4 Hacks to End Hard Water Stains in Bathrooms

Its gross and grimy and can make your bath look like it hasn’t been cleaned in months, even though you clean every week!  The problem isn’t really the dust, dirt, people and pets that can leave any room a mess, it’s the hard water that comes out of your faucet.

Hardwater, is water that contains a lot of dissolved minerals like calcium and magnesium.  These mineral deposits can build up in inside your plumbing pipes and reduce the efficiency of appliances. But, they can also leave quite a mess behind on fixtures, faucets, showerheads, toilets and more because once the water evaporates, those nasty minerals stay behind and can look pretty disgusting.

Preventing hard water is a big project.  Fortunately, cleaning the stains it leaves behind isn’t.  Here’s 5 ways to make stains disappear, courtesy of CLR.

Unsatisfying Showerheads

Does poor water pressure in your morning shower leave you less than ready to start the day?  The problem may have nothing to do with water pressure at all!  Mineral deposits left behind by hard water may be filling up the small nozzles in your showerhead, effectively blocking the water from coming out.  

The solution to getting a sensational shower once again is simple.  First, remove the showerhead.  Next soak the showerhead in a 50/50 solution CLR and water.  After a few minutes, remove the showerhead, rinse it off and reassemble.  Your water pressure will be instantly restored, and you didn’t even have to call a plumber!

Toilet Troubles

Toilets are particularly prone to stains from calcium and lime, as well as scale and rust that can be in your water supply. They tend to form in the bowl of the toilet, right around the water line. 

For best results, turn of the water to the toilet (there’s a valve right behind the toilet, usually near the floor) and flush it to lower the water level in the bowl. 

Apply CLR Calcium, Lime, & Rust Remover directly to the stains using a damp cloth, sponge or by pouring a small amount in the bottom, and brushing using either a pumice stone or stiff scrub brush for two minutes, then flush the toilet for sparkling clean results. 

Dirty Shower Doors

Of all the surfaces in a bathroom, vinyl shower doors seem to be real magnets for hard water stains.  They’re saturated once or twice every day, providing ample opportunity for mineral deposits to stay behind and build up quickly to a pretty poor state, along with a solid collection of soap scum and dirt. 

For this surface, a multi-purpose product like CLR Bath & Kitchen Cleaner works best.  It can handle the wide variety of stains, and works equally well on sinks, chrome fixtures and stainless steel. It needs only a quick spray and wipe to cut through dirt, calcium, lime, hard water deposits and soap scum on both bathroom and kitchen surfaces.

Messy Mirrors

Ya know all that wonderful steam that fills your bathroom every time you take a shower? Well, if you’ve got hard water, that steam also includes some not so wonderful minerals that can land on your mirrors leading to a less than desirable reflection. 

To remove hard water deposits from mirrors, mix up a diluted solution of equal parts CLR and warm water. Apply the solution using a damp cloth or sponge to the glass only. After 2 minutes, hand remove the solution from the glass using a damp cloth or sponge and clear cold water.

Simple and Safer Cleaning

Both CLR Calcium, Lime, & Rust Remover and CLR Bath & Kitchen Cleaner are simple-to-use and fast-acting formulas that help get you through your cleaning check list a little faster so you can sit back, relax and enjoy a sparkling clean home. 

Best of all, these two products contain no phosphates, ammonia or bleach and are recognized as a part of the EPA Safer Choice Program as safer alternatives to other chemicals.  When selecting cleaning products, it’s smart to look for those that carry the Safer Choice mark on the label. This ensures that the manufacturer follows strict criteria for safe ingredients as outlined by the EPA.