Unincorporated Minds

I have learned three valuable lessons this week concerning minor repairs to my bathtub/shower.  While these may seem like obvious tips, to the inexperienced, this may be important info.

The first lesson relates to a lime deposit clogged Waterpik (multi-speed and flow) shower head.  These are not made to be taken apart. Even if you do manage to get them apart like I did, it will not go back together correctly, even with glue.  You are better off removing the shower head and soaking it in a bucket of Lime-away overnight.  Then make sure you run hot water through it for at least 5 minutes. You must make sure all the lime-away is out of the shower head. Otherwise, you will have a very unpleasant shower.

Second lesson starts on a sour note but ends with a smile. If you do manage to destroy your expensive shower head like I did, you can get some revenge by purchasing a cheap replacement. My original one look liked this  but had hose attachment so you could remove it. I only used the one setting on my shower head that was full flow (basically most of the holes were releasing water).  So I bought a economy single setting removable from Meijers for $9.99.  It is labeled as a low flow shower head aka crappy water pressure. However, there is a small rubber grommet with 3 holes in it inside the bottom of the shower head where you connect the hose.  That is the flow control piece.  You can easily pry it out with a small screwdriver. You just converted it to a high flow shower head with sweet water pressure.

The last lesson concerns Lime-away and a highly corroded tub. Let's say that until yesterday, I thought the tub was beige, not off white.  My house was a foreclosure and was empty for at least 18 months before I moved in. Upon moving in,  the tub was cleaned with some Lime-away to get the iron and rust stains off. I thought most came off, but there were some stains that wouldn't budge. Well, I finally got tired of them. After purchasing a 28oz bottle of Lime-away, I set the tub stopper, and dumped the bottle into the tub with hot water.  I let it sit for about 30 minutes, then went to town on it with a regular, non-rough sponge.

Let's just say that after letting out the water, I then learned the true color of my tub and just how much work it needed.  The lesson here is, you should just start with 2 28oz botles of Lime away and 2 spray bottles if you have surround that matches your tub.  Also, use a very rough sponge.I actually ended up using 3M stripping pads from the paint section. Be gentle with those though, to rough and you'll scratch the surface.  So now I have a nice clean tub...after like $20 buck in Lime-away.