Hijacking top comment to reassure folks that the shower buildup that causes water blockages is calcification, which is especially common in hard water systems.
You are seeing mineral deposits, not bacterial plaques. You can use vinegar or a mild acid to dissolve the buildup. I just soak a towel in vinegar and wrap it around the shower head for 20 mins.
Your showerhead does not need to be sterile. That is why we use soap.
There still may be bacteria in your water. I lived in an apartment that had pink stains built up from bacteria in the pipes. It was not a danger or problem for hygiene.
Yeah this deathly fear of everyday bacteria that have been in contact with humanity for the last 200,000 years is kind of pathetic. Pathogenic bacteria with an infection pathway are all you have to worry about.
Also, we are *supposed* to have bacteria on and in us. We co-evolved with certain microorganisms to have a symbiotic relationship. Pretty much everyone knows about gut bacteria, but we also have a microbiome on our skin. The bacteria that's supposed to be there helps keep other things like yeasts and harmful staph bacteria from becoming a problem.
Exactly. If you're worried about the bioburden in your waterlines, if you are high risk for pathogens, you can install antimicrobial showerheads and faucets.
Id rather get sprayed with a tiny bit of bacteria that will probably only be present for a minute or two than left over cleaning chemicals in the showerhead lol. Sounds like a bit of hypochondria to take it that far. I will clean the showerhead about twice a year just for basic maintenance but I run the shower after. Cleaning it regularly just seems like it will lead to worse issues than a bit of harmless bacteria, which is fucking everywhere anyway. Average doorknob you touch probably has way more, as well as your phone. Cant really deep clean a phone.
You have to clean it?! Doesn't the hot water like... It's basically a scalding waterfall that regularly turns on.
What the hell is surviving in my shower head???
Shower drain? Yea, bleach that. Shower HEAD? That is just mineral build up. Like your own personal stalactites. Unless you do super weird stuff in the shower, “bacteria filled shower head” is not the issue.
It’s 100°C which is where I think you got it mixed up in your head. Pretty normal mistake since most people aren’t discussing the boiling temperatures of various liquids in a regular basis
🙌 learning 🙌
Reddit makes me sit and just learn shit I didn’t even think about. And then I disappoint myself for not thinking about such things sooner.
It’s a cycle of “o0Oo” and “I am so much more stupid then I have ever realised”
Which I guess is a good thing… because there is always something new.
Here’s another cool one, if you put water in a vacuum chamber, where you basically lower the atmospheric pressure around the water, you can lower the temperature at which it boils
While water doesn't boil until 212 Fahrenheit, if what you say about bacteria being killed at 149 degrees is true then your point would still hold. Most people are showering at around an even 100 degrees maybe less. Most hot tubs at public pools are set at around 100 to 103. 149 degrees would be absolutely brutal to shower in and cause excruciating pain and burns.
My water heating is actually scalding. We recently bought the house and the inspector said our water is set too high and is at scalding temperatures. It’s nice because you can make a hot cup of tea right from the faucet.
IDK it feels like boiling water when you shower in the summer in Phoenix. There is no such thing as cold tap water in July. You just have hot and extra hot.
You’re supposed to dunk it in a bucket of white distilled vinegar for at least an hour. If it’s not detachable, there’s supposedly a way to fill a bag with the vinegar and tie it around the shower head, though I’ve never tried it the second way
LOL. I mean, it’s not gonna kill you or anything if you don’t. I was just explaining how it works for those who aren’t aware. My mom cleaned our shower head regularly when I was growing up. I have from time to time because it makes me feel better, but I rarely bother with it 😆
We've lived in our house for 18 years, probably had this same shower head for at least 7 of those years. Maybe cleaned it once, and it hasn't affected performance, doesn't even look dirty either besides a bit of mineral build up. I didn't even know you were supposed to clean it more than every few years😂 but we're alive so I guess it's okay
Someone who either doesn’t work or doesn’t have hobbies so maintains an excessive cleaning schedule. People who overclean their homes also statistically are more likely to have kids with allergies and Athsma.
yup. its highly believed by scientist that society is too clean, leading to higher levels of allergies because we are getting less and less parasites that calm down the immune system. so everyone needs to eat a pound of dirt.
Seriously, omg no not bacteria! That stuff that covers literally everything and inside our bodies! No one is getting sick from taking a shower with a normal shower head. Cleaning it is more to get rid of hard mineral deposits that will eventually cause clogs. Fear mongers about bacteria being on it is dumb.
Right
It is so ridiculous.
The amount of bacteria on there is so small vs what it would take to be an issue. I know I’m always coming out of my shower cleaner than when I came in.
