Hard Water Stains!

Have you tried CLR? I soak my shower head in it a few times a year because of the build up. I'm not sure how you would go about soaking a glass door though. Also in my sinks and tubs I dump a bunch of bleach in and fill it up with hot water. Maybe try the clr or bleach on single paper towels and see if you can open them up and see if they will stick to it. That's the only thing I can think of right now. Hope this helps,
W.

At K-Mart I actually found what is called a Natural Soap Stone and its near all of the earth friendly stuff in the cleaning Isle. I tried it on the chrome- MIRACLE- comes off easily. but the glass, I tested a spot near the bottom because I didnt want to scratch my door, well, IT WORKS BUT- be extremely careful- if you have massive buildup on the doors- then go ahead and do it but not until its all off becasue then you will scratch your door. This stone is of course porous but it comes with a yellow sponge attached to the other side of it so you can clean a bit on the glass, then wipe to see how you are moving along- another secret- AWESOME ON TOILETS- takes any old stain or hard water marks out of your toilet and leaves it looking new! GO get it you will be happy- and its only a couple of bucks too! let me know how it goes for you!
A.

Hello S.. I am a custodian, so I can help with the hardwater stains (somewhat). . .as for the chrome fixtures, there's a product out there called "CAMEO". Here in Washington, we purchase it at a place called WinCo. I'm not sure if Walmart carries it or not. But it works really well on stainless steel, and on chrome. If you kind of sprinkle it on a WHITE scratch pad with a little windex or other cleaner, and then spray your sink with the window cleaner as well, and then a little scrub, and off comes the spots! As for your shower doors, welcome to the world of hardwater. The only thing I've found to work somewhat well, is a product call "Mineral Shock". It's manufactured by EnvirOx . . possibly you could call them to find out where you can purchase it. As we (custodians) get this through a distributor. Their phone number is 1-800-281-9604. This is a fairly good product, as long as you open your windows, and use rubber gloves. You'll need to let it sit a minute or so, then wipe it down with soapy water, and rinse. I hope this helps. Debbie

I use scrubbing bubbles aerosol or lysol areosol in my shower stall. Just spray from the top down, let it soak while you clean the toilet and sink. My home builder suggested that when everything is clean coat the glass with Rain-X (car care product for helping the rain to slide right off the window and not fog up.) Also buy a squeegee to wipe any water left on the glass (Ikea has one for $0.99).

Actually, along the same lines as the white vinegar, but I think even better (and fabulous on ants) wipe things down with the apple cider vinegar. Not flavored, but real apple cider vinegar. Use it about 2/3 vinegar to 1/3 water or even full strength. The smell is usually only temporary until it dries, but it works a lot better and is safer than any of the things mentioned below so far. :) Good luck!

I use tub & tile from Melaleuca . It works fantastic, quick easy great smelling & totally safe for you because it is plant based. It is truely amazing how it gets the hard water stains off so easily !

A little about me : WAHM of a spirited & precious miricle 2 yr old girl. I own my own business ( workathomeunited.com/4bella & LiveTotalWellness.com/4bella ) & help my hubby run his own business( Mike & Mik's Mobile Music- DJ service).
I am very into protecting children & our earth.
Live softly upon the earth is my motto.

Try a cup of water, two capfuls of distilled white vinegar and a shot of liquid hand soap or dish soap. Put into a spray bottle.

If you have real build up use ten parts borax powder to one part lemon juice. Make a paste and scrub. You can leave the paste on for 5-10 minutes before scrubbing. We also have hard water.

I use denture cleaner tabs in the toilets overnight or for at least an hour. This helps the ring in the bowl. CLR is the only other thing that I found that helps really hard water stains on glass doors.. Spray on let sit a few min and rinse off, after this I wipe down the glass after each shower or bath.

We have terribly hard (well) water too. It looks like you've received some good suggestions for products to remove the stains. To avoid further problems, you may want to get a water softener. We finally did, because we wanted to protect our new fixtures in the master bath that we added to our house.

I use Spot X. I get it at Home Depot. It is sort of a powdered pumice and works well. On a weekly basis, I use steel wool to clean glass and chrome. It HAS to be the ultra fine 0000 grade, as anything coarser would scratch.

