Hi ladies,
I just moved into a house I absolutely love. We are on a well and septic. There are hard water stains in the toilet, and also some hard water deposits are clogging up the shower head and sink sprayer. We have a water softener in the house, but it had gone without service for a while prior to us buying the home, thus the problem. I have tried everything to remove them but they are quite stubborn. I tried bleach and a good scrubbing, but it didn't work well, and I prefer not to use bleach again as it isn't good for our septic system. I also tried CLR with no avail. Any tips?
Thanks!
Vinegar works very good for the buildup stuff. Soak the shower head and sink sprayer. If there is build up aroung facets etc, soak a rag with vinegar and let it sit on the deposits overnight, then they should wipe up in the morning.
If the vinegar doesn't work by itself, you can make a paste. 1 cup of vinegar OR lemon juice, plus 1/2 (up to 3/4) cup of baking soda OR cream of tartar. Let sit about 15 minutes, then scrub.
my husband just used Oxy clean to get rid of some stains in our toilets and bathroom sink. It worked well... I believe he lat it sit there for a while.
I've also read that if you take your shower head off and soak it in water and vinegar ( it think overnight) it will loosen all the minerals and you can get a good water flow going again. I would scrub it w/ a soft brush (after the soak) and flush it through with water form the faucet prior to putting back on. Good luck! I HATE having hard water....
I always use Kaboom cleaner, works great.
Hard water stains are minerals which build up.
You need something acidic to dissolve them.
For my shower heads, I'll fill a container with vinegar and soak the shower heads in it for a few hours then rinse them off.
Rust stains are tough, but Kaboom and a lot of scrubbing helps get rid of them in my house.
Try a pumice stone. I've had good luck with it getting that kind of stuff out of the toilet. Never tried it outside of the toilet, but if it works there, it would probably work elsewhere also! You know, just don't use the same one to scrub the toilet as you do the other places. LOL.
Good luck!
Cyndi
Please try spraying white vinegar on the hard water stains and let it sit a few minutes. It should clear up that issue pretty well. CLR should work if you soak the shower head and sprayer in it. I've poured CLR into a plastic bucket and placed a shower head in it until scrubbing off the white deposits with a cleaning brush did the trick.
Have you tried Comet on the toilet yet? Someone I know uses Parson's Ammonia to clean her bathroom. Just don't use that and bleach together!! It's dangerous.
Good luck!
Rockin Green Hard Rock.
This is actually a green laundry detergent, but I use it for everything to do with cleaning. I love it. I haven't tried it on getting rid of hard water residue, but I'm sure it will take care of your problem.
http://rockingreensoap.3dcartstores.com/Hard-Rock-20-Samp...
here is a link to their samples so you don't have to buy a big bag if it doesn't work. Well worth the 80 cents to try it out!!
we use Rockin Green detergent too! LOL
Have you tried Lemi-Shine? It's manufactured for dishwashers but I've used it for our tubs and sinks for water spots when I clean. Not sure about long-term stuff but it's worth a try. Not sure if it's fair trade or toxin free as ingredients are considered a trade secret, but it is phosphate-free.
I think I'd try the RnG first tho....all kinds of yummy scents. Method might have something as well.
We use Iron Off or Out...I think that's the name...for the toilets. Works great. CLR seems to be the best for the faucets, etc..but it's pretty much ongoing maintenance with those.
If you use the well for your coffee maker-keep up on cleaning that with CLR too-we've gone through a lot of coffee makers because of the build up. Same with vaporizers, etc...vinegar works too
