How To Remove A Shower Head That Is Glued On

Removing a shower head is usually an easy job. However, in some cases, you might face some difficulties, especially if the shower head was glued previously.

And, as we all know, glue is quite hard to deal with when you want to separate two objects that are glued together.

Luckily, we are here to explain to you exactly how to remove a shower head that is glued on. In that light, let’s continue and see what we prepared for you today.

Let’s begin.

Prepare for the Job: Shower Head Removal

Since you are dealing with the glue here, it’s quite important to get the right tools and everything that’s necessary in order to do the job properly. Therefore, you’ll need:

• An adjustable wrench
• An old piece of cloth
• Hot water
• Acetone nail polish remover 
• Lemon juice
• An old toothbrush
• Plastic bag
• Rubber band

By the looks of the things you’ll need for this job, it’s obvious that you’ll need to put a bit more effort into this job. Anyhow, let’s begin with the steps.

how to remove a shower head that is glued on

Removing a shower head that is glued on is not a simple task.

Therefore, we strongly suggest that you stick to the explanations in this guide. Otherwise, you might break some parts or damage the shower head which is absolutely unnecessary.

Step 1 – Try to loosen it up

The first thing to do is to try to remove the shower head by hand.

Now, we know that this won’t work at all, but, you are going to apply a bit of pressure on the glue and it might start to peel off. This will loosen the connection between the glue and the shower head and the job will be significantly easier.

However, don’t twist the shower head too hard since you don’t want to damage it or break it in any way.

Step 2 – Create a mixture

Now, this step is crucial for the whole process of removing the glued shower head. Namely, you’ll need to create a mixture that can dissolve the glue so you can easily remove the shower head.

And, for this mixture, you’ll need a bit of lemon juice, some hot water, and a large plastic bucket.

So, the first thing to do here is to take the bucket and pour approximately ½ litre of water inside. The water should be hot and you should pour it until it fills up half of the bucket.

Next, take the lemon juice and add it to the water. You can also add a bit of salt, but that’s not necessary if you don’t have it. Anyhow, that’s the mixture. 

So, the next thing to do is to take the shower head and put it inside the bucket. Soak it completely and let the mixture dissolve all the glue build-ups inside a shower head.

However, if you have a shower head that is installed on the shower arm, then go to the next step.

Step 3 – Soak the shower head in the mixture

As we already said, you need to soak the shower head inside the mixture so the glue will dissolve. However, the problem occurs if you have a shower head that is installed on the shower arm.

In that case, you’ll need to pour the mixture inside a plastic bag and slowly bring the bag around the shower head.

Once the shower head is completely soaked in the bag, use the rubber band to tighten the bag around the shower arm so the mixture won’t spill around.

You can also use a bit of plumbing tape to completely shut the bag with the shower head inside.

Step 4 – Clean it with hot water

Once you soak the shower head inside a mixture, you’ll need to wait for approximately 20 minutes and then you can remove it from the mixture. The glue should be partially dissolved and unscrewing of the shower head should be a lot easier.

But first, you will need to thoroughly clean the shower head and remove any build ups if there are some. Sometimes, when the glue dissolves, there might be some nasty stains and debris left on the shower head.

To rinse the shower head, use hot water and do it for a couple of minutes just in order to get everything washed away.

Step 5 – Use an old toothbrush

Now, once you cleaned the shower head with hot water, it’s time to use a bit of acetone nail polish remover. 

Simply spray a bit of acetone all across the area where the glue was applied and use an old toothbrush to brush the leftovers.

Don’t rub too hard with the toothbrush since the acetone will easily remove everything that’s left of the glue. 

Step 6 – Unscrew it with an adjustable wrench

We’re almost done.

You will need to take an adjustable wrench now and simply try to unscrew the shower head with it. But first, take an old piece of cloth and wrap around the area where the adjustable wrench is going to take place.

This way, you will ensure that there are not any scratches on the shower head. Once you do that, try twisting the showerhead in the clockwise direction and it should be easily removed.

Step 7 – Clean everything up

For the last step, you’ll need to clean everything up and inspect the insides of the shower head.

Since the shower head was glued, the mineral build-ups should be accumulated inside it and that’s something you’ll need to clean.

Simply rinse the shower head with the water from the faucet and everything will be just fine.

Conclusion: Glued Shower Head Removal

As we can see, removing of the glue shower head requires you to do a lot of things.

It’s not easy, but it’s possible. That being said, we can only add that you need to do this whole process carefully and with patience or else you might risk breaking something or damaging the shower head.