How to best clean Mycobacteria from Shower Heads

[cesanon]

What is the best way to periodically clean shower heads of Mycobacteria?

I was told to dunk it in bleach. But when I contacted Speakman Shower heads they said their showerheads wouldn't tolerate that and they pretty much make the best and heaviest shower heads around. Many of solid brass with chrome.

They recommended vinegar treatment... but I was told that won't kill the Mycobacteria that can get aerosolized by the shower head.

Any recommendations anyone. What do you use?

I

[GAtherton Administrator Fungal Infection Trust]

Part of the problem is when scale and biofilms build up within the showerhead and piping, coating the surfaces. Bacterial grow quite well in the protected environment providing by those substances, so cleaning those layers off is a great start.

Most manufacturers seem to recommend white vinegar as a soak which will be great at loosening the scale and then a thorough washing to remove the residual.

This article, written about Mycobacterium supported this technique but also suggests that the use of a plastic showerhead would be less prone to harmful buildup bustle.com/p/germs-in-your-... (based on this paper mbio.asm.org/content/9/5/e0...

Mycobacteria are tough to kill! A 10% solution to bleach should kill any microbes but is corrosive so may well damage the surface of your showerhead in time, plastic is not affected.

Vinegar is effective if used correctly (soak showerhead and tubing in a minimum of a 6% acetic acid for at least 30min - the white vinegar you purchase in the supermarket will contain anywhere between 5 - 20% acetic acid, you need to read the label) sciencedaily.com/releases/2...