Rust stains on sinks and in toilets can be unsightly and difficult to remove with normal household cleaners. These rust stains are often caused by a high iron content in your water supply and whilst these stains don’t occur overnight, they can appear pretty quickly if there is standing water left anywhere.
A good example are the rust stains you see around the water line in your toilet bowl, as well as streaks of rust at the back of the toilet bowl where the water flows from the cistern into the bowl (particularly if your cistern is leaking). Also, you might notice brown rings forming under certain items that contain metal when they are left on the side of the sink, for example, shaving cream, scissors, nail files and hair bands with metal clasps.
If you have a leaking tap, you might also see brown stains where the tap drips into the sink or bath.
The cause of these rust stains can also be old, rusty pipes, as well as a high an iron content in the water, however regardless of the cause, it’s best to ask your local plumber to check it out.
Once fixed, you still need to remove the rust stains in your toilet, sink or tub, so here are four easy ways you can remove these difficult stains.
Lemon and Salt:
This is an old remedy that works really well. Simply cover the stain with salt and then pour enough lemon juice onto the salt to form a paste. Leave this paste on the stain overnight and then scrub the stain away in the morning. This is fine for flat surfaces, but it isn’t easy to make the paste stick to the side of the toilet bowl. Sometimes however, if the stain hasn’t been there long, you can dip half a lemon in salt and use this to scrub the stains away.
Baking Soda and Vinegar:
Used in the same way that you use the lemon and salt solution above, mix the baking soda and vinegar into a paste, spread it onto the stain and leave for a few hours before testing to see if it has worked. If not, reapply and leave it overnight before scrubbing away the stain.
Hydrogen Peroxide:
You need to wear gloves to protect your hands and keep the hydrogen peroxide from touching your skin or clothes (it removes the colour from fabrics). There are several ways you can use hydrogen peroxide, first by spraying the area with undiluted hydrogen peroxide and then seeing if you can scrub the stain away. Second, you can form a paste with Cream of Tartar and try to scrub the stain away and last, you can leave the paste on the stain overnight and scrub it away in the morning.
Chemical Cleaners:
If the more environmentally friendly options don’t work for you, then check your local hardware store or supermarket and you will find a range of different products all designed to remove rust stains from sinks and toilets. You might have to try a few to find one that works for your stains, but you should find one that does work.
For help finding the cause of your rust stains, call Red Dog Plumbing on 0418 532 134 or send us an email.
