The solutions are simple, cost-friendly, and highly effective. In fact, most of the tools that you’ll need are probably in your house already.

What causes limescale in your showerhead?

Before we get into the procedure, you need to understand what limescale is and how it develops.

Hard water is the main cause of limescale build-up in showerheads, kettles, and other home appliances that run the water regularly.

This water contains a high percentage of minerals like magnesium and calcium deposits, that accumulate and clog the showerhead, especially if you don’t clean the appliance often.

Read Also: The procedure for removing a flow restrictor on a Moen showerhead

Requirements to descale a showerhead

You need the following:

• Distilled white vinegar
• Baking soda
• Plastic bag
• Paper towels
• Rubber band
• Soft cloth
• Bucket

How to descale a showerhead

Now, before you start shopping for a new showerhead, try these descaling methods.

Cleaning a fixed shower head with vinegar

For a shower head that is hard or impossible to detach, you’ll have to descale the showerhead from where it’s installed.

You will need a rubber band/string, vinegar, and a plastic bag.

• Mix equal amounts of distilled white vinegar and water in the plastic bag.
• The plastic bag must be strong, and big enough to cover your shower head.
• Put the plastic bag over the showerhead. Its entire head must submerge into the vinegar and water mixture.
• Use the rubber band or string to tie the plastic bag to the pipe. Make sure it’s held tightly before letting go.
• Leave it for a couple of hours so that the vinegar can extract and dissolve all the limescale.
• Remove the plastic bag and run the water to wash off any loose limescale inside the shower. This also washes off excess vinegar.
• You can use a toothbrush to scrub the surface of the showerhead for a more thorough cleaning.
• Wipe with a soft, clean cloth.
• If you feel the showerhead isn’t clean enough, repeat the process.

Cleaning detachable or hand-held shower heads with vinegar

As far as deep cleaning goes, this is arguably the best way to clean a clogged shower head.

• First, to remove a shower head to clean, you ought to use the right tools and be cautious to avoid damaging the shower head’s finish.
• Next, turn it upside down under a faucet and run high-pressure water so that it passes through the small holes and comes out through the side that connects to the pipe/shower arm. This loosens and removes some of the accumulated debris.
• Use a toothbrush and vinegar to scrub the showerhead thoroughly.
• Get safety pins or toothpicks and poke the small holes to remove any small deposits.
• Lastly, put the entire shower head in a mixture of distilled white vinegar, water, and baking powder to soak for a couple of hours (overnight). This will extract any remaining limescale.
• Make sure it’s fully submerged in the mixture.
• If possible, dismantle it as much as possible to make it easy to clean some hard-to-reach areas.
• Remove it from the mixture and give it another scrub with the toothbrush, in warm and soapy water.
• Rinse the showerhead with clean water and re-install it. You could run the shower water for a few seconds to be sure the holes aren’t clogged anymore.

For both cleaning methods, you must be patient and let the vinegar do its work. But, if the showerhead material or finish is likely to react with the vinegar, you may have to limit the amount of time it soaks in the solution, or look for alternative cleaning options.

To know how vinegar reacts with the finish of your shower head, soak a small piece of paper or towel in vinegar and put it on a small part of the showerhead. If there is no reaction, then you’re good to go.

But, if it reacts, or you can’t stand the smell of vinegar, you have to opt for other cleaning methods. From the safe options that involve lots of scrubbing with a toothbrush and using warm water and soap, to the harsh chemical limescale removers.

How to remove limescale from a showerhead without vinegar

Apart from vinegar, you can use chemical limescale removers to clean shower head rubber nozzles, among other shower head parts. For this, you must be very careful.

First, buy the right product. Secondly, read the user manual keenly and follow all instructions to the latter, including the recommended safety measures.

How to descale the shower hose and pipe

Don’t forget to clean the shower hose, pipe, and any other appliance connected to the showerhead.

These parts have varying amounts of limescale build-up, which if it’s not removed ends up in the showerhead. So, it’s imperative that you clean the entire water path.

How to prevent limescale build-up

To keep your shower head limescale-free after descaling, you must practice a proper maintenance routine. This involves:

• Wiping off the surface water after taking a shower.
• Reduce shower time because less water flowing through the shower means less limescale.
• Regular cleaning of the showerhead by soaking in vinegar.
• Water softening treatment for your home.

