# How to get ring around the toilet bowl stains off?



## farmergirl

I've even scrubbed with bleach water and can't remove the stains. I thinks it from a small amount of iron in our water, not a terrible dark stain but annoying none-the-less. Would powdered borax or baking soda or washing soda work?


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## SHELBY

I don't know if those would work or not. 

If it were me I would go and get some The Works toilet bowl cleaner. That stuff works great. We have very hard water and it takes any stain out of there without scrubbing.


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## junie

If you're looking for a natural cleaner, try white vinegar. You'll need to plunge out as much water as you can, then pour in some vinegar. Allow it to 'soak' for about 15 minutes, then brush and flush. If that doesn't take it off, and the bleach didn't, you might need to use a commercial product once in a while (I like Sno-Bol, but most any of them would work)

I don't like to use the commercial cleaners too often because they etch the surface of the porcelain and make it more susceptible to stains, so you will have to use them more often, if not all the time.

Once you get the stain off, to keep from having to bring out the big guns again, you can scrub it daily with baking soda, washing soda, or borax to keep it looking good.


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## Ardie/WI

This is what I do every now and then.

I take an old soup ladle that I keep just for this and I ladle out as much water as I can. Then I use Comet cleaner and a rag and hand scrub the dickens out of the bowl. Flush a couple of times and it looks great.

When I see that telltale stain, I remind Roger to change the whole house water filter too.


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## hunter gatherer

Ardie/WI said:


> This is what I do every now and then.
> 
> I take an old soup ladle that I keep just for this and I ladle out as much water as I can. Then I use Comet cleaner and a rag and hand scrub the dickens out of the bowl. Flush a couple of times and it looks great.
> 
> When I see that telltale stain, I remind Roger to change the whole house water filter too.


Ardie, Easier yet is to flush the toilet and quickly turn off the input line to the toilet (this is simply a faucet handle on the water pipe that runs to the toilet). This stops the tank and, in turn, the bowl from filling. You are then left with a mostly empty bowl to 'scrub the dickens out of'! Much easier than ladeling toilet water. 

When you're done scrubbing, simply turn the water back on and the toilet will continue filling.

I agree with your premise that it's easier to get the bowl clean without all that water diluting the detergent.


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## farmergirl

Thanks for the good advice. Sounds like I have some latrene duty in the near future.


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## RedTartan

Barkeepers Friend removes rust, etc. My toilets were disgusting when we moved into this house. They look great now. I buy Barkeeper's Friend at Kmart and Family Dollar carries it too.

 RedTartan


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## DrippingSprings

several denture cleaning tablets and a lil extra water in the bowl


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## highlandview

You can buy a cleaning tool that looks like a pumice stone. It takes the stains off of porcelain or tile. The surface has to be wet. I got mine at wal-mart. Just remember to wear gloves up to your eyeballs.


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## crashy

I agree with Shleby..go to wall-mart and buy a bottle of The Works. It cost like a buck a bottle but man that is some good stuff. We had left our home for a fewe months and when we got back the toilets were a mess I scrubbed with the pumices stone called the plumbers helper and got what I could out. But in the bottom of the toilet it was all stained with green and black junk that even dinamite would not have got it out. I tried the works and let it sit and now my toilet is all shiny .


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## crashy

The works is great it takes off all that junk!!


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## springledge

I second the pumice sticks from Wal Mart! I have really hard water and those calcium and rust stains drove me NUTS! I have tried everything to get them off. A few weeks ago I tried one of those little pumice sticks and it is sooooo clean lookin now! They are called Pumie Scouring Sticks and are so worth the trouble of gloving up and tackling that ringie monster in the bathroom!


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## Queen Bee

I used The Works and a scurbing pad called Scotch Bright. It took it off and now I just use the Works all the time. It's $1.00 @ the $ Tree and it really works..QB


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## kabri

I third.. the pumice stick! I just recently discovered them in a tiny hardware store. First time in 12 years that my toilet does not have stains!!! :dance: Highly recommended!!!!


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## moonwolf

I'm with the vote for 'The Works' toilet bowl cleaner. Part of the 'working' ingredients that does the job is Hydrochloric Acid, so be careful about splashes. It's cheap, too. A bottle for under $1.50 will clean several bowls. About 10 cents or so per cleaning.


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## suzyhomemaker09

Wow !!!!
I followed the advice and tried the works in my toilet it was pretty nasty looking from our hard water and it came clean as a whistle.


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## ELOCN

Do they sell The Works in regular grocery stores?


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## moongirl

I have pretty good luck with straight hydrogen peroxide


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## manygoatsnmore

I use The Works rust remover on all my fixtures to get the iron deposits off, but still had a ring in the toilet that nothing was taking off. After thoroughly cleaning and bleaching the bowl, I took a 0000 steel wool pad and did what Ardie did - scrubbed the dickens out of the ring! It worked, but it did take a lot of elbow grease. A scraper or the edge on a flat head screwdriver might help take off the mineral line, too.

I still have a drip line of heavy iron deposit in my guest room tub I'm working on...any suggestions for that? Already using The Works and frequent scrubbings....


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