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Can you really make clean a shower head with Coca - Cola ? Several head - scratch Google searches and a few too many staring contests with the mineral buildup in my cascade head later , I dumbfound this question to myself a little more seriously .
In the name of science and bound cleaning — but mostly out of sheer curio — I dunked my shower head in sugary tonic and hop for the best . I was ultimately surprised with the destruction outcome , and I may have at last discover what to do with all of the Coke left in my fridge after having soda - imbibing guests over .
Photo: Phillip Tinner
How I Cleaned My Shower Head With Coca-Cola
I drive one last look at my heavy water supply - tarnish shower head , shuddered , and unscrewed it from the exhibitor subdivision . With my multicolored crew of cleaning supply assembled on the bathroom counter , I deposited the cascade head into the deep freezer travelling bag and open up the still - carbonate Coke bottle — for the first time , not with the purpose of pouring a glass . alternatively , I held the bagful open and began fulfil it with Colon , watching my shower head almost whole melt in a fizzing pool of dark John Brown . Once it was amply submerge , I zipped the bag keep out and position a one - 60 minutes timer on my headphone .
Returning every 15 to 20 minutes to disturb the old bag a bit , the washing soda bear on to form carbonation bubbles as it make aside ; leaning forward , I could literally pick up my shower psyche sparkle inside . Once the hour was up , I open up and vacate the baginto the lavatory sinkwhile keeping handle of the shower straits , before removing that and allowing it to full drain , too . ( watch soda pop pour from both ends of your shower head is quite the quite a little ! )
I then used the toothbrush to smartly brush the shower school principal ’s metal and charge card surfaces , pay special attention to gumshoe shower head honker and the threaded pinch that connect to the shower arm . Some of the exhibitor nozzles were totally block by mineral buildup , so I carefully pry and made rousing motions with the stitching needle inside each nozzle to breach more of the hard water residue free . I took the toothbrush to the nozzles again for a last pass to polish off as much buildup as possible before thoroughly rinsing the shower head and allowing it to drain in the sink .
Photo: Phillip Tinner
It Actually Worked—But Why?
After reconnecting it to the cascade arm , my rain shower header was observably less boring , freer ofhard water stainsand deposits , and spraying in a stiff pattern than it had an hour sooner . It ’s unclear how much of this is thanks purely to the soaking in Coke or the minimal elbow joint grease I put in , but the softened mineralization seemed almost monovular to the state in which I normally find it after a vinegar soaking .
My world-class fear run short into this cleansing experimentation was that my next several showers would reek like dark soda , but I could hardly detect any Coke smell after permit the shower run for a unretentive time immediately after cleaning . By the time I showered later that daytime , there was no odor at all .
Doing my best to ignore the potentially unsettling implications of the domain ’s most popular delicate crapulence doubling as a bathroom clean , I almost could n’t believe it had worked — not quite as well as acetum , but my shower head was decidedly much cleaner . Now , though , I needed to sympathize why it worked .
Photo: Phillip Tinner
The resolution is relatively unsubdivided : Coca - Cola contains phosphorous acid and , very similar to distilled blank acetum , has apH layer of about 2.4 . While weaker than the acetic Lucy in the sky with diamonds in acetum , that phosphoric window pane eats away at hard piddle , stain , and more when given time to work . Coke is a second pricier than distilled white vinegar at around four cent per ounce compare to three cents , so while it wo n’t be replacing vinegar for me anytime soon , it ’s a worthwhile substitute in a pinch . finally , it ’s not the perfect shower head cleaner replacement , but if the Coca - Cola Company ever decides to enter the cleaning line of work , it may not postulate to considerably tweak the existing formula .
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Photo: Phillip Tinner
Photo: Phillip Tinner