Loosen Your Tub's Stuck Faucet Diverter With This Handy Household Spray

You likely don't know what a faucet diverter is unless you have an issue with it. But the small lever on top of your tub's faucet is like the traffic controller of your shower system — it's the mechanism that directs the water flow between your shower and tub. It's the reason your showerhead doesn't spray water when you're drawing a bath and vice versa. Because it lets you control your water, it's an important part of your bathroom, and when it gets stuck, things go south. Luckily, WD-40 can help you loosen a jammed diverter and get your bathroom into working order. 

If your faucet diverter is stuck, you lose your combined shower and bath privileges and can only use whichever option it's jammed on. This means you can't shower in the morning and instead have to take a quick bath before work, or you can't bathe your kids and instead have to stick them under a spray. As you can imagine, that can throw a pretty big wrench into people's routines. But you can easily solve your problem with a little bit of WD-40. Here's how. 

It might seem odd to bring a garage staple into the bathroom, but WD-40 can do everything from removing water stains from your shower door to cleaning your bathroom. And it can also help you fix your broken shower diverter. Simply lift the diverter, spray it with the lubricant, lower the diverter, and respray it. You want to keep doing this until the diverter becomes easier and easier to move, stopping when it finally glides smoothly up and down. If the diverter is extremely stuck and you can't push it down or wiggle it, you will need to invest in a bottle of WD-40 Smart Straw or WD-40 EZ-Reach. The Smart Straw version has a rigid straw that you can push up the faucet's spout to reach the inside of the diverter. If you're having a difficult time bending the straw, you can try the EZ-Reach version, which has an 8-inch flexible straw that can curve to get into the tightest angle or spot. 

The reason WD-40 works for this job is because the diverter is most likely stuck due to a buildup of mineral deposits or corrosion. The water displacer helps tackle both issues, loosening up the valve. Its unique formula helps to soften things like calcium buildup, rust, and limescale, which will help you begin to wiggle the diverter and eventually get it moving up and down again.