I’m moving next week, after my landlord decided to sell the townhouse of his I was living in.
After inspecting the place with his realtor, he told me that quite a bit needed to be cleaned before we got our damage deposit back, specifically the tubs and toilets.
The former has a slight brown stain at the bottom, which didn’t go away with bleaching. The latter have these hard water stains at the water line. I’ve tried products I’ve seen on TV ads that show the user just spraying and wiping a few minutes later. No go. I’ve also tried bleaching, but by design the water level won’t go up above the stain line. (Got the rest of the bowl nice and white, though.)
I’ve seen more expensive stain removers at Home Depot, but I’m hesitant to get them if they “work” as well as the other products.
GQ: Can anyone suggest a reliable product that will get my fixtures looking like new, for real?
Make a paste out of baking soda and water. Apply to stains (you’ll have to turn off the water to the toilet and flush until it’s empty). Let sit for 15-30 minutes. Keep animals and children away. Rinse thoroughly.
Fill the tub until there is just enough water to cover the stain. Flush the toilet so it’s got a fresh batch of water in bowl. To each, add about half a cup of TSP (tri-sodium phosphate, available at places like Home Depot). Mix a bit. Let sit for an hour or so. Keep animals and children away. Rinse thoroughly.
As a rental owner for numerous years; it is my sad duty to inform you of the best way of dealing with hard water stains. On porcelian fixtures, a pumice stone works best.
(Caution: pumice is for porcelian only, it will destroy fiberglass or acrilyc)
Glove up, and scrub till your arm feels like it’s going to fall off, then repeat. It does work! You can purchase a ‘Pumie’ at a local (Ugh) WalMart. I have never found an instant cleaner that was effective. For stainless steel, (faucets and such), a product called BarKeeper’s Friend is real good for polishing lime stains off. And it makes a stainless steel sink positively gleam!
If the tub is fiberglass, once again, glove up. Wet the surfaces to be cleaned, and sprinkle liberally with Comet or Ajax. Let sit for a few minutes, then take a heavy duty scrub brush and scrub in circular patterns. Pretend you’re applying the abrasive to one of your favorite celeb’s face, say the BackStreet Boys…
Depending on how much your security deposit is, you could be ‘paying’ yourself hundreds of dollars per hour!!
Wish I could lend you a hand with this chore, but I’m busy that day.
