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Great Way to Clean a Dirty Toilet

By
Real Estate Agent with Brand Name Real Estate


We have well water at our house, and even though we have a water softener connected to our water tank, our toilets still seem to get that hard water ring.

I have tried every possible solution to get rid of that ugly ring plaguing our bathroom.  I've used countless commercial cleaners, baking soda, vinegar, bleach -- you name it and I've tried it.

pumice stoneBut the other day I was reading a message board on Mamasource, and I came across the answer to my woes.  A pumice stone!

I was pretty skeptical at first.  I mean, a pumice stone is a hard, abrasive material.  And toilets are porcelain.  So I naturally assumed that the pumice would scratch the porcelain.  But at this point, I was definitely ready to try anything.

I found one at Walmart for a mere $0.94, which is a great plus in my book! 

To get started, you need to wear a glove on the hand doing the scrubbing.  There's no chemical reaction or anything, buy the stone is rough, so it's easier to handle with a glove.

Then you have to make sure that the stone is wet.  Since the problem for me was the ring at the water level, it was quite easy to keep splashing water on the area I was working.

I was pretty gentle to start, and I was amazed to see the ring just being erased!  It is not a quick project, though.  I started to scrub a little harder once I got a feel for the pressure needed for the stain, but it still took about 20 minutes for one toilet.

But now my toilets look brand new!  I'm hopeful that they don't get to that point again, but if they do, I'll know just what will take care of it!

 

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Comments (30)

Jim & Maria Hart
Brand Name Real Estate - Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC Real Estate
Pam: You're welcome.  It's so amazing that it didn't scratch, but I'm thankful that it didn't.
Mar 21, 2008 05:23 AM
Jim & Maria Hart
Brand Name Real Estate - Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC Real Estate
Richard:  Thanks!  It saved us, too!
Mar 21, 2008 05:23 AM
Randy L. Prothero
eXp Realty - Hollister, MO
Missouri REALTOR, (808) 384-5645
I would have also guessed it would scratch the porcelain.  Thank for the tip.
Mar 21, 2008 05:42 AM
Jim & Maria Hart
Brand Name Real Estate - Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC Real Estate
Randy: You'll be amazed at just how non-abrasive using a pumice stone actually is.  I know I am!
Mar 21, 2008 05:48 AM
Stefanie Eidman
Keller Williams Realty Success - Littleton, CO
Great tip!  I never would have tried it, thinking like you, that it would scratch the porcelain and cause more damage.  I'll recommend this solution to others.  Thanks for sharing.
Mar 21, 2008 06:15 AM
Jim & Maria Hart
Brand Name Real Estate - Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC Real Estate
Stefanie:  Glad you found this useful!
Mar 21, 2008 06:18 AM
Renae Bolton
Marketing 4 Realtors - Garfield Heights, OH
I'm your Professional Real Estate Marketing VA!

Thanks so much for the tip!  I have a hard water ring in my toilets as well and nothing worked for me either.  I'm definitely trying this one!

~Renae

Mar 21, 2008 07:08 AM
Jim & Maria Hart
Brand Name Real Estate - Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC Real Estate
Renae: I'm positive that it will work for you.  Good luck!
Mar 21, 2008 07:14 AM
Jennifer Samountry
Minneapolis, MN
Thank you for this great advice.  I have a problem with my bath tub I wonder if it will work there.  It is worth a try, because I am thinking I need to have it resurfaced.  Bleach usually works for my toilet. 
Mar 22, 2008 01:37 AM
Jim & Maria Hart
Brand Name Real Estate - Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC Real Estate
Jennifer: That's a good point.  I"m sure that it will work on your bathtub as well, as long as it's a hard water stain.
Mar 22, 2008 04:46 AM
Lizette Fitzpatrick
Lizette Realty - Richmond KY - Lexington, KY
Lizette Realty, Lexington KY MLS - Kentucky Homes

That's really a great idea. I haven't had it happen but I will keep it in mind if the problem ever comes up!

Mar 23, 2008 03:51 PM
Cindy Bryant
Redesign Etc. Home Staging - Houston, TX
"Houston Home Staging Pros"
Would have thought it would scratch up the finish too...luckily we don't have a hard water problem.
Mar 23, 2008 04:13 PM
Jim & Maria Hart
Brand Name Real Estate - Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC Real Estate
Lizette:  I'm glad you found this useful, but I hope you never have to put it to the test :)
Mar 24, 2008 04:20 AM
Jim & Maria Hart
Brand Name Real Estate - Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC Real Estate
Cindy: You're fortunate to not have to deal with hard water.  We even have a water softener system on our well and it's still a little hard.  Makes cleaning a little more involved.
Mar 24, 2008 04:22 AM
Brittanie Monroe
Long and Foster REALTORS - Irvington, VA
Northern Neck Real Estate
I'm so glad that you put this out there. I have also been trying everything at my home!
Mar 25, 2008 12:59 PM
Jim & Maria Hart
Brand Name Real Estate - Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC Real Estate
Brittanie: After using the pumice stone you won't have to worry about using anything else. Thanks.
Mar 25, 2008 01:21 PM
Tina Farinas
Fusion Real Estate Network, Inc. - Roseville, CA
REALTOR, ABR, GRI, SFR, CHS, e-PRO
My mother-in-law introduced me to this pumice stone.  She use it to clean the toilet to a very very badly burned wok and works really great - except when I caught her using one pumice to clean both my toilet and the wok.  The wok was "dumped" and my husband bought her more pumice stones.
Mar 27, 2008 04:56 PM
Jim & Maria Hart
Brand Name Real Estate - Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC Real Estate
Tina: I guess she confused one bowl for the next. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day.
Mar 28, 2008 03:25 AM
n d
Naoma Doriguzzi - Virginia Beach, VA
I am sooo sorry you had to do that.  I am not a fan of well water, however, my husband was raised on it in upstate NY and loves it. 
Apr 01, 2008 07:12 AM
Jim & Maria Hart
Brand Name Real Estate - Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC Real Estate
Naoma: I love having well water, but I'm not at all a fan of the hard water that we can have. I'm just glad that I found something that works so well and costs very little!
Apr 01, 2008 07:16 AM