Should they?
I would expect them to be somewhat self-cleaning when in regular use.
Also: Bonus point because Iiteral shower thought.
this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2025
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
Rules
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- The entire showerthought must be in the title
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- If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
- A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
- Posts must be original/unique
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*looking intensely into the gunk buildup*
I now had to check...
Shower head is appr. half a year old.
Gunk-free so far! :-)
Those are rookie numbers, mine are definitely yellowing and cracking :(
this is mine after 2.5 years
Soak that shit in a ziplock full of vinegar, hold it in place with an elastic band and profit with a shiny clean shower head.
The one before was 5+ years old when its hose broke.
Did not look great but still ok in the end.
Might just be limescale?
ok, I'll bite, do you often have a photo of your shower head handy?
No, but took me only 20s or so to walk to the bath and take one.
Also 30 additional steps and a reset of the get-up-counter on my fitness watch, so was a welcome reason to leave the couch ;-)
stares in Canadian awe
(I've never had any problems like this)
so...you don't bathe.
so...you don't bathe.
That is correct.
I shower.
The “gunk” is just mineral deposits, right?
correct
I'd bet you could soak it in some CLR to get rid of the deposits.
you need to rub the nipples every day.
Picking the mineral deposits out of ones that have become clogged is so satisfying.
I think the doctor can give you a medicated cream for that and you should probably drink more water.
What tool do you use? The holes are tiny
A needle
I just pick at them with my finger while in the shower.
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This is one of the most shower-related shower thoughts of all time. Kudos!
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A lot of people clean their bathrooms regularly. CLR or generic knock-offs are great for mineral buildup on faucets, drains, handles, etc.
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My local water company regularly takes the main treatment system offline for maintenance and switches to the backup system. I don't know all the details but every time they do it the water is heavily chlorinated for a week or so, and this happens roughly every 6 months. So until I can afford to get a full-home filtration system installed, I bought a shower filter that goes between the water pipe and shower head. It needs changed every 6 months so I might as well clean everything while I'm at it.
If it's mostly mineral buildup just soaking it in white vinegar for an hour will dissolve it all and make it look and function as if it were new.
Tip: Anywhere you want to use vinegar for its chemical properties, but you want to avoid the smell, use citric acid instead.
Additional tip: if you want to make vinegar or citric acid far less effective, first make a paste of it by mixing with baking soda. This is suggested on many life hack websites.
If you need to wash something with hot water but don't like the steam, mix it with cold water before applying.
I just use hydrochloric acid.
Hydrochloric acid has a smell. That's definitely the only downside.
CLR is citric acid based. Not sure if that or lemon juice is cheaper though.
All I know is that citric acid is dirt cheap in powder form, especially if you don't need food grade.
Add water, and mix to taste: When it's the most sour thing you've ever tasted, it's about right.
Source: We use barrels of the stuff in the offshore industry to descale steel hardware that has been on the seabed. Just don't tell the HSE department that you're judging acid strength based on flavor, they'll only see the acid-part and freak out.
That's how my tradesmen when I was an apprentice would mix coolant.
I'm not sure even 15 years later if he was just having me on or not. But you can certainly tell strong coolant by taste haha
I bought a big bag of citric acid, I descale my bean to cup coffee machine, kettle and clean my shower head with it. Good stuff.
Another option is oxalic acid, which is the solvent in Bar Keepers Friend.
Thanks I'm heading to the store and wouldve forgot vinegar. Still might actually, I'll see after I get home
Update, I did forget the vinegar. But then they lost power when I was at the till, the whole hypermarket went dark. It took closer to an hour to get functionality back and during that time I remembered to also get vinegar.
Ziplock bag, white vinegar > toothbrush
Is that and then toothbrush or greater than toothbrush?
EDIT: I drank a ziploc full of vinegar and brushed my teeth but shower head is still dirty
I just sometimes scrub it to get the calcium out
I had to replace mine every couple of years because they break (i.e. start leaking).
Nippled
Just went and got my electric scooter nippled earlier. I'd reccomend it.