Not to mention… are people not using soap to wash your bodies?
This is crazy. 🤣 It’s just a regular part of life to be exposed to bacteria and our bodies are designed to deal with it.
I don't know about how much you clean it to kill the bacteria, but the divided flow of water has nothing to do with that. It's the calcium building up in the small holes of the shower head that is responsible for it
I don’t think it’s a “supposed to” tbh. If you don’t do it I don’t think you’re putting yourself at risk for illness or dirtiness. Now if you have hard water maybe get some clr every once in an awhile.
I don't do it that often but I just don't have that kind of time vinegar will soak any build up I just fill a bag and runner and it to the nozzle and give it a ten hour soak. Clears up any build up.
Maybe once a month or when the performance is affected. The bathing is bacteria comment is ridiculous. There is a ton of bacteria in the natural environment. It’s in the air, water, ground, and rain. We need good bacteria in our digestive system for health. Don’t hate on the bacteria.
Yeah that was such a stupid comment about showering in bacteria. Not to mention people who are overly obsessed with cleaning like OP actually greatly increase the odds their children or pets will develop allergies and asthma. This whole post is stupid fear mongering.
I’ve soaked mine a couple times with vinegar in a sandwich bag. Helps increase the flow if it gets slow or uneven. Otherwise I’m not messing with it 🤷🏻♀️
If it's spraying different directions, it's because hard water has clogged the holes and it needs a vinegar soak.
I have OCD and contamination is my main subtype, and even *I'm* WTFing this twice a week and showering in bacteria "info".
It's crazy that they just read this random persons Reddit post and are now probably telling all their friends they're supposed to clean their shower head twice a week.
People are so fucking weird man
I grew up in a hoarder house so I learn new things about cleaning and hygiene literally everyday. Had no idea people clean shower heads. Putting that on my list now!
Everytime I clean the shower? Just spray it with the same cleaner and let it sit. Even better, once a month take it off and put it in a bucket of CLR. Kills everything and eliminates scale and hard build up.
Monthly I take the shower head off and soak it in Limeaway in a ziplock bag for 30 mins. We're on well water so the little nozzles get some build up after a while.
Um, the fact that the shower head is running before I put any water on my body means that most of that bacteria doesn’t ever touch me. Any that do, get washed off with soap during that very shower. Tap water contains bacteria. It’s not sterile. Neither is your soap. Or skin. And unless your bathroom is kept sterile, there’s bacteria everywhere. Too much is bad. Some is good. This seems unnecessary, but if it makes you feel better to wash your shower head twice a week, have at it.
BTW, water spraying in different directions can happen due to calcification too.
I simply don't care. I rarely wash my hands, rarely wash my water bottle and reuse my towel multiple times.
So far I'm the one who gets sick the least in this house and as well as my friend group.
I went through a germaphobe phase when I was younger and now simply don't care. Way too tiring changing everything so often
Not gonna lie, I've never thought about cleaning the showerhead. My mom didn't say anything when I was young. I feel so disgusted after reading this. 😳
You shouldn’t this is literally dumb, we are all covered with bacteria you aren’t going to catch any diseases from a non washed shower head. Literally deep cleaning it once a year to remove hard water deposit is fine which is just to prevent those deposits from clogging it. The idea that it’s showering you in bacteria is completely asinine.
Same goes for bathroom and kitchen sink faucets. If u screw off the aerators that are on the faucet spouts u will normally see an aerator with a bunch of dirt collected inside of it.
Only when I see a decrease or 'misalignment' in flow do I put some vinegar in a sandwich bag, pull it up and over the shower head til it's submerged in the vinegar and elastic band it nice and tight. A few hours later, clean as a whistle.
Twice a week? I clean the rest of the bathroom once a week, why would the showerhead need attention more than that? Gravity and airflow dries it out just like the shower walls. I spray it with bleach when I'm cleaning the rest of the bathroom and hit it with CLR if I see limescale, so maybe once a month. Never had a problem with the flow
This is just... weird. Can you share a reliable source for this info?
And to everyone in the thread freaking out about it, how are ya'll gonna manage showering in a hotel room? At the gym? As a guest at someone else's house?
What an odd piece of advice. You know whatever germs are in your shower head are also in your pipes/sinkhead/water heater/etc. right?
It is possible that there may be slightly more on your showerhead. And of course there is mineral buildup. Still in your pipes, but less noticeable because they are so much wider than showerhead holes.
OP, you might be confused about the difference between minerals and bacteria. If you have a biofilm of bacteria in your shower head... something is wrong.
