Your showerhead needs regular cleaning (stock photo) (Image: Getty)
When was the last time you cleaned your showerhead? We all know it’s a job that needs doing, but for most of us, we don’t get around to it half as often as we probably should. You might wipe it down when you’re cleaning the rest of your shower, but have you ever actually detached it and given it a proper scrub?
If you’re not a cleaning fanatic, chances are you probably haven’t cleaned your showerhead for at least a good few months, if not a few years, if we’re being honest with ourselves. But if that sounds like you, worry not, because one cleaning guru on social media has shared every step to getting your showerhead sparkling clean – no matter how long it’s been.
Annie Blackmur shared a video on TikTok in which she ran through every step she takes when cleaning her showerhead, including the one ingredient you must soak the item in if you want to eliminate things like mould and limescale.
She begins by detaching the showerhead from her shower, which she does by unscrewing it at the base. Most showerheads will detach like this, but if yours doesn’t, you may need to adjust the following steps to complete the cleaning routine in the shower.
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1. Poke each hole with a cocktail stick
Annie starts by using a wooden cocktail stick to jab at each of the holes on her showerhead where water comes out. She said this helps to break the crust of limescale that may have formed over the holes, as this can prevent water from flowing properly and can make your water pressure feel lacklustre.
She said you could use a pin to do the same job, but she opts for a cocktail stick as she knows the wood won’t damage the chrome coating of her showerhead if she misses a hole and accidentally scratches the surface.
2. Soak the showerhead
Next, Annie fills a plastic sandwich bag with equal parts water and white vinegar. This mixture can help to remove limescale and hard water marks, kill bacteria and mould, and improve water pressure by continuing to clear out any gunk in those small holes.
She puts the showerhead in the bag and seals it, giving it a shake to make sure the head is fully submerged. Then, she covers the bag with kitchen foil, as she claims this “improves insulation to help the vinegar react better”.
Annie recommends leaving the showerhead to soak for an hour for light limescale build-up, two hours for moderate build-up, and for heavy build-up, three hours or even overnight if you can.
3. Spray with Viakal
After leaving the showerhead to soak, Annie removes it from the bag and tips away the dirty water. She then sprays her showerhead with Viakal in order to “restore the look of the chrome” and make the showerhead sparkle. She claimed the product would also break down any limescale still leftover from the vinegar soak.
With the Viakal spray sitting on the showerhead, Annie scrubbed at the area with the holes using an old toothbrush to make sure there was no grime left. She then wiped over the rest of the showerhead with a non-scratch sponge.
Finally, she used a microfibre cloth to dry the showerhead and showed off the shiny results before attaching the head back onto her shower, ready for the next use.
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Commenters on Annie’s post were thankful for her advice. Many of them said they had no idea how easy it was to clean a showerhead, even if it hadn’t been cleaned for years, and admitted they’d been putting it off because it seemed like an impossible task.
One person said: “I’m going to go ahead and say I think mine’s only been cleaned once. I’m going to do that tomorrow, promise!” And another added: “I will try this!”
Someone else asked Annie how often she would recommend you clean your showerhead, and she said the best rule of thumb is to do it “once every couple of months”.
However, she noted you may need to do it more frequently if you live in a hard water area, and could get away with doing it less often if you live somewhere with soft water, as limescale won’t build up as quickly.