Note: The cleaning of your shower head should be done in a well-ventilated room. Especially if you’re using the chemical limescale removers.

Conclusion

A limescale-free shower head releases clean and free-flowing water for enjoyable showers. Plus, you won’t have to worry about bacteria build-up that pose a huge health risk to you and your family.

Not forgetting the increased lifespan of the showerhead, that saves you from buying a new shower head occasionally. So, check and descale your showerhead often. For extreme cases seek the help of an expert plumber.

The post How to descale a showerhead: a step-by-step guide appeared first on Home Gadgets.

The primary function of the flow restrictor is to increase water pressure on a Moen showerhead. This means if your water pressure has reduced, then your flow restrictor is worn out and needs to be replaced. Keep reading to learn how to remove the flow restrictor from the showerhead.

Read Also: How water softening shower heads work

What you need

1. Wrench
2. Flat screwdriver
3. Soft cloth

How to replace a flow restrictor on a showerhead

Use the wrench to turn the showerhead anticlockwise to detach the shower head from the shower pipe. Remove the rubber gasket from the showerhead using your fingers. Do not under any circumstance use any sharp object for this purpose as you may damage the rubber gasket.

Then remove the screen from the showerhead by shaking the showerhead. Then proceed to remove the Moen shower flow restrictor using the flat screwdriver. Perform this task gently to avoid damaging the inner threads in the showerhead. This will require the replacement of the entire shower head.

Then insert a replacement flow restrictor and assemble the showerhead as it was before. Ensure the gasket is firmly in place to prevent any leaks from the connection point between the showerhead and the shower pipe. You can use tape to be on the safe side. Ensure you tighten the shower head as much as you can with the wrench to prevent any leaks. Use a piece of cloth to insulate your shower head from the effects of the wrenching force.

Read Also: List of the best dual showerheads

The post How to remove flow restrictor from Moen shower head appeared first on Home Gadgets.

One way that people use to soften hard water especially for showering is by using the best water softener shower head. However, it doesn’t soften the water, and you may waste money on a number of them without any changes.

This article will look at why shower head water softeners don’t work and what you need to do to soften your water at home.

How is hard water softened?

One common way of knowing that you have hard water is the fact that soap doesn’t lather easily, so you hardly get any foam. This is because the salts in the water interact with the fatty acids of the soap forming a hard substance instead of foam.

The water must undergo a process where all these salts are removed that is the magnesium and calcium as well as chloride and ferrous iron to soften it. The softener changes the positively ion charged salts.

Read Also: Soap and shampoo dispenser for shower

The water is pushed into a tank filled with negatively charged beads, so the positive ions of the salts stick to the beads leaving the water salt free. It is a simple case of opposite charges attract. However, since the beads now contain positively charged ions, it means that you would have to discard it.

This is why they are washed with a Sodium solution that regenerates the beads, and the sodium goes into the water that is flushed out.

Do shower head water softeners work?

The water softening process is not that simple. There are a lot of chemical reactions that go into the process which the shower heads do not accommodate. For starters, the shower heads cannot supply the powerful Sodium solution that is needed to replenish the negatively charged ions so that they can work again.

Also, the magnesium and calcium ions have to be removed from the beads, which again is something that the shower heads do not support. So there is not enough time from when the water gets into the showerhead, gets it softened, and comes out of the shower. It has to be a whole cycle that is not supported since the shower passes out water too fast.

What do shower heads water softeners do?

Many shower heads work with a timer that records how much water passes through at a time. It measures how much time it takes before the beads have run out of ions, so they are replenished. Most times this system is not accurate, so you will still be using hard water for a while.

Most of these showerheads only end up removing chlorine from the water, and that is why you may feel a difference in the water. However, if you want to get soft water, you will have to install a water softening system for your whole house.

Read Also: Best touchless soap dispenser

That ensures that the water that comes out of your taps and shower is soft, which will reduce your water system maintenance significantly.

Water softener for the shower head may work, but that is for the first few liters of water that goes through it. The showerhead would have to be huge with an inbuilt tank to facilitate the whole process; otherwise, it would be prolonged to produce water. If you live in a place with hard water, it is best to invest in a long-term water softening system.

The post Do water softening shower heads really work? appeared first on Home Gadgets.