Hard water stains on toilets, and tricks from you or your SWMBOs*

[BABAR]

Hey, at least it's not a glue thread.

We have some toilets we just about never use, there are hard water stains around the water edges. We have tried just about everything. Ideas (other than replacing the toilets) appreciated! We've tried high powered vinegar and baking soda.

Thanks,

*SWMBO: She Who Must Be Obeyed

 

[techrat]

Bleach and a scrub brush. Just don't use bleach when there's pee in the toilet (obviously).

 

[jkovac]

There are pumice sticks with handles sold on Amazon and elsewhere that work really well. I thought they might scratch the toilet bowl, but they didn’t.

 

[Wrightme43]

oddly enough you need a acid. Citric acid for canning works. In the navy we used the the bug-juice packages. It was like koolaid with extra vitamin C.

 

[terryg]

Swimming pool acid.

 

[rharshberger]

if its a brownish red ring it also has iron in it and if you have a water softener it isnt treating for that. As others have stated a pumice stone on a stick or even the ones that are used to smooth rough skin on your feet will work (with rubber gloves of course), the wet pumice stone gently rubbed on the hard water stains will not damage the porcelain.

 

[Steven]

You guys got it all wrong. I use grenades. Cleans that bastich right out.

 

[tsmmiller]

Having excessive calcium in our water, water spots and stains are a constant irritation. The master bath shower had gotten so dull it was like looking at a wall through glazed glass.
I tried every old wives tale and internet ”guarantee“ out there. Warm vinegar and dawn? Not a chance and was TOXIC.
Desperation made me decide to grab a sponge and a can of Bar Keepers Friend. Lo and behold! Success!!!
Porcelain tiles are once again good as new. Two weeks work and three cans of powder. I never even thought of using the pumice stone.

 

[Pinetree]

The first step in cleaning your toilet is to clean the tank. Dump some bleach in there and leave it for a while.

And I don't even have a SWMBO.

 

[Peartree]

There's a product called C.L.R. (Calcium Line Rust) that I've used on particularly stubborn stains but what's generally easier is to drop a pool pellet (tablet) of chlorine in the tank. You can buy these, individually wrapped, at Walmart (some are blue) in the cleaning supplies department, but it's way cheaper to buy several during pool season from the outdoors department.

 

[Marc_G]

Another vote for CLR. Or, for stubborn localized stains, the acid used to condition stainless steel so you can solder it...

 

[SwingWing]

CLR or Lime-A-Way. basically the same thing

 

[kenstarr]

I wish I had taken a before and after of the toilet I hit with the clr a couple of weeks ago. I let it soak for about an hour and then scrubbed hard and it really did the trick

 

[Sandy H.]

OK. . . I'm a little peeved at all of you guy's responses. . .not enough information to help the guy, but a bunch of things that might make his life more difficult.

1: Septic or city sewer? If you use certain chemicals and are on septic, you need to do some septic maintenance to ensure you get all the right reactions going again after using bleach and most other chemicals. Do it wrong and you're in for a $750-1500 pump out in a year or two depending on where you are.

2: Color of the rings? Blue is copper, use a copper remover, DIY options online, maybe there is a purchased product as well, not sure. Orange is iron - Iron out is amazing and is going to chase you out of the room quickly, but it gets the orange stains gone super quick.

3: Personally, Bar Keeper's Friend has absolutely worked after handling the copper and iron issues, but it was a waste of time before handling the other two issues, just in my case.

4: Old school Carnauba wax on an unused toilet seemed to help, but not 100% prevent the problem. Turn off the water (after its clean) and flush to get rid of the water and just wax it like a car. Maybe regular car waxes work too, but never tried them. If on septic, I would stick to more natural stuff like wax vs. ceramic coatings etc., but I have not tried, so that's in your wheelhouse, not mine. Obviously turn the water back on and flush after the wax application is complete.

One post above that I completely agree with is to clean the tank first. Scrub-scrub, not drop a blue puck in the tank. . .

IMO, answering #1 and #2 (heh-heh. . . ) above will get you the shortest and least expensive path to making SWMBO happy about the toilets. #3 & #4 are just my opinion. I like the idea of the pumice stick and may try that myself in the future if I neglect things too long.

Good luck. Poor toilet maintenance yields a crappy time.

 

[bobby_hamill]

turn water off to the toilet and flush to get water out of bowl then spray down bowl with
Kaboom cleaner let sit for at least 1 hour spray again and scrub with brush . Turn water back on and flush to clean

 

[Peartree]

1: Septic or city sewer? If you use certain chemicals and are on septic, you need to do some septic maintenance to ensure you get all the right reactions going again after using bleach and most other chemicals. Do it wrong and you're in for a $750-1500 pump out in a year or two depending on where you are.

Last time we owned a house with a septic tank, the EPA flat out required that your tank be pumped out and visually inspected every other year at minimum. We were a little peeved but every three years was considered normal maintenance anyway. At the time, getting your septic pumped was only a hundred bucks or so as long as everything was working properly.

 

[teepot]

Believe it or not WD40 works to remove stains. I didn't believe it until I tried it.

 

[Sandy H.]

