Cleaning hard-water deposits from faucet?

11 years ago

My stainless steel kitchen faucet has developed hard-water deposits around the handle. What would be the best way to remove them?

Thanks!

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Comments (8)

sushipup1
11 years ago
A water softener. Just imagine what the insides of your pipes look like.

Try vinegar.
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sheilajoyce_gw
11 years ago
Soak the spots with vinegar for an hour or so and then scrub it off with an old toothbrush. I will make a long thin strip of paper towel and wrap it around the base of the faucet to help hold the straight vinegar on the white gunk. Go back after a while and if the vinegar has run off or evaporated, dribble some more on the area and the paper towel.
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I don't think you should leave the lime out. It has two purposes: 1) to raise the very low pH of the pine bark and peat, and 2) to supply calcium and magnesium that most fertilizers don't provide. Your hard water will take a long time to raise the pH. If you're concerned about it, you can add some white vinegar to the water to bring it down. You would need to test the pH of your water, then add vinegar a tablespoon at a time, and retest until the pH drops below 7. I have very hard water and all my clay pots have those deposits. I add a tablespoon of vinegar to my water when I can. I use a hose in the summer because I have way too many containers to water to do each one from a watering can every time. I really don't think my plants are suffering from the hard water. Check the pH of your rain water. It's likely to be better, but with pollution, it could be too acidic.
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I've been through this with our home that is now 15 years old. For many years before we remodeled our bathroom I was stymied by what seemed to be hard water stains on our glass (it's different, by the way, on tile). Glass is etched by our repeated use of cleaners and eventually, the water is etched into the glass and will never, never be cleaned out. If you are not in a position to remove and replace the glass, stop, STOP using caustic cleaners on your glass. Vinegar will remove immediate deposits but will not remove the etched-in deposits of repeated toxic cleaner use. You can try other non toxic glass cleaners that might brighten your glass as a whole, but you will not remove the etched in deposits from the past. Sorry -- been there.
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i load my dishwasher with anything that i think looks spotted or scaled - mainly glasses and silverware. i dump about about 1 cup of vinegar into the dishwasher. i dont measure it, i just splash a couple of glugs into the bottom of the machine. and then i run it on a normal wash cycle with no soap. i am always amazed at how great my glasses look after i do this and its so simple. if your dishwasher is heavily scummy you may need to repeat it a couple of times... because the vinegar cleans the machine as well as the glasses and silverware. in lieu of multiple washings you could double the amount of vinegar - but i would rather err on the side of multiple gentle rinsings rather than a too strong of solution that might be hard on rubber parts of the machine. my machine tends to get a crusty hard water stains the nozzle jets in the rotating arm - but after its had a wash of vinegar those little nozzles open right up... i really find vinegar to be the best cleanser for any hard surface that i want to look shiny and clean.
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Acids dissolve bases. Use a vinegar, grapefruit juice or the like to break down calcium build up on plumbing fixtures. However, some build up is so long standing that even staniless steel will be dmaged. Nothing will cure this problem. I would stay away from anti-freeze or other products not recommended for plumbing, especially for drinking water, fixtures. No, RO water for rediators may not be the best. RO water can be aggressive and cause some corrosion. All RO water is not the same, even from the same machine at different times. The principals are similar but incoming water quality (TDS), pressure and temperature can vary RO permeate water quality. pH can also play a very importtant role. Quality and age of membrane makes a big differene. There are many fators that determine water quality. Andy Christensen, CWS-II
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kayjones
11 years ago
Lime Away works, too. You can buy it at Walmart or about any store.
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bee0hio
11 years ago
White vinegar.... easy peasy, non toxic.... cheap, too! You'll use it for your coffee maker and tea kettle, too. Can you tell ... we have very hard water.
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chisue
11 years ago
Vinegar, Lime-A-Way, CLR. I've tied a plastic baggie of one of these over a faucet to clean the outlet.
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jemdandy
11 years ago
The 3 products metioned above are good: White vinegar, Lime-a-way, and CLR. These prodcuts work the best when the deposits are calcium carbonate (lime) based.

After the deposits have been removed and the cleaning solution wiped away, clean with rubbing alcohol. Once the hardware is cleaned, apply automtive wax and then polish the same as you would your car. The wax will help to keep the surfaces clean and shiny and will ease removal of new deposits.

The wax finish will wear away with subsequent wipe downs. It is no longer effective when water fails to bead on its surface. Merely re-apply wax as needed to maintain a clean and shiny surface.

Hint: For faucets with conventional valve stems, removing the handles allows access to the entire surface and eases cleaning.
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User
11 years ago
I have a water softener and I still get them. I've even used the lime away type cleaners and their still there.
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alisande
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks, everyone! I have a jug of white vinegar, so I'll start with that.
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Cleaning hard-water deposits from faucet?

Comments (8)

sushipup1

sheilajoyce_gw

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Cleaning hard-water deposits from faucet?

Comments (8)

sushipup1

sheilajoyce_gw

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kayjones

bee0hio

chisue

jemdandy

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alisandeOriginal Author

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alisande
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