Cleaning Tips - Removing Stains on Porcelain
Posted: Thursday, April 07, 2005
by Helpful Home Ideas
Helpful Home Ideas
For those who have bought a “fixer upper" home, or who have lived in an older home that has mineral content in their water supply, you may find that you have stains on your porcelain fixtures that don’t seem to want to come off. Here are some tips to deal with those stubborn marks and messes.
A lot of homeowners use chlorine bleach for regular toilet cleaning. This will clean and deodorize it, but will not always remove stains, particularly those above the water line. The same method is used in porcelain sinks- filling it with water, adding a cup of bleach, and letting it sit. But again, if you have stains around the upper edge, or have one of the very old laundry tubs where there is a porcelain edge or lip, then letting it sit full of water and bleach will not help. For these areas, you can try soaking paper towels or an old cloth in bleach and laying it over the stain. Let the towel/cloth remain for at least 30 minutes, then remove and wash as usual.
Always take the condition of your porcelain fixtures into consideration, before using any cleaner. An older sink that is stained, may have lost its finish, in which case the stain could be permanent, and some cleaners may make it even worse.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)I have a rust stain from a bobby pin that lodged under my kids bath mat. I have tried CLR, soaked tub in clorox cleanup, and scrubbed. Nothing works! Is there anyway to remove this stain??
I dont know what others experience with CLR is, but with my rust stains, it's never worked...you might try this and it sounds odd but try Sno-Bowl toilet bowl cleaner on your rust stain. I had an awful rust stain in my sink once that CLR wouldn't touch, even when I poured it straight onto the stain without dilution but I used just a little Sno-Bowl and it came off like it was nothing at all. I've also seen it get other rust stains off bathtubs that CLR and other products wouldn't touch. Sounds odd, I know, but it works fantastically for me! :)
The week after we laid porcelain tiles it rained heavily. We were in the middle of winter and we were still using the wood fire. One day when brought in the wood logs inside for the wood fire, we had to pass through the porcelain titles. Unfortunately some freshly chopped wood "juice" went onto the titles and stained them.
After months of trying every floor product I could find, the stains wouldn't come off. It was like the porcelain permanently soaked up the wood "juice"
After trying your tip:
"Soak an old cloth in bleach and laying it over the stain. Let the towel/cloth remain for at least 30 minutes, then remove and wash as usual."
It completely removed the stain.
Just want to say a BIG THANK YOU!!!
I had rust stains all over my tub after a maintenance man put a powerful chemical down the drain to unclog it. We thought the tub was ruined. We scrubbed it with bleach, ajax and even tried goof off and nothing worked. I made a paste by mixing peroxide and baking soda in a small bucket and applied it easily with a paint brush. It started to disappear almost instantly. However, I left it on for an hour and I was amazed because it completely disappeared. I did not need to scrub or even wipe it down. I simply rinsed it off and my bathtub looks better than ever. I will never use ajax or comet again. I plan to use this to simply clean the tub when I need because it soooooo easy!!!!
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