Your Shower Head Is Probably Super Gross Right Now. Here's How to Get It Shining in an Hour

Your shower might just be one of the most used appliances in your home. It's also probably one of the grossest, harboring bacteria and sometimes even mildew and mold. Other spaces in your bathroom seem to get all of the TLC, with your sink, toilet and the walls of your shower being the primary focus. If you let your shower head go neglected, it can have serious consequences for the quality of your showers. 

Leaving your shower uncleaned for an extended period can cause a buildup of calcium, hard water and mold, which can affect your water pressure, clog the nozzles of your shower and even harm your scalp and hair.

It's pretty easy to get your shower head back into tip-top shape. You probably have all of the ingredients you need in your kitchen to clean your shower head properly. 

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Items you need to clean your shower head

The first thing you'll want to do is gather all of the necessary ingredients and materials to bust the grime on your shower head. Grab a 1-gallon plastic freezer bag, a strong rubber band to accommodate the weight of the water that will fill the bag and some CLR household cleaner or white vinegar. 

You'll use the CLR household cleaner (which refers to calcium, lime and rust) or vinegar to create a 50/50 mixture with water, which is what actually cleans your shower head.  

How to clean your shower head

Start by filling the gallon freezer bag halfway with CLR cleaner or white vinegar, and then use the rubber band to attach the gallon freezer bag to your shower head. Make sure you've left enough room to add the water and that the shower head itself is submerged.  

Next, turn your shower on and fill the bag the rest of the way, just be mindful of the velocity of the water when you turn your shower on -- you don't want the bag to fall off and splatter all over you and the bathroom.

All that's left to do is wait. Set a timer for 60 minutes, and then you should be good to move on to the next step. 

Rinse and wipe away all of the grime

The last step is removing the bag from the shower head, and draining the cleaning solution through the shower drain. Dispose of the gallon freezer bag, then wipe away the grime from your shower head with a damp cloth. 

To test your hard work, turn your shower on and see how much better it's working now that you've busted the gunk. If the spray of your shower still isn't up to standards, you can easily rinse and repeat this process until you are happy with the results. 

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