At the end of a long day, there are few things as relaxing and rejuvenating as stepping into a nice hot shower. When you’re ready to unwind and wash the grime of your day away, the last thing you need is weak water pressure. There are a few reasons why you might have inadequate water pressure, but the most common is a clogged shower head. If you do have a clogged shower head, you can easily fix it with a quick trip to Ace Hardware for some supplies.
Here are the three most common reasons why your shower head is clogged.
There’s a flow restrictor.
Many shower heads come with a flow restrictor. A flow restrictor is a small plastic disc that saves water and energy by restricting the flow. While saving water and energy is good, you might not want to sacrifice the water pressure. In older shower heads, it is easy enough to remove the flow restrictor. In newer models, however, you may not be able to take it out. If that’s the case, your best option is to install a different shower head. We have plenty of models to choose from at Aubin Ace Hardware!
You have hard water.
Many houses in New Hampshire have hard water, especially those with wells rather than town water. Hard water is water with high levels of minerals, especially calcium and magnesium. The water deposits these minerals inside of your pipes, and then the water pressure carries those deposits into your shower head, where they get caught behind the wire or plastic screen. Cleaning out your shower head periodically will help remedy this issue.
There’s debris in the shower head.
Other stuff besides mineral deposits can get stuck in your shower head. All kinds of gunk can travel down your pipes and end up in your shower head, especially if you have an older home with older plumbing. The rubber gasket between the shower head and the water pipe can degrade, and the particles can build up inside your shower head. In that case, cleaning out the shower head and replacing the gasket is an easy fix.
Get Your Home Repairs Done with Ace Hardware
Whether your weekend project is cleaning the shower head or something else, you can find everything you need to check everything off your to-do list at Aubin Ace Hardware. Need some tips for cleaning your shower head? Check back next time, and we’ll walk you through it!