My showerhead's been making weird noises for a few weeks now and the water pressure has dropped quite a bit. I think it's limescale because I live in an area with really hard water. Is there an effective way to clean it without damaging it?
White vinegar is your best friend for this. You fill a plastic bag with white vinegar, fix it around the showerhead with a rubber band or tape so the head is completely submerged in it, and let it soak overnight. The limescale dissolves on its own without you having to scrub like crazy. Then you take the bag off, run hot water through it to rinse, and you're done.
If it's really caked on, you can also unscrew the showerhead (there's usually a collar at the base) and soak just the head in a glass of white vinegar for a few hours. While it's soaking, clean out the little holes with an old toothbrush or a needle to remove the deposits. Just be careful not to scratch the chrome finish if yours has one.
Once it's clean, make sure all the little holes aren't clogged. Sometimes limescale gets stuck in there and that's what creates those weird noises you're describing. Rinse it well with hot water after the vinegar and it should be good. Do this once or twice a year to prevent the next buildup, especially with hard water like you have.
Before you start descaling, just try unscrewing the showerhead and shaking it hard over a glass of water - often there are little bits of debris or limescale that come off on their own without any effort.
If it's really stubborn limescale buildup, citric acid usually works better than vinegar for this: you soak the showerhead for a few hours in a concentrated solution (like 50g per liter of water), it's less harsh than vinegar and it won't smell bad in your bathroom for days.
Have you tried taking the showerhead completely apart to see what's inside? Because usually there's a little filter or a valve you can clean separately, and that's where the limescale builds up the most. The solutions people are suggesting work fine, but what I'd do in your place is soak the detachable parts in white vinegar overnight, then scrub the holes with an old toothbrush - that really gets rid of stubborn deposits without risk of damaging the plastic or the finish. After that you put it all back together and the water pressure usually comes back pretty much to normal.
If you really want to tackle limescale deep down, soak the whole showerhead overnight in straight white vinegar - no need for a plastic bag or any fancy tricks, just a bowl or glass that's big enough! After that, rinse it really well and use an old toothbrush or a toothpick to unclog the little holes in the nozzles that are usually completely blocked. The soak-and-scrape combo is seriously effective, and the advantage is you can see exactly what you're doing instead of leaving it hanging like that. It saved me some showerheads I thought were completely shot!
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