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Our house has well water so the water we use in our bathroom makes lovely orange rust stains around the toilet and in the tub but not so bad in the sink. We've always had city water before we moved so this has never been a problem for us.
Are there any good products to get rid of them or lighten them up? I've used ajax and scrubbing bubbles but that doesn't seem to help much. I've tried looking for products at the grocery store and walmart but didn't find any (unles, I overlooked them). Maybe Home Depot or Lowes sells something good?
I agree, CLR work really well. We used to have well water in 2 different houses. We didn't have a water softener in the first house, and had rust stains everywhere. Our second house with well water did have a softener, and it made all the difference. It made rust stains almost non-existent.
Location: The Raider Nation._ Our band kicks brass
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CLR and Iron Out are two good products. I moved on to straight muriatic acid to clean the pipes internally. That's not something for the casual user though.
Iron Out is also good for removing rust stains from carpet. The metal ring on the bottom of the furniture would leave marks when the kids spilled something, and didn't get it completely dried.
Whink works really well but is expensive. CLR works very well. Iron out is pretty good. Citric acid works very well. Barkeeper's Friend also works well on iron stains. Be careful on the faucets - a lot of these are a strong acid and will corrode and stain the metal. Surprisingly, the automatic shower cleaner scrubbing bubbles sells works pretty well (citric acid based).
I've found citric acid is the safest of these and I can add it to my laundry to de-rust clothing without affecting the colors. I've wondered if the increasing red in my hair isn't some iron staining?
Whether a softener works for the iron stains depends on how much iron is in the water. Mine is too much for the softener to get it all out. I use Iron Out in the softener to help the resin bed clean out. There are other water treatments but they get increasingly expensive.
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Location: Coastal Georgia
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There are tablets I put in the toilet tank which are made for rust, which last a month or two. You do not want the ones that contain chlorine, nor any cleaners with chlorine in them. As others have said CLR or any product made to remove rust works great.
Location: Sometimes Maryland, sometimes NoVA. Depends on the day of the week
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lovemaine
I agree, CLR work really well. We used to have well water in 2 different houses. We didn't have a water softener in the first house, and had rust stains everywhere. Our second house with well water did have a softener, and it made all the difference. It made rust stains almost non-existent.
Not all wells have high iron content. I knew some friends with a house back in college that would turn white clothes rust-colored from iron in the water. OTOH, our house, on a well, has no rust staining and we have no water softener. We do have sediment though - the only thing I don't like about my tasty well water
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