A weak or uneven spray usually means limescale in the nozzles or a blocked filter washer where the hose meets the head. Most of it comes off with your fingertips and warm soapy water in about five minutes.
Quick answer: Turn the water off, rub soft rubber nozzles with your thumb, then wipe the head with warm soapy water on a soft cotton cloth, rinse and dry: about 5 minutes. If white scale stays, soak just the face in a citric-acid descaler for 5 to 10 minutes, never longer, then rinse and run the water. Vinegar suits some heads and damages others. Never use pins or bleach.
Watch: Gentle care for a shower head
Read the video description
Shower spraying unevenly? Start gently, and check the care guide for your exact shower head. Gather a soft cotton cloth and clean water. This head has flexible, rub-clean nozzles. Other designs may need a different method. With the water off, gently rub flexible nozzles as directed. Do not poke holes with pins, toothpicks or sharp tools. Wipe the outside with a soft cloth. If cleaner is needed, use only a compatible product, applied to the cloth. Rinse thoroughly and run clean water through the head as its instructions direct. Keep the spray pointed safely into the shower. Vinegar is not safe for every chrome shower head. Use only your maker’s approved descaler, dilution and contact time. A blocked sealing screen can also reduce flow. Follow the model’s service instructions, keep all parts, and get advice if unsure. Dry the outside after use to reduce spots. Simply Maid. More room for life.
Can you clean a shower head with vinegar?
Sometimes. Vinegar dissolves limescale, but it's acetic acid, and some makers ban it because it can damage the plating and the parts inside the head. Here's what the brands sold in Australia say.
Brand or finish | Vinegar? | What to use |
|---|---|---|
hansgrohe (German) | No: it bans acetic acid | A citric-acid descaler for 5–10 minutes, applied on a soft cotton cloth or as a short soak; no microfibre cloths or scrub sponges |
HANSA (German) | Yes: 50/50 white vinegar and water, soaking a hand shower "for a few hours" with the handle out of the liquid | Rinse well afterwards |
Methven | No vinegar method given | A limescale remover "for up to 10 minutes" if scale affects the spray; no chlorine bleach or hydrochloric acid |
Caroma | No vinegar or descaler method given | Warm soapy water and a soft cloth; no hydrochloric acid or chloride cleaners |
Matte black, brushed nickel, brass-look or gold finish | No: Reece warns vinegar "can damage the plating" | Warm soapy water only |
Chrome, brand unknown | Skip it | A citric-acid descaler for 5–10 minutes |
Two popular extras don't help. The vinegar-and-bicarb fizz is the two neutralising each other, so it adds no cleaning power, and a pin or toothpick in the nozzles tears soft rubber and scratches slots.
What you'll need
- A soft cotton cloth (hansgrohe rules out microfibre on its fittings) and a bowl of warm water with a squirt of dishwashing liquid
- For descaling: the descaler in Step 3, rubber gloves, eye protection and a timer
- A zip-lock bag and a rubber band, only for a fixed head that can't be taken down
Step 1: rub the nozzles
Turn the water off. If the nozzles are soft rubber (they flex when you press them), work your thumb across the whole face for about 20 seconds; on rub-clean nozzles that alone shifts most scale and dirt. Run the shower for a moment to flush out what you've loosened. On a hard spray plate or slot, go straight to Step 2.
If a nozzle won't clear, descale rather than digging at it. Methven says to "never insert objects into the spray slot", and a pin can tear a soft nozzle or scratch a slot and spoil the spray.
Step 2: wipe the outside
Wipe the whole head, including the neck and back, with the soapy cloth wrung out. Wipe again with a cloth rinsed in clean water, then dry. Use light pressure in one direction, and on a brushed finish wipe along the grain, not in circles. It's the same care as How to Clean Chrome Taps (and Why Not Vinegar).
Step 3: descale with citric acid if scale stays
White crust that won't wipe off is limescale. The default for a chrome head is a bathroom descaler that lists citric acid on the pack, at the pack's strength, for 5 to 10 minutes and never longer: that's hansgrohe's method, and Methven also stops at 10 minutes. Kettle and coffee-machine descalers are often mostly other acids, so read the ingredients. If your brand is in the vinegar table above, follow its row; the name is usually on the face or handle, the box or the receipt, and a search for the brand and model plus "care" finds its instructions.
Safety Never mix cleaning products. Victoria’s Better Health Channel: “Do not mix bleach with ammonia, acids or other cleaners – this can release hazardous chlorine or chloramine fumes.” Ventilate the room during and after use. Wear gloves and eye protection. Follow the label's dilution and contact time. In an emergency call 000. For poisoning advice call the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 — 24 hours, anywhere in Australia.
