How to EASILY Remove Hard Water Stains from Sinks

clean hard water stains
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Now that the plum trees are blooming and we are getting occasional sunny days, I have the itch to spring clean. And boy, does this place need spring cleaning! As you might recall, it was a dirty mess when we took possession of it last July, and I was so utterly exhausted (mostly from my as-yet-undiagnosed diabetes) that I didn't do a deep clean. So now I want to tackle some of the cleaning jobs that have been bugging me all winter.

One of those was our bathroom sink.

The sink itself is newish, but because the old well had a high mineral content, it had brown stains around the drain and the faucet. I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, but they wouldn't come off. Then I bumped into a post at The Thrift Home that suggested using vinegar to clean those hard water stains.

First, let me say that I'm not someone who lauds using vinegar for cleaning everything. I haven't found it very effective for most cleaning jobs, in fact. But for this cleaning job? Worked like a charm!

How to EASILY Clean Off Hard Water Stains from Sinks

You'll need:
Paper towels (thin, clean cotton rags would probably work, too)
White distilled vinegar
Old toothbrush

1. First, clean the sink and fixtures as you normally would.


The area around the drain and faucet of my sink always looked grungy.
2. Place some pieces of paper towel over the affected areas. I used half pieces, torn into strips and doubled over.

3. Pour a little white distilled vinegar onto the paper towels, until the towels are completely saturated.


4. Walk away.

That's the best part...walking away and doing something other than cleaning ;)





5. After an hour or longer (or when you finally walk into the bathroom and notice the vinegar smell and think "Oh, yeah. I was cleaning!"), remove the paper towels.

6. Use an old toothbrush to clean the affected areas. Without much scrubbing, brown gunk should come right off. In fact, if I need to do this cleaning job again, I'll try just wiping the affected areas with a damp sponge or cloth.

7. Rinse.

Much better!

You're done! So easy! And very effective.

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