Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Pinterest Fact or Fiction 4: Hard Water Stains

I saw this trick for cleaning hard water stains on Pins from the blogs: The Thrifty Home and Joyful Homecoming.

The trick is to saturate paper towels and wrap them around your nasty looking faucet.

Here's a picture of my disgusting sink:
This sink IS clean.  

I swear.

We have really hard water, AND water leaks from under the faucet handle.  Ugh.

So not a match made in heaven.

No amount of scrubbing was getting that crud off.  It's like cement.  Not even CLR made that mineral deposit disappear.

But, after a few hours of soaking, and a tiny bit of scrubbing with an old toothbrush, this was my result:


Unbelievable!

Granted the sink doesn't look like new, but it DOES look clean.

I was so excited that I had to summon Mrblocko to the kitchen to witness my handy work.  Even he was impressed.  I also told him to enjoy how nice it looked, because in about a week it would probably be all lime-y again.

One word of warning with this method of cleaning.: apparently, it is quite stinky.  I wouldn't know as I have a massive head cold. Luckily I cant smell a thing!  So when you do this, either be prepared to ventilate your house, or do what I did and catch a cold.

This one is definitely a Pinterest Fact!

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, I know I'll have to keep on it. I figured that a few paper towels and vinegar are cheaper than a water softener. Plus, the way the previous owners finished the basement, there is no room for a brine tank!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I saw your comment over at "thethriftyhome" and decided to come and see your results. Wow! I need to go do some soaking here, too but thankfully my buildup isn't as bad. Have you tried using Bar Keeper's Friend in between the vinegar soaks? I have hard water here in Western Washington and I am on well water. I am a believer about using vinegar now! I already use it for general cleaning but had not been soaking hard to clean spots like around my sink faucets and shower door tracks. Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for stopping by!!

    Part of the problem is that water drips from the handle. Vinegar and paper towels are cheaper and quicker than replacing the faucet. I havent tried the bar keepers friend, but have heard it is awesome.

    ReplyDelete

Please leave me a little comment. Comments are like candy. Tasty tasty validating candy!