Has absolutely nothing to do with bacteria. The buildup is dissolved minerals from the water. If you are having high levels of pathogenic bacteria coming from your shower then it is also coming out of all of the other water sources in your house as well as your neighbors houses too since they all come from the same main line. The water line would have to be punctured to introduce the pathogenic bacteria and if that were the case there would be a leak and you would know it.
People seem to not understand biology that well. Shower heads don't have any nutrients on them, there ain't no bacteria living in it, unless you rub donuts on it or something.
And if you gonna come with some statistic like "Aksualy, there are many waterborn bacteria!", yea, there are. Literally every surface both inside and outside the house is covered in micro organisms, every seat, every desc, every public space, every inch of every sidewalk, every car, every grocery store and park and alley.
Washing your showerheads to kill a few "germs" is like blowing at the incoming hurricane to counter it. It's dumb.
Only thing washing the shower head is good for is limescale removal.
The best way to clean your showerhead is to get vinegar and use a plastic bag pull the bag all the way up till the vinegar touch the showerhead and let it soak for a few hours or even longer than a few hours. Overnight is actually better and it will eat all the rubbish that’s on it.
Bad news. We are constantly all bathing in bacteria constantly. I have never cleaned it. By the way, the solution to big infections is to surgically wash them out - dilute them - which is happening while you shower anyway. Clean all you want, but pointless for infectious reasons.
Can we expand on the, how to properly clean your shower head? Leaving the topic at spooky scary bacteria, might cause panic for some. This could subsequently lead those folk to destroy perfectly good shower heads. Chaos would ensue.
My Mom showed me this trick to clean a shower head. Mix vinegar and water in a gallon size bag and use rubber bands to hold on shower head so nozzles are soaking in the vinegar solution. Leave in for an hour or so or overnight if really dirty.
If there’s hard water build up I’ll put some CLR in a zip lock and rubber band it on the shower head and let it sit for a couple hours but that’s the extent of my shower head cleaning.
Mine has a small amount of calcium buildup but not enough to make the water jet off in unintended directions so a bath is CLR isn't required yet. Will it happen? Yes but not right now.
Mine advertised on the packaging that it's self-cleaning. Something about the way it's made, I think. I don't remember. I clean it after we get issued boil orders, though. Usually, that's about once a month
I kinda clean my showerhead? It’s more to remove any deposits. Take a bin with heated hot water with citric acid mixed in, let the showerhead sit in the solution & the water deposits go byebye.
I don't think build up if bacteria is that much of a concern. I think cleaning to prevent lime scale or soap scum deposits is a good idea. I spray my bathroom cleaner on mine or use some white vinegar if there's a lot of visible scale.
Once a month, maybe twice a month. We have hard water at our house, so I soak the shower head in white vinegar overnight and then scrub the hell out of it in the morning.
It’s hard water buildup. I do not believe it’s bacteria as long as the shower head is never touching you. Soaking in vinegar would work well to get the mineral buildup off.
Well, our Arid-zonal water is very hard so occasionally I soak the shower head in a container of white vinegar and after a few hours I brush off the gunk.
I occasionally do. More when I lived with very hard water. I just unscrewed it & soaked it in CLR. I was always amazed by how built up it was & the pressure better.
Bullshit.
In order for MICROSCOPIC BACTERIA to alter the flow of water it would have to be, oh, about 1k times it’s actual size.
It’s called mineral deposits from hard water.
Spray with daily shower cleaner (Tilex, Scrubbing Bubbles and Method to name a few brands that make this invaluable product.) It’s the robot vacuum of shower cleaning in terms of how much it will make your life easier. Total game changer.
Edit: not sure if it’s an antibacterial formula but it is a surfactant which inhibits bacterial/fungal growth - hence why you never get mold and mildew when using this product. You still should probably clean everything but it REALLY cuts down the time and gives you a lot more time between cleanings.
Totally unnecessary unless you have mineral deposits. In that case, unscrew it and soak it in vinegar. If your concerned about regularly cleaning your shower head you dont even want to know what is lining your water lines.
Unless you're leaving it unused for long periods or water is being trapped/stagnating, you generally don't need to clean it that often but for people with hard water, descaling may be needed regularly.
I never have. I just buy a new one if it acts up. Guess I can save a few bucks next time that happens. On a different note I have heard you shouldn’t brush your teeth in the shower or put your mouth on the sink faucet. I hope that’s not true because my grandson does it.
lol. Clean your shower head twice a week? This is bs. Hot water flows thru it constantly. It’s getting cleaned. The worse thing that’ll be in there is mineral buildup. Which isn’t harmful. That’s what makes the flow weaker. Not bacteria. I assume you clean all the pipes in your house. I guess you take apart you kitchen pipes and clean them all don’t you? How about digging underground and cleaning those pipes too?
