Scrub-free Shower and Faucet Cleaner

Have you ever looked up at your showerhead and wondered what has happened to your water pressure lately? If your shower is more than a year or two old, you most likely have experienced a loss of water spray due to hard water buildup. If you look up at your showerhead, you’ll notice these white, crusty bits around the spray areas. That isn’t dirt–that’s minerals from Cincinnati’s notoriously hard water. But you don’t need any special chemicals to clean that away! You can get a free-flowing showerhead again with just a few simple steps, using common household items. This also works really well for any faucets with hard water deposits.

• Step One: In a gallon ziploc bag, mix 1/4 cup of baking soda with 1 cup of vinegar. Add the vinegar in slowly–there will be a reaction and the baking soda will begin bubbling up as it reacts with the vinegar. This reaction is a good thing–this is what will clean your showerhead. Just make sure to do it slowly.
• Step Two: Place the ziploc bag over the showerhead, so that the showerhead is submerged in the liquid. Use a twist tie or rubber band to secure the bag to the showerhead.
• Step Three: Let sit overnight, or for at least four hours, in the bubbly goodness. The vinegar and baking soda are naturally breaking down the hard water deposits in the showerhead holes. For best results, let sit overnight.
• Step Four: Remove the bag, careful not to spill any on yourself. Wipe the showerhead with a sponge or cloth to remove any remaining loosened mineral deposits. Run the shower as normal!

I was amazed at how well this worked in our house! Our shower constantly was at about half-pressure–only half the jets worked most of the time. We thought it was because it was an older showerhead. Turns out that it just needed a good descaling and cleaning!