I am having a very hard time with keeping stains away in the bathroom. It's a green color that keeps reappearing as soon as it dries where I have cleaned. It's in the bath tub and around the handles on the sink. I have used cleaning things from Lysol with bleach, Mr. Clean, and pure white vinegar. None of it seems to be working.
My husband and I are living in his grandmother's house to help keep up with housework and make sure it doesn't collapse. She is in a nursing home. I noticed that she used Comet on everything, one day. I wonder if it is stains from the Comet she never wiped up good enough. I'm tired of killing my arm scrubbing this stuff everyday and it just keeps coming back. What could I possibly use to keep it away?
I know you do not own the home but I thought you would like to know this. You possibly may have acidic water which is breaking down the copper in the pipes. Over time, the copper pipes will develop pin hole leaks in the pipes. You would need to get an acid neutralizer system to get rid of the problem. Or replace all the copper pipes with plastic.
You can test your water by using a Ph test kit used for fish tanks or sometimes businesses will test it for free. Call a local plumber or plumbing supply. Keep in mind, they are trying to make a sale. These systems initially are not cheap, but pay for themselves in the long run.
To clean the tub, try Soft Scrub with bleach, let it sit to penetrate a bit. Most likely the finish on the tub is worn off. Try completely wiping dry the tub and any other places you get the green coloring after getting it clean. Good luck.
If the green color re-appears when the cleaned area dries, it is not from fresh water, but old, embedded stuff. On valuable antiques it is worthwhile to draw it out with reverse electroplating, but in your case I would try to draw it out with cucumber slices. They also work on hard mineralization build-ups.
These stains are most likely copper, from the old copper pipes. I bet you have some kind of harsh pH in your water that's leaching the copper from the pipes (that are old) This would be like "rust" is to steel, but it's green copper "rust" instead or red rust.
I've heard that the citric acid in Tang & powered Lemonade will clean rust stains, I bet it will work for copper stains as well. You just pre-wet the area sprinkle on the tang, powdered lemonade or powdered citric acid on then leave it for 10 - 20 minutes then scrub a bit with the back of a scrubbie-sponge then rinse off.
To keep it off, you'd either need to get brand new pipes (if they're old) or possibly a water-softener. I's start by getting the water checked out. It looks like you'll have to keep on scrubbing! Just look at the bright side, you're building up your arm muscles!
My favorite cleaner is Scrubbing Bubbles or the dollar store equivalent. You just spray it on, wait a few min, then wipe with the back of a scrubbie-sponge & rinse.
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