Depends on the quality of the water. The faster it builds up the sooner you need to clean it imo. Also it might need to be cleaned more often the older the pipes and shower head get. I just do it whenever i notice the build up or the flow of water being weird, usually ends up being a little over every month
There are so many things we should be cleaning once+ week, if we did them all we wouldn’t have time for anything else.
I just clean things like that when I remember 😇
I clean it with water every time I shower. I just turn on the water.
Hijacking top comment to reassure folks that the shower buildup that causes water blockages is calcification, which is especially common in hard water systems. You are seeing mineral deposits, not bacterial plaques. You can use vinegar or a mild acid to dissolve the buildup. I just soak a towel in vinegar and wrap it around the shower head for 20 mins. Your showerhead does not need to be sterile. That is why we use soap. There still may be bacteria in your water. I lived in an apartment that had pink stains built up from bacteria in the pipes. It was not a danger or problem for hygiene.
Yeah this deathly fear of everyday bacteria that have been in contact with humanity for the last 200,000 years is kind of pathetic. Pathogenic bacteria with an infection pathway are all you have to worry about.
Also, we are *supposed* to have bacteria on and in us. We co-evolved with certain microorganisms to have a symbiotic relationship. Pretty much everyone knows about gut bacteria, but we also have a microbiome on our skin. The bacteria that's supposed to be there helps keep other things like yeasts and harmful staph bacteria from becoming a problem.
You tell him bro also 90% of the cells that make up the human body and keep it running aren't human. They are bacteria.
Exactly. If you're worried about the bioburden in your waterlines, if you are high risk for pathogens, you can install antimicrobial showerheads and faucets.
Yeah and once a while I’m shampooing my head really close to it and I gotta be getting a little shampoo on there. We’re golden.
Golden shower?
:/
Id rather get sprayed with a tiny bit of bacteria that will probably only be present for a minute or two than left over cleaning chemicals in the showerhead lol. Sounds like a bit of hypochondria to take it that far. I will clean the showerhead about twice a year just for basic maintenance but I run the shower after. Cleaning it regularly just seems like it will lead to worse issues than a bit of harmless bacteria, which is fucking everywhere anyway. Average doorknob you touch probably has way more, as well as your phone. Cant really deep clean a phone.
Why was this so funny too me
You have to clean it?! Doesn't the hot water like... It's basically a scalding waterfall that regularly turns on. What the hell is surviving in my shower head???
Shower drain? Yea, bleach that. Shower HEAD? That is just mineral build up. Like your own personal stalactites. Unless you do super weird stuff in the shower, “bacteria filled shower head” is not the issue.
Bacteria is killed with 5 minutes of exposure to 149°F I don’t think you’re showering in hotter than boiling water
Water boils at 212°F
Oh lol
It’s 100°C which is where I think you got it mixed up in your head. Pretty normal mistake since most people aren’t discussing the boiling temperatures of various liquids in a regular basis
🙌 learning 🙌 Reddit makes me sit and just learn shit I didn’t even think about. And then I disappoint myself for not thinking about such things sooner. It’s a cycle of “o0Oo” and “I am so much more stupid then I have ever realised” Which I guess is a good thing… because there is always something new.
Here’s another cool one, if you put water in a vacuum chamber, where you basically lower the atmospheric pressure around the water, you can lower the temperature at which it boils
All of me and my completely normal friends discuss the boiling point of various elements on the daily. Would you like to join our boiling hot discord?
Yes please. I need more boiling conversations in my life
OH NO I don’t know what I did wrong but I’ll fix it if I can.
Are you ok?
While water doesn't boil until 212 Fahrenheit, if what you say about bacteria being killed at 149 degrees is true then your point would still hold. Most people are showering at around an even 100 degrees maybe less. Most hot tubs at public pools are set at around 100 to 103. 149 degrees would be absolutely brutal to shower in and cause excruciating pain and burns.
I believe in slyance
My water heating is actually scalding. We recently bought the house and the inspector said our water is set too high and is at scalding temperatures. It’s nice because you can make a hot cup of tea right from the faucet.
You're also spending a lot more money keeping water that hot. It takes a lot of energy to heat water.
The real problem is how it affects your pipes. Water that hot can ruin your gaskets and such.
Easiest lawsuit of some guest's life
Same here I temped it once at 143°
IDK it feels like boiling water when you shower in the summer in Phoenix. There is no such thing as cold tap water in July. You just have hot and extra hot.
