How To Remove Scale, Soap Scum, & Rust Spots in Your Bathroom

Bring back the sparkle – and keep it!

Imagine a sparkling faucet, tile, and shower door every time you walk into your bathroom. Wipe out that unsightly, crusty hard water scale buildup with ease. Vinegar to the rescue!

Start with a clean slate. Take the time to remove all visible scale buildup by following the steps below, and then add this to your cleaning routine each time scale and scum make an appearance. You’ll have that sparkle all the time.

For faucets and shower heads, 20 minutes of contact with regular plain white distilled vinegar generally loosens hard water scale buildup – less time if it’s a maintenance cleaning, more time if the buildup is heavy. Afterwards, use an old toothbrush and toothpicks to clean out grooves and sprayer holes.

• Unscrew the faucet filters and soak in a bowl of vinegar.
• Submerge the shower head in a baggie of vinegar secured with rubber bands.
• Submerge a handheld shower head in a bowl of vinegar.
• Wrap vinegar-soaked paper towels, or cloths around a scaly faucet.

Tip: Cotton beauty coil (the stuff hairstylists use) soaked in vinegar works great around the faucet base!

For sinks, tubs, shower doors, and tile, mix equal parts vinegar and original Dawn dish soap (use less soap if the concentrated type). Slightly warming the vinegar in the microwave first helps it mix better with the dish soap.

• Use the mix in a spray bottle, in a dish wand with a scrubber head attached, or with a sponge and/or scrubber pad. Speed Cleaning’s two-sided White Pad is perfect for this.
• Generously apply the mix, wait a while if the buildup of scale and/or soap scum is heavy, scrub if necessary, and rinse. If used regularly, waiting and scrubbing may not be necessary. Wouldn’t that be great!?!

For toilets with hard water buildup under the rim and in the bowl, soak paper towels with vinegar and press around and under the rim, and pour a cup or two of vinegar into the bowl. Let everything sit for at least 20 minutes or even overnight. Throw the paper towels out, scrub the bowl and under the rim, and flush.

Another product that can safely clean just about everything that vinegar can, and with a little more power, is Speed Cleaning’s Scum Bum, a green cleaner that’s Green Cross Certified. Scum Bum contains glycolic acid (a fruit acid), which is stronger than vinegar. It’s non-toxic, biodegradable, and has a natural lime scent.  Bonus – it removes mold and mildew!  Now, are you ready to bring back the sparkle?

A word of caution here: Vinegar and Scum Bum may etch natural stone like granite, travertine, and marble, so Speed Cleaning recommends care be taken when cleaning near these surfaces.