Shower Head Keeps Slipping Down! How to Stop It (Explained)

After years of water passing through your shower head, it slowly starts to wear out. Eventually, it causes the showerhead to become brittle.

So, it almost gets impossible to adjust the angle and snap because it will slip off soon.

While installing shower heads, you need to consider several things. If your shower head is idly moving around, then it’s not normal.

If ignored for long, this problem will probably worsen over time, and you’ll observe that it can’t control the escalating water pressure.

In this regard, you might likely be wondering about the cause of the showerhead slipping down, so what can you do to fix it?

This guide is all about fixing falling shower heads, including the causes, reasons, and remedies.

Here’s How to Stop Shower Head Slipping Down:

A showerhead can slip off for tons of reasons. However, the most common cause of a falling shower head is the loosening of the holder.

Read on to get a hold of this step-by-step guide

Step 1- Turning off the water supplies:

Firstly, turn off the water taps in the showerhead. Perform a short inspection, and look for loose threads or damaged parts.

Remember not to disconnect the supply while removing the connection.

Step 2- The outcomes:

If there’re no evident damages to the shower head holder and the nuts are correctly secured, probably the showerhead is just heavy for the holder. So, you must get a light holder instead.

On the other hand, if the holder has loosened, you need to apply the following approach.

Step 3- Disconnecting the holder:

Now, you’ve to disconnect the holder from the showerhead slowly. You’ll need pliers or a screwdriver for this task, so remove the nuts counterclockwise.

Make sure not to lose the washer between the shower arm and the holder.

Step 4- Wiping it up:

Wipe the shower arm with an adhesive to remove the old-thread seal tape. Wrap fresh layers of Teflon tape around it.

The second way is to add a bit of stinky glue in the groove to provide friction when the shower arm and holder are connected.

Step 5- The finale:

Once the adhesive dries or the tape gets secured around the shower arm, set a correct angle and tighten the screws. For adjusting it later, you can loosen the screw.

Here you can watch a complete method from Orbit Plumbing!

Why my showerhead does keep slipping off?

There can be various reasons why your showerhead keeps on falling off, including loose pipes, large openings, weak screws, and so on.

The following are the basics reason, why the shower head does keep slipping off;

1. Loose pipes:

The restroom pipes and their fittings help create a steady structure that secures your shower head in one place. However, loose or damaged pipes cause your showerhead to move around.

The showerhead’s pipe is the main reason for the slipping showerhead, but some other stems further down the line can also be the culprits.

2. Improper backing:

There’s a backing of wood that keeps your shower head firmly in place.

If installed improperly or damaged over time, the pipes will get loose. Ultimately, it will lead to a sliding showerhead.

The backing can pour out for many reasons, but usually, molds eat it away. However, natural disasters consider a potential cause as well.

3. Weaken screws:

Small U-shaped brackets fit your pipe and are then screwed into the backing to reduce movements. Over time, these screws loosen, and your support fails to do the job, which leads your shower head to slide down.

4. Faulty shower clamp:

If your restroom has a shower rail system, there must be a clamp that controls the height of the showerhead. Often, this clamp fails at the task, which causes the showerhead to slip down.

Many plumbers who inspect the faulty clamp find nothing wrong with it. These clamps are often low quality or get affected by water.

How to place a showerhead correctly?

While there’re many ways to place a showerhead securely in a place, the best one is to apply it with correct measurements.

Always use inching tape to mark the distance between the floor and the spot on the wall. The ideal placement relies on the size of your shower enclosure and the average height of the user.

Also, you’ve to ensure that the showerhead is compatible with other fittings. If you have a wall-mounted showerhead, it’s futile to replace it with a ceiling one unless you decide to replace the entire fittings of the enclosure.

What tools do we need to stop the showerhead from slipping off?

To stop the showerhead from falling off, we need several tools. Since the causes of this slip vary, the tool requirements might also differ. Showerhead tightening tools include a hammer, Teflon tape, flashlight, screwdriver, plumbers wrench, adjustable wrench, cable ties, and insulation tape.

Does a showerhead need to be centered for maintaining its balance?

A showerhead that has no balance is an annoyance that’s dangerous as well. It can hit you on the head, which then causes you to get a severe injury.

Whether it’s a spa-like rainfall showerhead or a mounted one, every restroom fixture needs to get fit with precision and calculations.

If your shower head isn’t balanced, the water will only put pressure on one side, and it might fall off the faucet quickly. Also, if the showerhead is mounted more towards the wall, it’ll make the rinsing experience very unsatisfactory for you.

Can the shower head be too heavy for the holder?

In most cases, if your shower head is slipping forward, it means that the handling part is getting too heavy for your holder. A common complaint about shower rail systems is that the showerhead often falls forward.

Also, it’s not right to hang your wet clothes over the showerhead. It can have severe damage, and the showerhead might collapse one day.

Which one is better, a metal or a plastic showerhead?

Whether buying a handheld shower or a showerhead, metal is the best material. Metal shower heads are flexible and last much longer than plastic ones.

Since metal showerheads are extra versatile, the chance of slipping or falling in metal showerheads is minimized.

Does changing the direction of a showerhead bring it closer to slipping down?

Several adjustable and movable showerheads allow changing the spray’s direction according to your preferences.

While the shower head placement remains secure, you can twist the shower arm to ensure the user utilizes the shower entirely.

Changing the direction of the showerhead has nothing to do with its falling. However, low-quality showers couldn’t bear the frequent alterations and thus, started leaking.

How Far Should the showerhead stay from the wall?

You want to have considerable space between you and the showerhead when you’re standing beneath the shower. In this way, you won’t bump into other fittings.

Ideally, a wall-mounted shower must be around 4 to 5 inches from the wall. Two factors usually calculate the measurement.

1. The distance between the restroom floor and the shower.
2. The width of the showerhead.

With a rainfall showerhead, you have two options. You can fix the shower against the ceiling or mount these fixtures to the wall.

When a showerhead is mounted on a ceiling, it provides that promising “rainfall” effect. In this case, the heads are at least 6 to 12 inches wide, and a showerhead must be 3 to 6 inches away from the wall.

Can we over-tighten a showerhead so it doesn’t slip off?

Over-tightening can lead to harmful consequences that you might not want to indulge in. You can tighten a shower head to keep it secure in place.

On the contrary, tightening a showerhead can expand a slight water leak and damage the threads.

So, over-tightening can’t stop a showerhead from falling, nor it can bring us to desirable results.

In both ways, it’s not a very fruitful way.

How can we stop a showerhead from slipping with Teflon tape?

Teflon tape acts as a strong bond between the holder and the shower arm. It works well in the long haul, and you might not experience slipping showerhead issues for years to come. Often, plumbers opt for it while installing new showerheads.

Do all showerheads fit similarly?

Usually, showerheads are universal, so all of them almost get the same fittings. However, you have the choice either to mount them against the ceiling or the wall. For a more luxurious rainfall effect, choose the ceiling one.

Final Thoughts!

Installing a showerhead is all about precision and correct measurements. While this task demands a valuable skill, the experience is quite amusing.

When a showerhead starts showing the symptoms of slipping off the rail, that’s the moment of concern. If avoided for long, it can cause harm to the user as well.

In this regard, addressing the actual cause of this slip and taking precautions to get a hold of the situation is a real deal. Fortunately, this guide covers all the significant aspects of the subject.