This shower head came with the house and, as freaky as it looks, it worked great and had the advantage of being adjustable to practically any height level. Tall people, short people, anyone could use the shower in comfort.
Try as I might, however, I just could not get the mineral build-up clean so the spray was wonky. I tried soaking it in vinegar, and it improved a bit, but not enough to keep me from getting a wayward spray in the face when it was totally not even pointing at me.
::sigh::
It had to go.
I recently installed a combo fixed/handheld shower head at my mom’s, found it surprisingly easy, so decided to get one for myself.
TA-DA! Isn’t it pretty?
I opted for just a handheld and, though I kind of wish I’d purchased a combo fixed-plus-handheld like I got for mom, I still adore my new shower head.
I can adjust the angle when it’s on the wall and take it down to get in all the nooks and crannies. LOVE IT.
I know I talk about household fix-it projects a lot but seriously, it’s insane how easy some of these things are to do. You just have to get over the initial intimidation of doing something you’ve never done before and worrying you’ll screw it up.
I screw up all the time! It’s not the end of the world and you can fix pretty much any screw up.
The trick to any shower head installation is not to cross the threads as you screw on the fixture. Cross-threading is when you misalign the two pieces so the threads wedge against each other. If you continue to force it, the threads of one or both pieces with be structurally damaged, causing leakage at the joint in the case of a shower head.
To prevent this, know that you should never have to force anything to turn when attaching a new shower head. If you feel resistance, you are beginning to cross-thread. Reverse direction and re-start at a better angle.
The instructions that came with this shower head said you don’t even need plumbers tape but, really, they lie. You should always 1) thoroughly clean off any old plumbers tape still on the shower arm (a toothbrush comes in handy for this task), and 2) apply three revolutions of new plumbers tape in the same direction as you will be screwing the new fixture (usually clockwise), making sure not to let the tape hang over the opening and interfere with the water flow.
Comments about my mom’s new showerhead, the Delta Faucet 75584 Five-Spray/Massage In2ition Shower System.
Pros:
- You can select spray from just the outer ring, just the handheld, or both, and it works whether the handheld is attached to the main ring or not.
- The hose is 72”, great for use in a large shower or perhaps cleaning the dog.
- All you have to do to clean the minerals that usually clog things up is rub the rubber nozzle thingies to loosen the gunk and it falls right out. No idea if it really works. We’ll see after several months of build-up.
- It has a pause button that doesn’t stop the water completely but does reduce it to a small trickle, nice for saving water while you shampoo, shave, etc.
Cons:
- By “chrome” they mean “chrome-colored plastic".” Quelle disappointment. Wondering how long before it breaks or the “chrome” peels off.
- By “5-spray” they mean 1) regular straight spray, 2) massage spray, 3) pause, aka trickle spray, where the water barely dribbles out, 4) leave the handheld mounted in the shower head, and 5) take the handheld out. Did you notice those last two aren’t really different “sprays” at all? Yeah, I noticed that, too.
Little did I know I become such a showerhead snob when I started these projects.
