Not Vinegar, Not Baking Soda: How To Keep Showerheads Clear And Water Pressure Up

Mineral deposits are nature's way of turning a regular showerhead into a water-saving one. Unfortunately, the results can be just as frustrating as a manufactured low-flow showerhead. Instead of a generous stream of hot water, the showerhead sprays in fits and starts, and if you end up leaving the shower on longer to get clean, you probably don't actually save water. Nobody needs this headache, and it's easy to prevent. Just clean the showerhead with something acidic that dissolves scale. Vinegar is a good candidate, but there's another alternative: citric acid.

In fact, citric acid is better than vinegar, partly because it's a stronger acid and partly because it comes as a powder you mix with water, which means you can adjust the concentration and cleaning power. In Japan, citric acid powder (kuensan) is one of the most common cleaning staples; it's cheap and available anywhere. Food-grade citric acid is also readily available and inexpensive in North America, although it isn't as mainstream for cleaning as vinegar. You can buy it for as little as $0.31 per ounce on Amazon, and you can use it for cleaning anywhere you would use vinegar, and save yourself the pungent aroma. 

To clean your showerhead, just let it soak in a citric acid solution. You can do that either by removing and soaking the showerhead in the sink, or leaving it in place and wrapping a plastic bag filled with the solution around it. After you're done, a final rinse and scrub will make it look like new.

To make a multi-purpose cleaning solution, mix two tablespoons of citric acid powder in two cups of water. Immerse the showerhead in the solution, and the scale should completely dissolve in about one to two hours, and your "water saving" days are over. Don't use this solution on your showerhead if it happens to be made of aluminum, copper, or brass; it will cause corrosion. It's also a good idea to use a plastic, ceramic, or glass bowl to mix the solution, as it can react with aluminum or other metals and cause discoloration.

The easiest way to soak your showerhead is to put it in a bowl or bucket filled with solution. If you have a handheld shower, just put the bucket in the shower and drop in the showerhead (no need to disconnect the hose). If the head isn't handheld, you can remove it for soaking, which is fairly easy to do by unscrewing it with slip-lock pliers. If you prefer to leave it in place, there's an alternative. Fill a plastic bag with the solution, wrap the bag around the showerhead with the holes completely immersed, then secure the bag to the shower arm with rubber bands. 

Because citric acid is stronger than vinegar for descaling, it usually works like a charm to dissolve the minerals blocking your showerhead if you let it soak long enough. Some of the holes may be blocked by something other than minerals, though. That's why it's a good idea to scrub the showerhead after soaking it, and poke a toothpick through the holes to dislodge any remaining debris.