Have Hard Water? Know How To Clean Your Faucets
Does your home have hard water that has left your plumbing fixtures looking bad due to all the scale buildup? You may even have an issue where the aerator is clogged and needs to be cleaned. Here are some helpful tips on how to perform these two tasks.
Descaling A Shower Head
One place where you are likely to see a lot of scale buildup is the shower head since so much water is splashing back on it after showering every single day. You should start by removing the shower head, which can be a bit tough to do. If the shower head is not unscrewing from the pipe, try wrapping the shower head with a towel and using pliers to turn it. This will prevent the shower head from becoming damaged but will still give you a good grip.
You should then scrub the shower head with an old toothbrush, as this is going to be gentle enough to protect the finish of the shower head by not scratching it. You definitely don't want to scrub with something too abrasive and then end up with a metal shower head that looks dull and scratched.
You can then soak the shower head in white vinegar to get all of the remaining scale within the shower head out of there. Just leave the shower head to soak overnight, which should be more than enough to clean it.
Cleaning An Aerator
The steps to clean an aerator are very similar. If you can't unscrew the cap on the head of the faucet, try using the towel trick so that you can use pliers and not ruin the finish. When you take the aerator apart, it's important to remember the order in which all of the pieces came out of the aerator. You can do this by laying the parts down in the order that they came out of the aerator, then snap a photo of it so that you do not forget.
Cleaning the screen of the aerator will be hard to do with a toothbrush, but it's worth giving it a try. If it's not working, you may need to use a sewing needle to get between the small holes of the screen to loosen any scale buildup. When it's as clean as you can get it, allow the aerator and all the parts to soak in white vinegar overnight, just like you did with the shower head.
Reach out to a company like C & C Mechanical Plumbing & Drain Cleaning.
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