[TulikaEma]

Suddenly our showerhead is really clogged with minerals, and its making the holes really small, and we have really high water pressure so it HURTS when the water comes out...
How do I get the minerals out/ off? For some reason I think a viniger soak would help, but am unsure...
Thanks!

 

[dinade]

Put your vinegar in a sandwich baggy and put it on the showerhead then use a rubber band to keep the baggy on. Leave on about 30 minutes then viola it should be gone. If not put it bakc on for a bit longer. HTH.

 

[hubris]

Vinegar works wonderfully on shower heads.

The sandwich bag idea is great! I propped a cup up there once or twice - once it worked well, the other time it slipped and we had a big mess and a broken cup.

 

[Tofu the Geek]

I've never thought to use a baggy and elastic band. I used to just unscrew the showerhead with an adjustable wrench. Then I soak it in a bowl with vinegar. I get into the crevices with a toothbrush (which is nicer in a bowl than with your arms above your head and vinegar spraying down into your eyes). Make sure have some teflon tape handy for when you screw it back on.

That was when we rented. Now that we own a house, we put on a whole house filter (one that does some minerals, sediment, rust, chlorine, etc) and our shower heads don't even have a spec of white on in them in over a year.

 

[Naturalyst]

Citric acid works better than vinegar for this purpose. I've found it at the drugstore and in the supermarket (in addition to many online sources). In the supermarket, if you don't find "citric acid", look for "sour salt". Sour salt is just another name for citric acid and it's used for pickling.

Don't laugh, but a decent source of citric acid (if you can't find it "straight") would be Tang drink mix.

 

[papschmitty]

I just did the vinegar soak on my shower head last weekend and it worked beautifully!

 

[Spastica]

Adding to Naturalyst's comment - any kind of lemonade mix, with only yellow or no food coloring may fare better if you don't want orange or red food coloring.