Last time we owned a house with a septic tank, the EPA flat out required that your tank be pumped out and visually inspected every other year at minimum. We were a little peeved but every three years was considered normal maintenance anyway. At the time, getting your septic pumped was only a hundred bucks or so as long as everything was working properly.

Wow. I guess where we are, nobody cares. My brother was involved in the industry and gave me a few tips and basically he said we'd never need it pumped out if we keep the reactions and bacteria working. In all fairness, we are just a 2 person household and the system was sized for 6 based on the house size.

In case anyone is interested, the big rules were to keep food waste out (i.e. no garbage disposal use), never use bleach or anything that claims to kill bacteria (at least, not down the drain, we bleach socks etc in a bucket and dump the bleach in the swimming pool afterward. Neutralize the socks in hydrogen peroxide mix and then just dump the peroxide on the grass after a few hours once it has turned into water). After using iron out or other nasty stuff, wait a day or two, then dump a packet of yeast down the drain with warm water to get the reaction healthy again.

So far, 15 years with no issues. Now, I need to go find some wood to knock on. . .

 

[K'Tesh]

For where I am, 30% Vinegar works a treat (typical vinegar is between 5% and 6%). Here in China, it's pretty cheap, even when delivered. I pour in a 1/2 cup or so, let it sit overnight, and it cleans up nicely. I find that 2-3 applications a year work well.

 

[augendoc]

Last time we owned a house with a septic tank, the EPA flat out required that your tank be pumped out and visually inspected every other year at minimum. We were a little peeved but every three years was considered normal maintenance anyway. At the time, getting your septic pumped was only a hundred bucks or so as long as everything was working properly.

I am pretty sure the EPA doesn’t give a hoot about your septic. That is most likely a County or municipal regulation. Where I am there are no after-installation septic regulations (yet). My tank gets pumped every 8-10 years, but I never put anything down the waste disposer. Most of that material either goes to feed my chickens or gets composted. And I’m careful about bleach and other nasty things.

Our water is exceptionally hard. The deposits are whitish, consistent with calcium and magnesium carbonates. I’m lucky to not have iron or copper stains. An occasional shot of acidic toilet bowl cleaner (dilute hydrochloric acid per the label) with maybe an annual scrubbing with a pumice stone works great. I had thought the pumice would scratch the porcelain, but it doesn’t.

 

[Peartree]

I am pretty sure the EPA doesn’t give a hoot about your septic.

Administered by the county but only because they were forced to do it by the Ohio EPA. They were told to initiate an inspection program or extend sewer service WAY out beyond the suburbs (where we lived).

 

[Art Upton]

Administered by the county but only because they were forced to do it by the Ohio EPA. They were told to initiate an inspection program or extend sewer service WAY out beyond the suburbs (where we lived).

Oh the same EPA that said Toledo water would kill you if you showered with it that one year after I already did and mixed an Energy drink with it from the Tap. Then I discovered all the stores were sold out of anything to drink on the way to the MIS Michigan rocket launch.

An hour away in Michigan we went to a store to get some Gatorade and they were all out of anything to drink, they said the folks from Toledo came and cleaned the store out.

Ironically the Mayor died of a heart attack several weeks later we think after he learned the truth

 

[teepot]

We have a septic tank. I vaguely remember being told not to use the disposal. Of course we ignored him. We haven't done anything different because of the septic tank. We were here 12 years before we thought it should be cleaned out. The septic cleaner recommended every 5 years. The only problem I have is that our original landscaper was supposed to put a concrete ring over the access lid and didn't. So now the cleaner has to dig down to it. They use a small backhoe. And to make matters worse the idiots put an irrigation line almost over the lid.

 

[KenECoyote]

I do preventative with regular shot of PP Blaster around the bowl.

 

[Greg Furtman]

I live on an old dairy farm and have a septic system. And the water has some iron in it so I get orange stains. I've been using Iron Out for a number of years. I put some in the toilet and put the seat and lid down to confine the fumes and let it soak overnight. Seems to work.

I also use Iron Out in my water softener once in a while to help purge the iron out of the resin which makes quite a difference.

 

[Rocketjunkie]

Sand paper. Finish with 400-600 grit to leave a smooth finish.

 

[KenECoyote]

... followed by primer and Rustoleum 2X Gloss White!

 

[dmaaero]

Whink is the best i have ever used, puts CLR to shame. I have used it on boats to remove saltwater rust stains for 35 years. Use it straight, an do not breath the fumes. Spray it on wait 60 seconds rinse it off.

 

[Donnager]

Swimming pool acid.

Yeah, This is usually called Muriatic acid, or driveway cleaner. It is weak, but maybe not that weak, HCl (Hydrochloric Acid). It will get rid of lime stains.

It will also take any kind of chrome plating off your desired metallic object.

CLR will remove the lime and scale, and leave most of the chrome.

 

[BABAR]

Bleach and a scrub brush. Just don't use bleach when there's pee in the toilet (obviously

Mixture of High Concentration of Vinegar, some baking soda, follow up with bleach and a plastic scrub brush and a good bit of elbow grease fixed the problem. Thanks folks.