Learning How to Remove Hard Water Stains From Toilets is possible and super simple. This quick and easy trick will clean up those hard water stains from your toilets in just minutes without scratching the porcelain! Just in case you don’t believe me, I made you all a video 😉
Are hard water stains also messing with your glass shower? Don’t forget to check out my post on How to Remove Hard Water Stains from Glass Shower Doors!
Let’s start from the beginning.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HARD AND SOFT WATER?
- Hard Water is water which contains an appreciable amount of dissolved minerals such as calcium and magnesium.
- Soft Water, on the other hand, contains less dissolved minerals. Or, when treated, the only ion it may contain is sodium. Naturally falling rainwater is soft water, for example.
How does water become hard?
Great question! I’m so glad you asked.
Water becomes hard as it makes its way through the ground and into our waterways. Along the way, this water picks up minerals like chalk, lime, calcium, and magnesium.
PROS AND CONS OF HARD WATER
Wait. There’s a pro?
Oh yes! read on…
Given that hard water contains all these essential (and super important) minerals one may wonder why we even think of softening our water. I mean, if hard water is better for you and it tastes better, why mess it up?
Well, aside from these obvious benefits, hard water is hard on appliances (dishwashers and washing machines) and is hard to clean. In short, hard water is less effective and uses more energy due to the mineral buildup that is left behind.
And this, my friends, brings me to my next point…
WHAT IS CAUSING THAT UGLY RING IN MY TOILETS?
Hard Water. Period. The end.
Of course, it can be more complex than this as not all toilet rings are created equally. However, if your toilet rings look like mine, it’s safe to say that you have hard water.
Now, let’s fix this problem. Kay?
SUPPLIES NEEDED TO REMOVE HARD WATER STAINS FROM TOILETS
Fine-Grit Drywall Sanding Screens
Barkeepers Friend
Reusable Latex Gloves
Before I say anything else, let me clarify something:
THESE TOILETS ARE CLEAN.
Yes you guys, my toilets were, in fact, clean.
Unless they weren’t…but that’s a separate story titled “my kid pees everywhere except IN the toilet”.
Anyway, I Googled, “how to remove toilet bowl ring” or “how to remove hard water stains from the toilet”. Everything I found led me to some cleaning product (thanks, but, no thanks) or a pumice stone.
Since Home Depot is Octavian’s favorite store in the world, we made the trip. So that we could spend as much time as possible in the gardening equipment aisle, I asked a nice man where to find the pumice stones. Then I asked him if a pumice stone would actually work to clean hard water rings from toilet bowls.
He stopped me right there.
No no no no no pumice stone. Too much risk of scratching the porcelain. So frustrated I almost asked the man to show me to the toilet section.
Thank goodness, this toilet angel from Home Depot had a better idea- Fine-Grit Drywall Sanding Screens. YOU GUYS, this man saved my toilets!
Oh yeah, and it only took me 5 minutes…
METHODS THAT DID NOT REMOVE THE RING FROM MY TOILETS
- Bleach
- Toilet bowl cleaner
- Vinegar solution overnight
- Those tabs that turn your toilet water blue
- Baking soda
None of the above worked. In fact, I later learned that bleach may make toilet rings caused by hard water worse. or even permanent! So you can only imagine how pissed I was at the claims made by people and products that such-and-such or such-and-such would fix this problem.
Trust me, you guys. I don’t want to piss you off. That would be super lame.
Anyway, let’s clean some toilets!!!
STEPS ON HOW TO REMOVE HARD WATER STAINS FROM TOILETS
- Gather supplies.
- Put on gloves and cut 1-2 small square pieces of Fine-Grit Drywall Sanding Screens. Set them aside.
- Carefully open the Barkeepers Friend and sprinkle inside your toilet.
- Wearing the gloves, gently yet firmly, begin to scrub away at the hard water buildup in a circular motion with the Drywall screen. Don’t press TOO HARD. Our goal is to remove hard water stains, not destroy the porcelain.
- Flush and be amazed!
IF YOU LOVED LEARNING HOW TO REMOVE HARD WATER STAINS FROM TOILETS, YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY-
Yay! Sparkling CLEAN toilets! And just in time for the Holidays!
Seriously, though, that’s all it took. So easy.
How to Remove Hard Water Stains from Toilets
Instructions
- Gather supplies.
- Put on gloves and cut 1-2 small square pieces of Fine-Grit Drywall Sanding Screens. Set them aside.
- Carefully open the Barkeepers Friend and sprinkle inside your toilet.
- Wearing the gloves, gently yet firmly, begin to scrub away at the hard water buildup in a circular motion with the Drywall screen. Don’t press TOO HARD. Our goal is to remove hard water stains, not destroy the porcelain.
- Flush and be amazed!
Video
WATCH THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO ON HOW TO REMOVE HARD WATER STAINS FROM TOILETS
Outstanding fix! We purchased a house that has been ‘let go’ and used as a rental , with horrific hard water deposits in the toilets. I’ve tried everything from acid washes, Pumice stones, to any cleansers on the market…nothing worked. In one day I had sparkling clean toilets..like new!
Hey D,
You realize you can skip ahead in the video to wherever you want and then you can save yourself some face and not have to be an ass! Yey!
This was great! I finally got rid of those nasty rings!
I am shocked that this worked so well…
This totally worked for me too. I have been screwing around w/ various cleaning products and nothing worked. This was a 5 minute job per toilet. Thank you!
I was about to buy new toilets when I found this on google. this saved me a few hundred dollars!
Wow I gave this a try as a last resort before buying new toilets.. I was amazed how quick and easy it was. Thank you for this post
Thanks for the kind feedback Barbara, I am so glad that you didn’t have to buy new toilets after reading these directions 😀
IT WORKED! Finally clean after many years!!!
Finally a solution that really works !! I also tried other recommendations that didn’t work and was going to use a pumice stone as a last resort, even though they can scratch the porcelain. Glad I saw this helpful video instead.
OMG!!! Thank you!! I am so excited. I had tried everything to get rid of that ring and nothing worked. I had the liquid Barkeepers friend that you spray on but was going to go buy the powder. I decided to just give the spray a try first and it worked!!! If the ring had been darker maybe the powder would have been better but this worked like a dream with the dry wall screen. Looks like I have a brand new toilet!!
To the point, great how-to instructions, helpful pics. Thank you!
If you buy a pumice stone in the local dollar store, it doesn’t scratch and works great. Its the same thing. Grit in a bar. If you want to get fancy, they sell them with handles at your local grocery store. This week I cleaned about 15 houses. Its what I do.
I discovered this when living in Seattle with very hard water. Nothing worked until I found the sandpaper. I don’t use anything else with it. Just clean the toilet, don the gloves and start gently scrubbing. Thanks for the reminder.
For God’s sake… get to the frigging point. That bla, bla, bla video should have been two minutes long. Thanks for the info but dang lady you really must like the sound of your own voice.
I use wet/dry sandpaper instead of the dry wall screen. This can be purchased at Home Depot, Lowes, hardware stores, etc. The benefit is you can use a very fine grit – say 800 – that will polish rather than scratch the porcelain. Otherwise, your formula is exactly what I do.
Thanks.