S., I am waiting for someone to answer your request with a miracle cure for hard water stains. I was very interested in this request because I cannot get the ring out of my toilet.
My Mom got something from the supply housethat started witha "W" that she said worked very good...but she is inthe process of moving and cannot find where the bottle is. as soon as she tells me again iwill letyou know.
I use "KABOOM" have you tried that and leave it on for awhile? It does work good...my other sister uses Oxyclean and swears by it. She makes a paste out of it andlets it siton the ring or stain.I thoughtthat soundedlike a lot of workso Ihave tried the Kaboomwhichis made by the same company....then they have something called BAM...Ihear it works very well......
But if this is for your shower doors...there is onething that I tried that worked.
Take a bounce or any dryer sheet, wet it and wash your shower doors with it...it also workswellfor the greasy ring in the tub.....the dryer sheet took off the water spots on my doors and made them real shiny.
Let me know...L.

Try Lime Away or Iron Out. Sometimes you can find Lime Away at grocery stores, but you should be able to find both products at a hardware store.
They worked for me when we lived in a home that had hard water.
Good luck!
D.

Distilled white vinegar seems to work on my hard water deposits and it's not so toxic. It does need a little longer to soak. Maybe try a spray bottle? On the chrome, after cleaning, wipe it with mineral oil to keep new deposits from forming. Good luck.

I have seen Lime Away do miracles...and I used to clean apartments for a living.

Good Luck,
C.

I use vinegar on the chrome surfaces and it works really great. I also rub wax paper over it after I clean to repel water and it helps fpr a little while. Good luck!

I can't reccomend anything, but if someone does PLEASE post it! I have the same problem,can't get the calcium rings out of the toilet! Thanks M.

S.,
I feel bad for you. We have the best well water in the world. We have a filter on our system in the house just before the water goes into the house pipes and it works well. However, you can fill a glass of water outside from one of our faucets in the garden that comes straight from the well, and the water is crystal clear.
I lived on a farm that had awful well water that left brown and green stains on the tub, toilets and sinks. It was disgusting. Everything we tried didn't work.
Comet seems to be something that a lot of people use and since it doesn't have an over abundance of chemicals in it, most people find it unoffensive.
Worst case scenario is you put a water softener in your home. That is what most people do for hard water.
Best of luck to you.

S. D,

Baking soda and water. Use as much baking soda and just enough water to make a nice thick spreadable paste that will stick to your shower doors or tub. Use a soft cloth or sponge. Do not use an abrasive sponge on your fiberglass tubs. Baking soda will clean without being abrasive. I let this paste sit on the surface I am cleaning for about 10 minutes. Then I come back to the beginning where I first applied the paste and start scrubbing. The spots come off my fiberglass a lot easier than my glass, but I am seeing results on my glass. The other key to keeping your glass spot free is to dry after every shower with either a lint free cloth or we use a "california blade" found in the auto detail isle at places like Fred Meyer or Joe's. Probably can find one at an auto store too. But my experience with the rubber blades I have found in the bathroom isles at stores is that they deteriorate and don't dry the glass as well as the california blade made for cars. One more tip...on fiberglass they say to treat it with a wax once or twice a year to keep from accumulating deposits. Car wax works well, but do not use the abrasive wax CLEANERS. Only WAX! Again, Good Luck.

I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW IF YOU GET ANY GOOD REMEDIES. I HAVE VERY HARD WATER AND CANNOT GET THEM OFF EITHER. THANKS. MY EMAIL IS ____@____.com. THANK YOU VERY MUCH

S. sometimes the years take their toll on surfaces and there is really nothing you can do short of replacing fixtures and ect...but I've been a professional house cleaner for over 25 years and I've used everything made all of which I've seen listed here.
Some work, others you have to work at getting them to work and most of them are so caustic I wouldn't recommend using them at all due to that. And never, ever mix an ammonia product with a bleach product! Check labels very carefully!

That said the way I remove them from shower doors is with a scrubby and white vinegar, let it soak a bit by applying it (the vinegar) full strength with the sponge part then use the scrubby side and gently scrub it off.
On faucets and other metal surfaces you can also use white vinegar straight and I use a straight razor to scrap off the deposits, be very careful, wear rubber gloves! You might try an old toothbrush first.