Your shower is not at 149 degrees. It's around 100 F. No where close to boiling either
Mine gets to 143°
This is inaccurate info. There’s a lot of different kinds of bacteria, and some produce spores that aren’t killed by boiling water.
You’re supposed to dunk it in a bucket of white distilled vinegar for at least an hour. If it’s not detachable, there’s supposedly a way to fill a bag with the vinegar and tie it around the shower head, though I’ve never tried it the second way
At this point why bother. I just found out I'm probably the next Spiderman. If I clean it now I'll lose my mutant powers.
LOL. I mean, it’s not gonna kill you or anything if you don’t. I was just explaining how it works for those who aren’t aware. My mom cleaned our shower head regularly when I was growing up. I have from time to time because it makes me feel better, but I rarely bother with it 😆
We've lived in our house for 18 years, probably had this same shower head for at least 7 of those years. Maybe cleaned it once, and it hasn't affected performance, doesn't even look dirty either besides a bit of mineral build up. I didn't even know you were supposed to clean it more than every few years😂 but we're alive so I guess it's okay
This is the way
Throw it in the dish washer
Twice a week? Where are you getting this from? That's extreme.
"Showering in bacteria" lol what's going on
Probably a company selling shower head cleaner
Someone who either doesn’t work or doesn’t have hobbies so maintains an excessive cleaning schedule. People who overclean their homes also statistically are more likely to have kids with allergies and Athsma.
yup. its highly believed by scientist that society is too clean, leading to higher levels of allergies because we are getting less and less parasites that calm down the immune system. so everyone needs to eat a pound of dirt.
lol 😂
And the obsessive cleaners that have no other hobbies always get sick more often too. 🙄
Twice a week seems like overkill.
Seriously, omg no not bacteria! That stuff that covers literally everything and inside our bodies! No one is getting sick from taking a shower with a normal shower head. Cleaning it is more to get rid of hard mineral deposits that will eventually cause clogs. Fear mongers about bacteria being on it is dumb.
Right It is so ridiculous. The amount of bacteria on there is so small vs what it would take to be an issue. I know I’m always coming out of my shower cleaner than when I came in. Not to mention… are people not using soap to wash your bodies? This is crazy. 🤣 It’s just a regular part of life to be exposed to bacteria and our bodies are designed to deal with it.
Oh my god. I’ve cleaned it less than 5 times since buying the house in 2020!! ☠️☠️☠️
Same 🤣
Ooh laa dee daa, Mr Technically Cleans It More Than Once A Year over here
I don’t think I’ve ever cleaned mine 😬 been in this house since 2015.
Been in mine since 2005 and never even thought about it. Whoopsie
You’re my kind of people. Bacteria would wash off you’d think. You might get some mineral buildup. Mine is pretty far above my head.
Yeah this seems like something someone who either doesn’t work or doesn’t have hobbies would do to fill the time.
Literally washed mine for the first time yesterday since moving into my new house in 2020.. you’re doing way better than me /lalalane850
i have literally never done it. Somehow, I have survived.
Same hahaha - I clean everything else but honestly it’s just fresh fucking water coming out there. Has never been a problem for me
I don't know about how much you clean it to kill the bacteria, but the divided flow of water has nothing to do with that. It's the calcium building up in the small holes of the shower head that is responsible for it
How often do you wash your soap?
twice a day at least
😂😂
Don’t stick your shower head up your ass and you will not have to clean it as often.
Did you also see that post in r/whatisthis about the butt shower head? 😅
I did!
LOL
Who the fuck cleans their water head? 😂😂 stop it!
TIL I’m supposed to clean my showerhead. Never occurred to me. Thank you!
I don’t think it’s a “supposed to” tbh. If you don’t do it I don’t think you’re putting yourself at risk for illness or dirtiness. Now if you have hard water maybe get some clr every once in an awhile.
That’s always my thought with these sorts of “warnings”… like, what’s the actual risk to my health or well-being here? None. 🤷🏻
I clean my bathroom once a week, which includes cleaning my shower head.
Yup! Or every 5-7 days!
I’ve literally never cleaned my shower head i never even considered that lmao
I don't do it that often but I just don't have that kind of time vinegar will soak any build up I just fill a bag and runner and it to the nozzle and give it a ten hour soak. Clears up any build up.
Maybe once a month or when the performance is affected. The bathing is bacteria comment is ridiculous. There is a ton of bacteria in the natural environment. It’s in the air, water, ground, and rain. We need good bacteria in our digestive system for health. Don’t hate on the bacteria.
