How often should you replace your shower head? Because many types of bacteria thrive in moist areas like your shower, it is recommended that you replace your shower head every 6 to 8 months.
Keeping your shower head clean, especially if you have hard water, can be very difficult to manage.
Below, in this article on how often you should replace your shower head, I want to share some cleaning tips as well as some health related issues you should be aware of if you have a dirty shower head.
Until it is time to clean the shower, the majority of people never even look at the shower head. This is because when you are in the shower, the shower head is constantly spraying water; so many people shower with their eyes closed or squinted.
The top reason why people notice a dirty shower head is a change in their water pressure.
All water that comes into your home through the faucet or shower head is treated with product and chemicals to make the water safe for consumption.
As this water sits in your pipes waiting to escape the next time that you turn on the shower, many of the additives in the water settle and form small pieces of sediment.
The most notorious of all these sediments is calcium. If you look at your shower head up close you will see small, white, rocky looking material within the holes of the shower head.
This is calcium and your shower head is likely to be filled with it. All shower heads have small screens within them that are supposed to catch sediments. However, some people wishing to increase their water pressure often remove these screens.
If you are not sure if you have this screen still installed on your shower head, use a wrench to loosen and remove the shower head.
Within the hole at the back of the shower head, you should see a black or white, round rubber gasket. Underneath that gasket, you should see a small round screen.
Does the screen have small rocky looking material on it? If so, remove the gasket and screen with a safety pin or paperclip. Clean the screen and then put it back into place along with the gasket.
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- If your shower head has a hose connected to it do this. Unscrew the hose from the shower head and then unscrew the hose where it is connected to the spout coming out of the wall.
- Check both ends of the hose for a screen and rubber gasket. If either or both ends of the hose have a screen in place, remove it and clean it.
My brother does demolition and construction of homes. I have been in many of the homes and I want to tell you about one other thing that people don’t often bring up when they are talking about dirty shower heads and that is black mold.
If your shower head has hard water staining and you also see a bunch of little black dots all over the shower head, it is black mold. You can use cleaning solutions that you can find at stores or a vinegar mixture to get rid of normal calcium build-up.
However, black mold is extremely tough to get rid of. I know that you don’t want to pay a professional mold remover to come and clean your shower head that just would not be cost effective.
In this case, instead of soaking the shower head in white vinegar as many people suggest, do this instead.
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- Fill a bowl 3/4 of the way that is large enough to fit the entire shower head into it with hydrogen peroxide.
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- Put the shower head into the peroxide.
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- Make sure that the entire shower head is submerged in the peroxide.
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- Do not just submerge the face of the shower head. There is no point in scrubbing away black mold on the outside of the shower head because it is in the inside too.
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- Allow the shower head to sit in the peroxide for an hour.
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- Remove the shower head from the solution and then rinse it under warm water and dry it.
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- Reattach the shower head to your wall or hose.
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- Run hot water through the shower head for 6 minutes to thoroughly rinse out the inside of the shower head.
Vinegar is very effective at removing hard water stains. Hydrogen peroxide is nontoxic to us but it kills bacteria, mold and fungus.
Get rid of the shower head and purchase a new one that is made of metal instead of plastic to help prevent mold growth in the future.
Additionally, after every shower, double check to make sure that the water for the shower is completely turned off. If you have a shower that constantly drips, this also causes hard water build-up and puts you at risk of having another mold problem.
If your bathroom has an exhaust fan, turn it on and leave it on for 20 minutes after you have taken a shower. If there is a window in the bathroom, after you have showered, open the window to allow all of the steam in the bathroom to escape.
No exhaust fan or window? Use a small table top fan to circulate the air out of the bathroom after your shower. These 3 tips will help to reduce the chances of mold growing in your bathroom.
How often should you replace your shower head? Cleaning and the type of water you have really determine the shower heads longevity but it won’t last forever.
Read some of these Reviews Here, if you think it’s about time to replace your shower head. Someone may tell you that they have had the same shower head for 30 years. If they do, ask them what brand and where can you get one today.
