How to Remove Hard Water Stains
Domestic CEO offers a cheap, natural solution for those pesky hard water stains in your toilet bowl.
I recently got this email from a Domestic CEO fan Maggie:
“We have awful hard water stains in our toilet. My boyfriend uses a brush and Comet to scrub them clean. He has also made a paste of vinegar and borax and let that soak for 30 minutes. Neither process worked well, or kept the stains at bay for long. We are renters and so do not want to buy a water softener. Is there any solution?”
Luckily for Maggie (and you!), there is a cheap, natural solution: A pumice stone.
You can use a pumice stone like an eraser. I recommend starting with a clean toilet and fresh water because you are going to be in there. Then, slip on a pair of gloves, grab your pumice stone, and rub it quickly up and down over the stains. It seems to help if the stone is a little wet, so you will want to dip it in the toilet water every now and then. Bits of the stone will crumble off, and that’s ok, just keep on “erasing” the stains all the way around. If the water gets cloudy from the crumbles, give the toilet a quick flush to get clean water and see where stains remain.
The type of pumice stone you get matters. It needs to be a hard one, not a wimpy one. I’ve found that the Pumie brand Heavy Duty Scouring Stick works best. It’s tough to find in stores, so you’ll have to order it online. But it’s worth waiting the 3-5 days for shipping because it works so well.
Once you have the stains “erased,” you should be able to maintain the bowl better with a brush. You just need to scrub a bit more frequently than folks with softer water. Keep in mind that this method, while effective, shouldn’t be relied on as a continuous solution. The more you use a pumice stone in your toilet, the more the coating will get scratched away, which will eventually give you an even uglier toilet than you had with the water stains. Maintaining the cleanliness of your bowl with weekly, or daily, brushing will help your toilet keep its youthful glow for many years.
Check out the Domestic CEO’s other easy tips and tricks for cleaning your home.