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.
Another trick, one that is useful in bathroom basins and tubs, is to apply a paste made from cream of tartar and hydrogen peroxide. Allow the paste to dry, then scrub off with a pad made for cleaning glass or Teflon cookware. Some people report success by pouring table salt on the stain, then squeezing the juice of a lemon onto the salt and letting it sit overnight. This is reportedly very good for rust stains, but the down side is that it’s only good on flat surfaces.
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.
For more cleaning tips please visit us at Helpful Home Ideas.
