One issue you have to frequently deal with if your home has hard water is mineral deposits and limescale clogging up faucets and showerheads, and building up on various surfaces. These deposits happen as a result of calcium and magnesium in the water getting left behind and hardening, creating a scale that can be extremely difficult to remove. While you’ll always have to use a bit of elbow grease to clean away hard water stains, there are several options that help make them easier to remove.
Faucets and Showerheads
Cleaning mineral deposits out of faucets and showerheads can be somewhat tricky. The easiest and most effective method is to pour undiluted white vinegar into a plastic sandwich bag and then use rubber bands or string to attach the bag to the faucet or showerhead, making sure that it is fully submerged in the vinegar. After letting the fixture soak in the vinegar for at least 30 minutes, you then want to scrub it with a non-scratch sponge or a toothbrush to remove all of the mineral deposits before turning the water on and letting it run for a minute or so. Limit vinegar soaks to 30–60 minutes on plated/brass finishes and remove aerators to soak separately; rinse and dry.
The acid in the vinegar helps to dissolve the minerals, so they should be fairly easy to remove as long as you leave the fixture to soak long enough. The vinegar should also dissolve and loosen any deposits inside the fixture so that they get flushed out when you turn the water back on.
Toilets
If you have hard water, you’ll often end up with a ring of mineral deposits inside the bowl right at the top of the normal water level. You can find various toilet cleaners that have chemicals that are specifically designed to tackle hard water stains. Another effective option is to pour white vinegar into the bowl and let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes, and then apply a separate baking-soda paste and scrub. Keep in mind that you must never mix vinegar (or any acid) with bleach or bleach-based cleaners — dangerous chlorine gas can form.
For more stubborn stains, the best option is to mix borax with vinegar to make a paste. After applying the paste to the stain, you should let it sit for at least one hour or preferably several hours if possible before scrubbing the stain. The vinegar helps to dissolve the minerals, while the borax acts as a mild abrasive that helps to scour the limescale away when you scrub it.
Mineral deposits can also build up inside a toilet tank and eventually create issues that prevent the toilet from shutting off after flushing or cause it to occasionally run on its own. For instance, mineral deposits on the chain can cause it to get bound up and result in you needing to jiggle the handle a few times to free the chain and get the toilet to stop running.
Another issue you can encounter is that deposits prevent the rubber flapper from fully sealing the bottom of the bowl, leading to water slowly leaking out of the tank and the toilet occasionally running to refill the tank. Apply white vinegar and let sit for 15 to 30 minutes, then scrub with a separate baking-soda paste. Avoid mixing them in one solution. However, you should first shut off the water to the toilet and flush it a few times until the tank is mostly empty.
Glass Shower Doors
Mineral deposits on glass shower doors and other glass surfaces show up as white water spots. For mild stains, you can usually just mix equal parts water and either vinegar or baking soda in a spray bottle and then add a few drops of dish soap. When you spray the mixture on the glass, the dish soap helps the vinegar to cling to the glass so that it can dissolve the minerals. After waiting for 10 to 20 minutes, you should be able to scrub the stains away with a non-abrasive sponge.
For stubborn stains, you should buy cleaning vinegar (it has a higher concentration of acid than kitchen vinegar) and mix it with cornstarch to make a paste. Spread the paste on the glass and wait for around 30 minutes before carefully scrubbing. Use #0000 steel wool only on uncoated glass; test a small area first. Do not use on acrylic or coated glass.
If you’re sick of dealing with hard water stains and mineral deposits in your shower, you should buy a squeegee and use it to remove the water from all of the surfaces every time you shower. While squeegeeing your shower after every use isn’t always 100% effective at preventing mineral deposits from forming, it still makes a massive difference.
Tiles
The vinegar, water, and soap method or using vinegar and baking soda work equally as well for removing mineral deposits from tiles. Most types of tiles are hard enough that you can scrub at the stains with a scouring pad or stiff-bristle toothbrush. For stains on the grout in between tiles, creating a paste of 3% hydrogen peroxide and baking soda is a good option or you can just use commercial grout cleaner. It’s recommended to wear gloves if you’re using standard household hydrogen peroxide. While it won’t burn your skin, it can temporarily blanch or whiten it.
Marble, Granite, and Other Stone Surfaces
If you have a stone shower or countertops, you need to be extra careful when trying to get rid of hard water stains or else you could damage the stone. Generally speaking, the best option is to use a commercial cleaning product that’s specifically designed for whatever type of stone you have, i.e., marble, slate, granite, travertine, etc. With marble and other calcium-based stones, you need to make sure never to use any type of acidic cleaner, as this will result in staining and discoloration. You also need to be extra careful when cleaning marble so that you don’t scratch the surface.
How to Prevent Hard Water Stains in Your Home
Water softeners reduce hardness with ion exchange. During regeneration, the system backwashes, draws salt brine through the resin to swap calcium/magnesium for sodium (or potassium), then rinses away the displaced minerals and excess brine. Within the softener tank are thousands of small, negatively charged resin beads that attract and hold onto the positively charged calcium and magnesium ions.
When the tank is flushed with brine, the sodium or potassium ions in the brine cling to the resin beads. As water then starts flowing through the tank again, the calcium and magnesium ions take the place of the sodium or potassium. This process happens naturally as a result of the calcium and magnesium having a stronger charge. The result is that the minerals get removed to soften the water and are replaced with a small amount of salt. That way, you rarely have to worry about hard water stains or mineral deposits clogging up your pipes and plumbing fixtures.
Call for Reliable Help for Preventing Hard Water
At BlueFlow All-Service Plumbing, our expert team is ready to help if you want to install a water softener or need any other water treatment services. Our company’s roots date all the way back to 1918, and our plumbers have years of experience in the full range of residential and commercial plumbing services. To schedule service in Cleveland, GA, and surrounding areas, contact us today.
