full of vinegar.

1. Stuff the Vinegar in a Plastic Bag

This method doesn’t require you to disconnect the shower head from the faucet. Therefore, you will need to bring the vinegar solution to the already connected shower head, and, that’s why we are going to use a plastic bag.

So, take a plastic bag and pour a bit of apple cider vinegar inside. Make sure not to pour too much vinegar since you don’t want to make a mess in your bathroom.

Pour approximately the amount that is needed for a shower head to be completely submerged under the vinegar in a plastic bag.

2. Add a bit of Baking Soda

The second step will require you to add a bit of baking soda in the plastic bag. This will help you to clean the shower head properly.

Anyhow, use approximately ½ of a cup of baking soda and pour it in the vinegar that is inside a plastic bag.

3. Put a Connected Shower Head in the Plastic Bag

Now, here is where it gets tricky. You will need to raise the plastic bag up to the shower head and somehow put a shower head inside the bag.

Simply speaking, hold the plastic bag in your hands so that the bag is opened. Next, submerge the shower head in the bag and wrap around the shower head pipe.

4. Tie the Bag around the Shower Head

Once you place the shower head inside the bag, it is time to secure the bag on top of the shower head. For this step, you will need a rubber band or a zip tie, basically anything that can tie the plastic bag on the shower head pipe.

Make sure to properly tie the plastic bag and to secure the shower head inside the bag. The goal is to have a completely submerged shower head in vinegar.

5. Remove and Rinse

The hard part is over, and, it is only left for you to wait approximately 1 hour. Once the time has passed, you need to remove the plastic bag from the shower head and throw it away.

Next, run the shower for a few times just to make sure that everything is perfectly cleaned.

If there are still some nasty build-ups on your shower head, then you will need to use Method 3.

Method 3 – Thorough Cleaning

If the first two methods are not enough to completely clean your shower head properly then this method will definitely be! So, let’s take a closer look.

1. Remove the Shower Head

Same as in method 1, you will need to remove the shower head first. This is quite important since you are going to use a toothbrush to rub and clean the shower head manually.

Anyhow, do this slowly and with patience since you can damage the shower head if you don’t do it properly.  

2. Take an old Toothbrush

It would be best if you have some old toothbrush sitting somewhere inside your bathroom. The toothbrush is a convenient item to use here since it has lots of bristles that can easily clean every hole in the shower head.

So, find an old toothbrush and dip it in water. After that, pour a bit of apple cider vinegar on the toothbrush and the shower head as well. Now, gently rub the shower head with a toothbrush and slowly apply more pressure over time.

The toothbrush’s bristles in a combination with vinegar will slowly dissolve every bit of build-ups and your shower head will be perfectly cleaned.

3. Rinse Everything Thoroughly

To make sure that everything is cleaned properly, you need to rinse the shower head a couple of times. You can even use some old cloth to wipe the shower head after every rinse.

Also, make sure to use tap water and to rinse the shower head under high water pressure.

4. Reattach the Shower Head

After everything is done properly, it is time to reattach the shower head back to the shower head pipe. Same as in step 1, you need to make sure not to damage the shower head as you connect it back to the shower pipe.

If you can’t be perfectly sure how to do that, you can always read an instruction manual and see the exact way of attaching and detaching the shower head.

Conclusion: Cleaning a Showerhead with Apple Cider Vinegar

As we can see, cleaning shower head with apple cider vinegar is not so hard. These three methods are basically everything you need to know in order to perfectly clean the shower head in your bathroom.

Also, using apple cider vinegar is also a good thing since it will not only dissolve all sorts of build-ups, but it will protect your shower head from other kinds of build-ups as well.