By Neelie from Chapel Hill, NC
It is cheaper than buying the cleaners made for a toilet bowl, even if you use a whole bottle of it. Many times you can get it on sale for 2 for $1.00. Don't buy any more than you can use before the date expires, because it will turn to water eventually and be ineffective.
Source: This Old House magazine and Eons group
By Elaine S. from Belle Plaine, IA
What is the best way to clean a hard brown stain in a toilet?
By Dee from Covington, KY
By cybergrannie
01/12/2011
My son is single and does not like to "clean" all the time so he just keeps a jug of white vinegar in his bathroom and pours a little around the inside before going to bed. Seems to work for him.
I cannot get a brown stain out from right underneath the toilet bowl rim. It goes around a large portion of the bowl. I suspect the porcelain was not finished properly (coated) and is still porous. What can I do?
We'll be putting our house on the market within the next year, and I don't want such an ugly stain to repel potential buyers (and us, in the meantime). Thanks in advance.
By Piove from USA
By Contester
10/06/2009
Try using BarKeeper's Friend cleanser on a sponge (the kind with a rough scrubbing side). The stain sounds like a mineral stain to me, and BarKeeper's will remove that kind of stain whereas the bleach cleansers won't. The stain will probably dissolve in less than 5 minutes.
DON'T mix the two kinds of cleansers!
I would like to get some help cleaning and disinfecting the toilet that the dog drinks from. I have hard water stains which are only getting worse, because I cannot find a product that actually works.
Thanks, all you tippers. I'm waiting for a response.
Hearts1
By Debby from San Diego, CA
By Stryker
05/29/2011
Wow!! "The Works" from the dollar store just wiped away all the stains. Seriously good stuff and I only used a bathroom brush with maybe 10 strokes and the stain was gone. Removed stains that nothing could get rid of before. The toilet bowl is super white now and clean. Thanks for the heads up on this product. Highly recommended.
We have iron and sulfur in our water. Our toilet has a brown water ring at the water's edge. One time, when I cleaned the the toilet, I forgot to flush. Now it has a blue ring around the brown ring. I have tried different things with no success. Please help.
By Cindy I.
By buckybob20
06/04/2011
I use this stuff called the works on my toilet. I have hard water also and I just pour it in and let set for about 10 to 15 minutes and it works great. Hope that helps.
Christine
The toilets in our retirement home are six years old and some genius had taped over a couple of the holes under the rim (or just never removed them). We've tried everything including a brass bristle brush used for cleaning handguns. Zoom foam doesn't work, CLR doesn't work and I'm not enthusiastic about using sandpaper on the porcelain glazing. We are on a septic tank so very strong bleach is also out.
By J.F.
By jean99
06/18/2012
Empty the toilet of water or get it very low. Take some light weight cotton cloth or washcloth, and dip it in vinegar and ring it out. Stick it under the rim covering the stain. You will need about six cloths. You can cut washcloths in half. The cloths should stick to the porcelain. This also works for stains around the water line.
Let the cloths stay their for at least six hours. You can check to see if the stain is lessening. If the vinegar does not work, try dipping the cloths in CLR or any mineral remover, instead of the vinegar. Read the label on the product because some are very strong and can etch the coating off the porcelain. You would need to dilute it first.
Basically, the stains under the toilet rim are minerals that have stuck to the porcelain. They make a pretty tight bond so you need to dissolve them with acid to remove them. Rust removers are acidic. Vinegar is acetic acid.
You can also try lemon juice which is citric acid. For stains at the bottom of the bowl, empty all the water out of the toilet and pour in straight vinegar high enough to cover the stain. Then just let it sit until gone. Use a stronger acid as above if needed.
If you have hard crusted stains, the acid will loosen them but you may need to chip them away with a plastic spoon. You can also remove stains from under a faucet with the same cloth and acid technique.
Over a 10-14 day period, blue/purple stains develop in the bottom of our toilet bowl. The tank is crystal clear. They do not form in our other toilet. We have soft water. Where are the stains coming from and how can we prevent them from forming?
Michimac from Michigan
By johnmcneill2000
01/15/2009
Here is a possiblity, my mother takes medicine for urinary infection and so forth, the pills, leave blue residue, so if other folks are using your toilet, then maybe. If not cleaned normally, there will be lot of blue.
How do I remove or keep hard water stains from my toilet?
By Edith
By T&T Grandma
06/01/2011
Lime Away or SLR both found in grocery stores, hardware stores, big box stores.
How do I remove a brown stain from the toilet?
By Donna from Wallsend, NSW, Australia
By suzi_homemaker01
02/05/2012
Lime Away Toilet Bowl cleaner! It is fairly new and in a container shaped like all the other toilet bowl cleaners. It is awesome! It also removed hard water buildup from sinks, faucets and tubs. Be careful, it's really strong and can discolor some metals. This is also the only thing that will clean a glass shower door, just the glass. I just love it! I live in Central TX and the hard water buildup here is awful! It is currently only available in our HEB grocery stores.
By Sandy
02/03/2012
Borax will not do it and please do not buy any type of acid to use. Just go to a pool supply store, or a hardware store like Lowes or True Value and ask for a pumice stone. Price is about two dollars. That is a volcanic stone made for the purpose of removing hard water or any other difficult stains from ceramic or porcelain surfaces. People clean tiles around swimming pools with them. They are used in antique restoration. All that is needed to remove stains is to rub it over the stain and stain is gone. No harm, easy, safe,c heap, and fast. You will be happy to have found this product.
I used Lysol toilet bowl cleaner, and some of the liquid got on the toilet seat, leaving a blue stain. The seat is injection molded plastic. Any ideas about how to remove this stain? Thanks.