I highly recommend you stay away from all those caustic cleaners I only wish I had in my early eager to please years of cleaning other people's homes, now I am so sensitive to them it's not funny! The build up eventually will get to you and I have to wonder what I may have done to my small children who are already more sensitive to smells than I was, ugg.

Happy scrubbing!

~Kate

Ouch. Hard water stains are the worst! We learned the hard way that some of the most effective hard-water cleaners leave scratches or are so toxic that you need a mask and gloves to use them! We also have a horrible hard water problem. After trying dozens of products we settled on Bring-it-on cleaner, which has a very gentle abrasive and no harsh chemicals. We found it at http://www.bringitoncleaner.com. At $18 a bottle it's a bit spendy, but we have 6 guest rooms and the time it saves us when we are cleaning 6 bathtubs more than makes up for it.

White Vinegar....put in spray bottle....apply...wipe with wet towel...let dry.

C. H.
OR.

Try Clorox bleach spray cleaner/ spray areas and let sit for 5 mins and then rinse. Otherwise try straight bleach. Good luck!

I also have hard water and tried many of the tricks already posted. The Magic Eraser works best, I think. The Kaboom is so toxic I cannot use it without feeling sick. I wanted to add that I have heard, hard water over time will etch glass permanently. So depending on the age of your shower doors, they may be beyond cleaning to shiny perfection. So there may be nothing you can do ther than to buy new doors.

If you decide to reinvest, consider a curtain or installing a water treatment system to avoid future etching problems.

Good luck.

We also moved into a home with hard water. No one had lived here for a while, so we had horrible stains in the toilet and shower. I used Bar Keepers Friend on the toilet and shower stall and doors, and it came off pretty easy (a little scrubbing :) I use Bar Keepers Friend every time I clean the bathroom (and it works good in kitchen sinks and on ceramic stove tops). I also use Mr. Clean Magic Erasers on the shower doors. Doesn't leave a white film.

Hi S.. Try Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I was amazed at what it could do! Good luck!

We have well water and out of all of the things that I have used for my shower and tub, Comet seems to work the best and it doesn't give me a light head and sick feeling with all of the chemicals. I was surprised because comet is so cheap compared to the other cleaning supplies.

Filters put in before the water reaches your hot water heater. You can put in filter everywhere along your water line to help this problem.

If you have a Dollar Store nearby, see if they carry LA'S Totally Awesome Orange all purpose degreaser and spot remover. It comes in an orange spray bottle. It doesn't smell too good....I don't like to breathe in the spray mist but it does amazing things! And it's only a dollar!

I have this problem too--and our water has high levels of iron that stains. I haven't found any product that works as well as it claims to--but I just read a great book called Organic Housekeeping that gives great tips for preventing even having to do this kind of cleaning. I'm giving her tips a try! I use water softener in our laundry--but I've read that whole-house water softening systems are both a health and an enviromental hazard--be careful.

WHITE VINEGAR- I just read in Woman's World it works wonders for hard water stains and to soften the water when you water you plants! Because that will also cause your plants to die. I also use it to clean my swedish hardwood and counter. With ant season here they HATE vinegar! 50/50 mix. And none of the harsh chemical smells. Google white vinegar and discover all else it is good for. Good Luck
S.

I introduced my friend to Tub and Tile from Melaleuca. She has an old house and the tub needed to be reglaced it was so bad. She had tried everything. She called me super excited when she first tried the Tub & Tile on it because it was getting things off she thought she'd never see the end of. She wantedd to reglaze the tub but it just wasn't in her budget. Now she's able to do a deep and effective clean that doesn't damage her health or the envirnoment.

C. Busy WAHM to 4 y/o virtual twins
Owner: BeHappierAtHome.com

This sounds crazy, but it worked for my toilet, a can of Coke!!! It also works for getting the corrosion off of car batteries! Just poor coke, let set for a bit, then scrub. Imagine if it cleans that gunk, what it's doing to our stomachs when we drink it! Hope that helps.