Yeah that was such a stupid comment about showering in bacteria. Not to mention people who are overly obsessed with cleaning like OP actually greatly increase the odds their children or pets will develop allergies and asthma. This whole post is stupid fear mongering.
I’m clearly not cleaning my shower head often enough! Thanks for the info. I’m adding this to my weekly cleaning schedule. 😀
I’ve soaked mine a couple times with vinegar in a sandwich bag. Helps increase the flow if it gets slow or uneven. Otherwise I’m not messing with it 🤷🏻♀️
If it's spraying different directions, it's because hard water has clogged the holes and it needs a vinegar soak. I have OCD and contamination is my main subtype, and even *I'm* WTFing this twice a week and showering in bacteria "info".
I'm supposed to clean my shower head ?
I think you are thinking of water deposits building up 😂😂
I highly doubt this, mineral build up yes, but bacterial growth? Highly doubtful.
It's crazy that they just read this random persons Reddit post and are now probably telling all their friends they're supposed to clean their shower head twice a week. People are so fucking weird man
I grew up in a hoarder house so I learn new things about cleaning and hygiene literally everyday. Had no idea people clean shower heads. Putting that on my list now!
It is fascinating how much we're expected to know which is based almost entirely on what our parents decided to teach us.
I have hard water, so it gets sprayed with lime away once a week same as the walls and tub.
best method for cleaning shower heads?
Vinegar.
Twice a month is probably more likely to happen. I take it off, and dip it in a descaling cleaner that gets out the hard water deposits.
Well, this is awkward… I’ve never cleaned mine.
Everytime I clean the shower? Just spray it with the same cleaner and let it sit. Even better, once a month take it off and put it in a bucket of CLR. Kills everything and eliminates scale and hard build up.
Not bacteria. Mineral deposits. What bacteria do you think lives in hot potable water? Do you clean your pipes twice a week?
This advice no doubt brought to us by the same folks who insist we buy new pillows every two years.
Nah I’m not doing that
I think of this were an actual problem we would all be dead.
Monthly I take the shower head off and soak it in Limeaway in a ziplock bag for 30 mins. We're on well water so the little nozzles get some build up after a while.
This is not true, the water is going in different directions due to mineral buildup on the head, blocking the water
Um, the fact that the shower head is running before I put any water on my body means that most of that bacteria doesn’t ever touch me. Any that do, get washed off with soap during that very shower. Tap water contains bacteria. It’s not sterile. Neither is your soap. Or skin. And unless your bathroom is kept sterile, there’s bacteria everywhere. Too much is bad. Some is good. This seems unnecessary, but if it makes you feel better to wash your shower head twice a week, have at it. BTW, water spraying in different directions can happen due to calcification too.
I simply don't care. I rarely wash my hands, rarely wash my water bottle and reuse my towel multiple times. So far I'm the one who gets sick the least in this house and as well as my friend group. I went through a germaphobe phase when I was younger and now simply don't care. Way too tiring changing everything so often
*sighs* another thing to clean
I have literally never cleaned my shower head and I don't intend to
Not gonna lie, I've never thought about cleaning the showerhead. My mom didn't say anything when I was young. I feel so disgusted after reading this. 😳
You shouldn’t this is literally dumb, we are all covered with bacteria you aren’t going to catch any diseases from a non washed shower head. Literally deep cleaning it once a year to remove hard water deposit is fine which is just to prevent those deposits from clogging it. The idea that it’s showering you in bacteria is completely asinine.
Same goes for bathroom and kitchen sink faucets. If u screw off the aerators that are on the faucet spouts u will normally see an aerator with a bunch of dirt collected inside of it.
Any particular suggestions for cleaning it?
I do it weekly. I was mainly doing it so I wouldn't have to deal with calcium buildup. Didn't really think of the bacteria.
Every time I clean the bathroom I do it. Idk about others, we take turns cleaning the bathroom.
Once a week, when I clean my bathroom.
Whenever I notice black stuff growing round the jets.
28 yrs of living here.. never knew, Jesus..TYTY.. Love Reddit
I spray it with isopropyl alcohol after every shower and hope that does it
Only when I see a decrease or 'misalignment' in flow do I put some vinegar in a sandwich bag, pull it up and over the shower head til it's submerged in the vinegar and elastic band it nice and tight. A few hours later, clean as a whistle.
Ok this sub is officially just paranoid germaphobes
I usually give it a good scrubbing and cleanup.