Susana from Houston, TX
By thriftyinhouston
12/10/2008
Thank you all!! The stains are mostly gone (there's a little one that resists to go)
I tried a combination of two tips: bleach and magic eraser. (BTW, I had tried magic eraser alone and bleach alone, and they didn't work)
I used Lysol in my toilet bowl and it dyed my bowl. How do I get this out?
By bobbyjus from Perry, FL
By louel53
05/05/2011
I suspect the lysol is dying some lime deposit that is in the toilet. You may want to try some acid to remove this; or just go with the bleach as Klavier. suggested. But don't combine cleaners.
I have used "Jonny Fresh" on my toilets and it left blue stains in the bowl. Is there a way to remove them?
By Ali D.
My toilet bowl has a black stain in it that is easily removed, but it returns almost daily. If someone urinates in the toilet and does not flush the toilet the black residue is even greater. We have city water which appears to be quite clear. The tank for the toilet is clean as well. Could a drug or some form of bacteria cause the toilet bowl to change color? Any ideas?
By Dan D
I have a bad stain in my teen's toilet, right below the top edge of the toilet where it's hard to reach. I've used several different products to try and get this cleaned but they haven't worked. I've used lime away, Clorox Teflon for toilet bowls, etc.
Any suggestions?
Peggy
By cenozoicgal
By las424
By Josephine
By Kelley
By Kelley
By Mary DiCroce
By Paul
By Manda
By Tonya
By Rosalie
By Kay Rose
I can send you a WATKINS catalog if you want to the look at the products and see what you think. trudypowell@sbcglobal.net (03/26/2005)
By Trudy Powell
By bigbee56
By liz
Pretty Potty is the best so far. It has vapors but it smells SO pleasant and its vapors are minimal (From the acid - all working products need the hydro acid.) That and the use of a pumice stone for those very hard stubborn hard water stains etc. The trick to pumice stones is elbow grease and to keep the pumice stone always wet. (05/07/2005)
By sunnyd
By Bill
I'm looking for a cake that i can put in the tank that will prevent mineral build up before it starts to happen
Everything sold that i can find is Chlorine base and all that does is bleach the mineral deposit white. You can't see it but it's still there. Found a solid cake that I think was citric acid at the dollar store that worked great but they no longer have (08/14/2005)
By derfberger
Editor's Note:Chris, you don't say what the cleaner was which makes it hard to answer. (05/18/2006)
By chris
By nreynolds
By Bob
By Belinda
By poprodvame
By vitaloo
Hello frugal family! We live in a community that has some REALLY hard water. I use a pumice stone to clean the hard water stains. I was told those commercial tablets you put in the tank are bad for the toilet so what's a tightwad... er I mean frugal hubby to do? Any suggestions appreciated (SMILE) Jim in FL
By Bygraceandmercy
By ThriftyFun
By gardencraft
By Cindy
By MrsMoted2
By Dawn
By Dolly
By donrowlett
By ThisDoesn'twork
We just bought a newer home, only 5 years old. The toilets and tub/showers have awful hard water stains. I have tried CLR, toilet bowl cleaners, Easy Off Bam and even oven cleaner. Bleach dulls it. Any ideas, we have a water softener that we use, but the stains have been there awhile. Thanks!
PS-Any ideas on chlorinating our well if that would help. There is a rotten egg smell to our water.
Sarah from Indiana
The toilet was really stained and it didn't take it all the stain away but it did help. We put the shower in and about 6 month later was when I found this product and it took 6 months of hard water stain out that nothing else had been about to touch. (02/07/2008)
By kjbeckstead
By KimmyLynn
By KimmyLynn
By PICO
By Doggy
By Ronda
By suzi_homemaker01
By Linda
By Claire
By
One more bathroom tip: The Easy Off Bam (in the toilet bowl dispenser "bleach jell") removes the hardest tile grout stains. Just be careful, the fumes are rough. It removed my hard to clean shower in SECONDS. What took hours the last time I did it only took seconds. This stuff is gold!
I ran a bead down 2 grout lines and walked away. 5 mins. later the lines were winter white! I've NEVER had anything work this quick. NO SCRUBBING! After that...it was on! I finished the whole shower in under 15 minutes. I can now return the never used "As seen on TV" grout pen. (05/18/2008)
By Ella
By Har
What are the blue stains in my toilet bowl?
Eva from Los Angeles
By Ariela
By Dennis
Hi.
If you have copper piping and your water is a little acidic, then it will slowly break down the copper, leaving blue stains in the toilet or sink and will sometimes plug your shower head. Try some CLR (Calcium, lime, rust remover) or a similar cleaner. It should take away the blue stain, but sometimes, depending on how long its been in contact with the surface, it may just lighten it. But it's worth a try! (11/13/2006)
By siva38
By nana6x
How do you get rid of the stain down the front of the toilet (men did this I'm sure)? After being gone for two weeks, I came home to this. I don't need to clean inside of toilet, it's down the front outside, down the whole stem. The products, that clean the inside, don't seem to have any effect on this problem. I have tried almost everything and nothing budges it. Hope someone can help.
Staza from Granite Falls
ByRae
By Ronda
By Stew_Admin
By cjcsr
By SIMPLY_JOYFUL
By D. R.
By Dave
I am looking for a way to clean a yellow stain from the back of a toilet bowl. It was probably caused by slow dripping water. The stain runs vertically from the rim of the toilet down.
Do you have those hard to clean stains in your toilet bowl? Try taking a small piece of red brick and rubbing the area. You will be amazed at the results.
Does anyone have a tip as to how to get really bad hard water deposits out of a toilet bowl?
How do you remove stubborn stains from your toilet, when common toilet cleaners do not work?
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Do you have a tip, recipe or craft to share?
Removing Toilet Bowl Stains