Five Ways to Remove Hard Water Stains

Hard water stains can make household items look dingy and unappealing. Your glasses can be perfectly clean but the stains from the hard water make you and your guests not want to drink from them. Hard water stains in the toilet bowl make it look unsanitary. This doesn’t even take into consideration the real damage that scale from hard water can do to your plumbing. But here are five ways to get rid of hard water stains:

Vinegar and Water

Vinegar is something of a miracle substance for getting rid of hard water stains. Experts recommend that it be diluted with water at a one to one ratio. To clean glassware, clean it as usual, rinse it and place it in a small tub filled with half vinegar and half water. Rinse the glassware again and dry on a drying rack.

Vinegar and Baking Soda

A paste can also be made from vinegar and baking soda and every school child knows that it can make a very nice volcano as well. The bubbles caused by mixing the two are also good at cleaning. Rub the paste over the stain and allow it to work for about fifteen minutes. Then scrub it, rinse it and dry it.

Lemon Juice

Lemon juice is also good for removing hard water stains. Lemon juice can be put into a spray bottle and sprayed on spigots and shower heads to remove the stains. After you spritz it on, let it work for 10 minutes, then rinse, wipe and allow to dry.

Steel Wool

Steel wool is commonly used to scrub away stains, even though you might need to use a bit more elbow grease than you would with vinegar and water.

Heavy Duty Cleaners and Acids

These are products that are quite corrosive and should only be used on small areas. They shouldn’t be used on stone or polished aluminum, because they will eat into these materials.

Powerful acids should be tried out in an inconspicuous place before they come into contact with the place you want cleaned, so you can test if they’ll be damaging to that particular area. You’ll also want to use safety goggles and gloves when you use these cleaners. You might even want to hire a professional plumber to deep clean your fixtures, removing hard water buildup, but install a water softener to get rid of those stains for good.

Cleaning hard water stains might be done as part of the weekly household cleaning. Remember, the more often you clean away hard water stains, the less cause you’ll have to resort to those heavy duty corrosives!

Informational credit to James E Mangum Plumbing