Tips for Removing Hard Water Build Up

Water, lime, and calcium deposits in your sinks, tubs, shower curtains, doors, stalls, tile, faucets, and other areas are a chore that leaves a person in despair. Many people over the years have tried to remove the corrosive build up to no avail.

The water deposits found on many items like I just mentioned happen from calcium or magnesium which what makes the foundation of hard water. These two items are what makes the deposits of water on surfaces rocklike when the water is left setting on the surface it comes into contact with.

The hard water buildup can affect drain pipes, hot water heaters, and appliances as well. When the hard water buildup happens in your drains, it can clog your drains and cause your water pressure to drop.

When the hard water comes into contact with counters, showers, sinks, faucets, windows, and other items such as these, it can make them look dirty and grimy no matter how often you clean them.

The water build up can be noticed on surfaces as white crusty deposits on surfaces. The hard water build up often looks like soap scum on shower stalls and doors. The hard water build up is particularly hard to remove from your shower doors and tile. If the hard water build up is not cleaned off the surfaces often enough, the removal process will only be harder over time.

Hard Water Buildup Removal Techniques

The following tips and techniques can help you remove the hard water build up without calling aprofessional to do so.

Industrial Cleaners. There are many types of industrial acids you can use to help remove the water buildup. For example, barium nitrate, glycine, phosphoric, and sulfuric acids are items many professional cleaners use to remove the buildup. These particular cleaners help in the removal of the water buildup by breaking down the scaly deposits from the surfaces.

High Pressure Steam Removal. With the use of a high pressure steamer, you can remove the water scale from surfaces. The steaming process causes the water scale deposits to loosen and fall off the surfaces.

High Pressure Jet Washer. You will need to use caution with a jet pressure washer when removing the water buildup from surfaces. When placing the power washer too close to surfaces, you can damage the surfaces the pressurized water comes into contact with. Thus, causing replacement of tiles, counter tops, faucets, other areas before needed.

Muriatic Acid. You can use diluted muriatic acid to help remove the water crustaceans from surfaces. You will want to have the area you are working in well ventilated and DO NOT store the muriatic acid near chlorine because it will be combustible and can cause an explosion.

White Vinegar and a Toothbrush. You can use straight white vinegar to loosen and remove the hard water build up from surfaces. You will pour the white vinegar straight onto the surface and let set for a minimum of ten minutes or longer for larger buildups and rinse. The buildup will begin to fall away during the rinsing process. In some cases, in tighter areas you can use a toothbrush or similar object to help with the removal of the hard water build up.

Tips for Removing Hard Water Buildup in Appliances

Coffee Makers and Teapots. You can pour straight vinegar into your coffee maker reservoir in the same manner you would the water and run the coffee maker as usual. You can repeat the process until calcium deposits no longer appear in the coffee carafe. You can remove calcium deposits from the bottom of the carafes and teakettles by placing in some ice cubes, a cut up lemon, and salt with a quarter teaspoon of water. You will swirl the mixture around and let set overnight. Then empty and wash. You can also pour two cups of vinegar into your tea kettle, bring to a boil, let simmer for approximately ten minutes, and rinse well.

Dishwashers and Washing Machines. To clean the calcium deposits from your dishwasher interior and hoses, add two cups of water to the interior of your dishwasher and run a short cycle. For your washing machines, pour two cups of vinegar into your bleach dispenser and run your washing machine on a small load.If you find that any of the faucets in your home can't be cleaned in any way, you will need to replace them because they will not function properly otherwise. General hardwater maintainence on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis will help prevent the replacement of parts in your home quite so often.