Toilet stains are unattractive and can strike any toilet, especially in a hard water area. Just the water sitting in the bowl can cause these rust-like toilet stains that may make you want to replace your toilet. Fortunately, there are ways to clean those stains and avoid having to replace an old bowl.

The temptation may be to buy the most industrial bathroom cleaning product you can find, and scrub like mad with the toilet brush. You can use all these products and scrub all you like, and hard water stains are going to hang on. Bleach, Comet, ammonia, scrubbing foaming sprays, tablets and any number of solutions generally won't make a dent in hard water stains. (Remember to never combine bleach and ammonia. The combination releases a toxic gas that can be lethal.)

The only way to really get those hard water stains out is to get all of the water out of the bowl. You can turn the water off to the toilet and flush until it's empty, pour a bucket of water quickly down the bowl, or try to push the water down through the trap by using a plunger or toilet brush to force it out. It doesn't matter which method you use as long as the water is gone and you can get at the hard water toilet stains.

Now that the water's gone, you can use a scrubbing cleanser and a scrubbing sponge to work at them by hand. While the idea of scrubbing toilet stains by hand isn't very appealing, it's really the only way to thoroughly remove hard water stains. Wear gloves and make sure the room is well-ventilated. Alternately, you can use baking soda as a natural scrub. Use this step just to get the loosest hard water toilet stains off that wouldn't come loose with a toilet brush.

If you have some time and can arrange not to need to use the toilet for a while, you can soak some paper towels or disposable cloths in a citrus-type cleaner, heavy duty bathroom cleaner or even vinegar. Lay them over the stains, and add more fluid as necessary over a few hours to keep them moist. This will dissolve at least some of the stain and let you scrub it away easier. The more hours you keep the stains damp with cleanser or vinegar that's undiluted by water, the more will come off.

After this step, you'll need a pumice stone. Wet the stone and use it to scrub the stains. The pumice is harder than the hard water toilet stains, but it's slightly softer than the porcelain. You can scrub as hard as you need to and you won't scratch or damage the porcelain. And you will need to scrub hard, because hard water stains are some of the toughest around. If you've followed the other steps, only the hardest stain will remain, so plan to spend some time and elbow grease.

Keep the stone wet and scrub until the toilet stains are gone. The same method of cleaning can be used inside the tank, if you wish.

Photo Credits: drcorneilus

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ammonia, baking soda, bleach, bucket of water, cleaning product, cloths, comet, gloves, hard water stains, heavy duty, paper towels, plunger, rust, sponge, temptation, toilet brush, toxic gas, vinegar, water area, water toilet