Had a customer with the same problem last month—vinegar didn't do squat. Ended up popping off the showerhead, poking each nozzle gently with a toothpick, then rinsing under hot water. Worked like a charm after that, no more rogue sprays hitting the ceiling...
"vinegar didn't do squat"
Yeah, vinegar's hit or miss for me too. Had a similar issue last year—my showerhead was spraying water everywhere except on me. Tried soaking it overnight in vinegar, but nope...still chaos. Ended up doing the toothpick trick as well, but I also gave it a quick scrub with an old toothbrush afterward. Worked wonders, and honestly, it felt oddly satisfying poking out all that gunk. Shower's been behaving ever since.
I've had mixed luck with vinegar too. Sometimes it clears things right up, other times it's like I didn't even bother. Toothpick trick sounds good though—haven't tried that yet. Did you notice if the water pressure improved at all after cleaning out the gunk, or was it mostly just the spray direction that got better? I'm dealing with low pressure too, so wondering if poking around might help with that.
I've noticed the same thing with vinegar—sometimes it's magic, other times it's like pouring water on a grease fire, totally useless. I did try the toothpick trick recently, and honestly, it mostly just fixed the spray direction for me. Pressure-wise, it felt about the same. But here's something interesting: when I unscrewed the showerhead completely, I found a little mesh filter inside that was clogged up with sediment. Cleaning that out actually made a noticeable difference in pressure. Might be worth checking yours too, especially if you're dealing with low pressure issues. Just be careful not to lose any tiny washers or parts... speaking from experience here, haha.
Did you notice if that mesh filter was metal or plastic? Mine's plastic and I'm worried about damaging it if I scrub too hard. Also, did you soak it in vinegar too, or just rinse it out? I've been hesitant to take mine apart because I'm pretty sure I'll lose something tiny down the drain... knowing my luck, haha.