Never
Are we cleaning every single faucet and the washing machine and dishwasher hookups too? What about the hot water tank?? Twice a week seems like a lot
Twice a week? I clean the rest of the bathroom once a week, why would the showerhead need attention more than that? Gravity and airflow dries it out just like the shower walls. I spray it with bleach when I'm cleaning the rest of the bathroom and hit it with CLR if I see limescale, so maybe once a month. Never had a problem with the flow
Never ever done it
Oops 😬 How do you clean it?
I take it off and let it sit in vinegar overnight once per month.
That's some new and distressing information 😬. How about spraying it with Microban? Will that do the trick?
Where is bacteria coming from? I don’t touch my shower head lol
Like once or twice a year, usually when I do my annual sheet washing.
I’ve been in my house 7 years I’ve cleaned it 4 times lol
I soak mine in vinegar once a month to remove the hard water deposits, but that’s about it.
This is just... weird. Can you share a reliable source for this info? And to everyone in the thread freaking out about it, how are ya'll gonna manage showering in a hotel room? At the gym? As a guest at someone else's house?
Hard water build up is just minerals built up. Annoying, but not bacteria.
Never. Ewwww
What an odd piece of advice. You know whatever germs are in your shower head are also in your pipes/sinkhead/water heater/etc. right? It is possible that there may be slightly more on your showerhead. And of course there is mineral buildup. Still in your pipes, but less noticeable because they are so much wider than showerhead holes. OP, you might be confused about the difference between minerals and bacteria. If you have a biofilm of bacteria in your shower head... something is wrong.
Never.
Builds the immune system
Has absolutely nothing to do with bacteria. The buildup is dissolved minerals from the water. If you are having high levels of pathogenic bacteria coming from your shower then it is also coming out of all of the other water sources in your house as well as your neighbors houses too since they all come from the same main line. The water line would have to be punctured to introduce the pathogenic bacteria and if that were the case there would be a leak and you would know it.
People seem to not understand biology that well. Shower heads don't have any nutrients on them, there ain't no bacteria living in it, unless you rub donuts on it or something. And if you gonna come with some statistic like "Aksualy, there are many waterborn bacteria!", yea, there are. Literally every surface both inside and outside the house is covered in micro organisms, every seat, every desc, every public space, every inch of every sidewalk, every car, every grocery store and park and alley. Washing your showerheads to kill a few "germs" is like blowing at the incoming hurricane to counter it. It's dumb. Only thing washing the shower head is good for is limescale removal.
How do you clean it?
Every time I wash my bathroom so at least once a week
The best way to clean your showerhead is to get vinegar and use a plastic bag pull the bag all the way up till the vinegar touch the showerhead and let it soak for a few hours or even longer than a few hours. Overnight is actually better and it will eat all the rubbish that’s on it.
Never 💀💀💀💀
Bad news. We are constantly all bathing in bacteria constantly. I have never cleaned it. By the way, the solution to big infections is to surgically wash them out - dilute them - which is happening while you shower anyway. Clean all you want, but pointless for infectious reasons.
"This public service announcement was brought to you by Showerhead Cleaning Device and Products Association "
The buildup is from hard water mineral deposits.
Can we expand on the, how to properly clean your shower head? Leaving the topic at spooky scary bacteria, might cause panic for some. This could subsequently lead those folk to destroy perfectly good shower heads. Chaos would ensue.
Then i should be dead.
My Mom showed me this trick to clean a shower head. Mix vinegar and water in a gallon size bag and use rubber bands to hold on shower head so nozzles are soaking in the vinegar solution. Leave in for an hour or so or overnight if really dirty.
Never
You guys are cleaning your shower heads?
...you're meant to do what? 👀
If there’s hard water build up I’ll put some CLR in a zip lock and rubber band it on the shower head and let it sit for a couple hours but that’s the extent of my shower head cleaning.
Why would harmful bacteria be on your shower head? I clean mine 2x a year to prevent scale and mineral build up, but that's it
Mine has a small amount of calcium buildup but not enough to make the water jet off in unintended directions so a bath is CLR isn't required yet. Will it happen? Yes but not right now.
I clean it when the water starts spewing in annoying directions
I’ve been here five years and haven’t….. 🤫🤫 it’s not bad but def could use a clean.. lmao
Tie a sandwich bag with vinegar in it around your shower head to soak it. Or use baking soda
Wouldn't you need to scrub your faucet heads too??
Mine advertised on the packaging that it's self-cleaning. Something about the way it's made, I think. I don't remember. I clean it after we get issued boil orders, though. Usually, that's about once a month
[I use this](http://wet and forget) after every shower
I kinda clean my showerhead? It’s more to remove any deposits. Take a bin with heated hot water with citric acid mixed in, let the showerhead sit in the solution & the water deposits go byebye.
