Shower Safety and Maintenance

It’s the first place we go to get clean, yet it’s frequently the last place we think about when it comes to regular home maintenance and safety precautions. “Shower safety and maintenance” may sound a little goofy, but it’s just as important to think about as any other aspect of your home.

Most people know not to let young children bathe alone due to the danger of drowning, but not many people think about the threat overly hot water can pose. Letting a small child sit in a bathtub full of overly hot water for too long can certainly lead to scalding, but sadly, scalding can also occur in the blink of an eye.  Sudden fluctuations of water pressure when showering is the most frequent cause of hot water scalding in children and the elderly. Sometimes this is due to a faulty shower head, which may need to be replaced entirely, but the majority of the time the shower head is simply clogged with mineral deposits.

Cleaning your shower head on a regular basis is quick, easy, and may be the key to preventing unfortunate accidents.  Most modern showerheads are self-cleaning, so if you don’t want to bother with monthly showerhead maintenance, buying a new self-cleaning showerhead may be your best option.

In addition to regularly cleaning your shower head, it’s important to clean your shower curtain regularly as well. If left unattended for too long many shower curtains can grow mold and other bacteria, which are an obvious health risk, especially for children and the elderly. It’s as easy as laying the curtain out on a table and wiping it down with soap and water. Or, for certain cloth-based curtains, simply run through the washing machine with the rest of your laundry.