For a removable hand shower
- Put on gloves and eye protection, and pour the descaler into a shallow bowl. Use one product only: bleach must never meet an acid, and bicarb cancels it out.
- Unscrew the head from the hose by hand. If it won't budge, stop rather than reaching for pliers.
- Stand the head face down so the spray plate is fully covered, keeping any handle out of the liquid, and set a timer for 5–10 minutes. Take it out when the timer goes, even if some scale is left.
- Rub the nozzles again, rinse the head inside and out under the tap, refit it, and run each spray setting for a minute into the drain.
- You're done when every nozzle sprays straight and there's no white crust on the face. If a few still spray sideways, rub them again or repeat the soak once rather than soaking longer, then check the filter washer.
For a fixed head you can't take down
Fill a zip-lock bag with enough descaler to cover the face of the head, slip it on and hold it with a rubber band so the liquid doesn't reach the arm or wall fitting. Wear gloves and eye protection, take the bag off after 5–10 minutes, then rub the nozzles and run the shower to rinse.
Still weak? Check the filter washer
If the whole spray is weak rather than patchy, check the small mesh filter washer where the hose screws onto a hand shower (many fixed heads have one in the inlet; hansgrohe calls it a strainer basket, and the video calls it a sealing screen). Turn the water off, unscrew the hose, ease the washer out with your fingers, note which way up it sits, rinse it under the tap and refit it with its rubber seal.
Leave the flow regulator in place. It sets your shower's rated flow, and Caroma's warranty excludes showers where it isn't installed. The WELS label on the box gives that flow in litres per minute, or you can look the model up in the WELS product database, so you can tell whether a weak spray is by design.
How often, and when to call a plumber
- Dry the faceplate after showers when you can, so lime spots can't set as the water evaporates; a squeegee does the same for the screen (How to Clean Shower Glass (and Keep Soap Scum Off It)).
- Give it the soapy wipe and nozzle rub every few weeks. The routine builder can add it to a printable weekly plan.
- Descale only when the spray or visible scale tells you to. Greater Sydney's water is soft (about 57 mg/L, Sydney Water), so many Sydney heads rarely need it. If chalky marks come back quickly, see Hard Water in Australia: Signs and Limescale.
If rubbing, descaling and a clean filter washer don't bring the spray back, the hose, mixer or water pressure may be the cause. That's a plumber's job, and it helps to tell them what you've already tried. A Simply Maid standard clean wipes down the shower and taps, and a deep clean adds built-up scale on screens and tiles; we don't take shower heads apart or repair plumbing.
Frequently asked questions
What's the black gunk in my shower head?
Dark slime on or inside the head is usually biofilm, a film of bacteria and other microbes that grows where water sits. A 2018 study that sampled biofilm from 656 household shower heads in the United States and Europe found mycobacteria ranging from none to more than 99% of the bacteria in a sample; it didn't look at whether anyone became ill. Soak and rub the head as in Step 3, rinse well and dry the face after showers. Descaling isn't disinfection, so if a doctor has told you to take precautions for a lung condition or weakened immunity, follow their advice. Black crumbs in the water usually mean a rubber washer or hose is perishing and needs replacing.
How do I clean a brass, brushed nickel or matte black shower head?
Treat any coloured or brushed finish (matte black, brushed nickel, brass-look, gold) with warm soapy water on a soft cloth, wiping along the grain on a brushed finish, then dry it. Reece says coloured finishes need extra care and warns that vinegar can damage the plating, so skip vinegar and descalers on these unless the maker's own instructions name one.
What about strong limescale removers?
Read the ingredients first. hansgrohe rules out cleaners containing hydrochloric, formic, phosphoric or acetic acid, and Methven and Caroma both rule out hydrochloric acid, so pick one that lists citric acid and stop at 10 minutes.
Last reviewed 23 September 2026 · Update history
Sources
- hansgrohe, Care and cleaning guide (PDF): citric-acid descaling for about 5–10 minutes, soft cotton cloths, no microfibre.
- hansgrohe Australia, Cleaning and maintenance FAQ: banned acids and the 10-minute limit.
- HANSA, How to clean your shower head: the 50/50 vinegar soak.
- Methven Aio Aurajet overhead shower technical guide (PDF): the 10-minute limit and the filter washer.
- GWA, Product warranty and care (PDF, version 10, February 2020): Caroma tapware care and the flow-regulator condition.
- Reece, Bathroom and kitchen product care guide (PDF): coloured and brushed finishes.
- Gebert et al., mycobacteria in showerhead biofilms, mBio 2018: 656 household shower heads.
- Nathan Kilah, Vinegar and baking soda: a cleaning hack or just a bunch of fizz? (The Conversation, 2024): why the two cancel out.
- Sydney Water, Water analysis: Greater Sydney's water hardness.