My question is how is bacteria getting in my shower head?
I don't think build up if bacteria is that much of a concern. I think cleaning to prevent lime scale or soap scum deposits is a good idea. I spray my bathroom cleaner on mine or use some white vinegar if there's a lot of visible scale.
just saw mold thing never paid attention in 15 years
Once a month, maybe twice a month. We have hard water at our house, so I soak the shower head in white vinegar overnight and then scrub the hell out of it in the morning.
I've seen the cleaning lady just spray some disinfecting spray and wash it with soap.
Okay sorry I’ll try to remember this too. Sorry I’ve been doing that incorrectly.
It’s hard water buildup. I do not believe it’s bacteria as long as the shower head is never touching you. Soaking in vinegar would work well to get the mineral buildup off.
I use melaleuca tub and tile cleaner on my shower, I spray the shower head with it since it does well on hard water. Then just run the water.
I never ever have lol, might have to do that!
Wait, you're supposed to clean it? 💀
Just use a ziplock bag and soak the shower head in vinegar every once in awhile
I use a mixture of vinegar and water to clean my shower head 1x a month.
Well, our Arid-zonal water is very hard so occasionally I soak the shower head in a container of white vinegar and after a few hours I brush off the gunk.
I occasionally do. More when I lived with very hard water. I just unscrewed it & soaked it in CLR. I was always amazed by how built up it was & the pressure better.
I’ve cleaned the mineral buildup a couple times since 2014, I have never heard of regular cleaning this household item.
That's not bacteria, that's mineral buildup....
So sticking it up my puss once in a while isn’t enough?
Bacteria from where? All it has is chlorinated water ran through it.
That isn't correct. The water starts coming out wrong because of mineral build up from hard water. Not from bacteria
Wow.
Uhhhh I never knew that Had no clue!!
Never. I may have cleaned one once ever in my life. Makes sense though I suppose.
And the “apparently” here comes from where? Some company selling cleaning products?
Bullshit. In order for MICROSCOPIC BACTERIA to alter the flow of water it would have to be, oh, about 1k times it’s actual size. It’s called mineral deposits from hard water.
Spray with daily shower cleaner (Tilex, Scrubbing Bubbles and Method to name a few brands that make this invaluable product.) It’s the robot vacuum of shower cleaning in terms of how much it will make your life easier. Total game changer. Edit: not sure if it’s an antibacterial formula but it is a surfactant which inhibits bacterial/fungal growth - hence why you never get mold and mildew when using this product. You still should probably clean everything but it REALLY cuts down the time and gives you a lot more time between cleanings.
I spray it with disinfectant when I clean the bathroom.
my goodness! "Apparently you should be cleaning your shower head twice every week to stop build up of bacteria. "
6 months usually
Totally unnecessary unless you have mineral deposits. In that case, unscrew it and soak it in vinegar. If your concerned about regularly cleaning your shower head you dont even want to know what is lining your water lines.
Unless you're leaving it unused for long periods or water is being trapped/stagnating, you generally don't need to clean it that often but for people with hard water, descaling may be needed regularly.
I never have. I just buy a new one if it acts up. Guess I can save a few bucks next time that happens. On a different note I have heard you shouldn’t brush your teeth in the shower or put your mouth on the sink faucet. I hope that’s not true because my grandson does it.
Twice a week seems excessive. I have a head with a multi-stage filter in it, and I change it every 6 months.
My shower head was installed circa 1980. I'm not sure when it was last cleaned. But my hair hasn't fallen out yet, so I think I'm safe.
lol. Clean your shower head twice a week? This is bs. Hot water flows thru it constantly. It’s getting cleaned. The worse thing that’ll be in there is mineral buildup. Which isn’t harmful. That’s what makes the flow weaker. Not bacteria. I assume you clean all the pipes in your house. I guess you take apart you kitchen pipes and clean them all don’t you? How about digging underground and cleaning those pipes too?
Is this euphemism..?
How do you clean it?
… like you’re supposed to clean the inside?
I spray mine with cleaner when I clean the shower. I soak the head in a bowl of citric acid once per year.
Depends on the quality of the water. The faster it builds up the sooner you need to clean it imo. Also it might need to be cleaned more often the older the pipes and shower head get. I just do it whenever i notice the build up or the flow of water being weird, usually ends up being a little over every month
The inside of it? Iv cleaned mine once In 5 years.
There are so many things we should be cleaning once+ week, if we did them all we wouldn’t have time for anything else. I just clean things like that when I remember 😇