Strange deposit on stainless sink

LVSteve

LVSteve

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Our kitchen sink seems to have been designed with a special small rim piece that catches water and deposits. I've been attacking this since the weekend with CLR, to no avail. My wife suggested white vinegar. Boom! That got it moving, but what the heck kind of deposit can resist CLR but not vinegar? Color me baffled.
 
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I've had the same results with mineral buildup on faucet nozzles, water aerators, etc. and now pretty much only use white vinegar. I tried CLR first with minimal positive effect, and I do keep some CLR around to try first if I'm not certain if white vinegar might be too harsh.
 
Stainless steel sinks are the perfect use of Scotch Brite, just use one of the medium levels of abrasion, the ones usually recommended for Stainless guns are too fine. You want to clean the surface, not polish it!

Most deposits you will see on sinks, showers, etc. are calcium from hard water. Vinegar is the most effective way to remove calcium deposits from the shower head and plated accessories such as the faucets themselves. CLR should work, but not always.

To clean the shower head and faucet aerators remove them and soak in a bowl of vinegar, then re-install and flush. It may take more than one soaking/flushing to get the job done.
 
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Normal vinegar is about 5% acidic,, maybe 6%,,

Cheapo store brand seems to range all the way down to 3% acid.
I say that because the cheap store brand just does not perform..
( If you smell the cheap stuff, it almost smells like water!! :mad: )

So, that said,,
I was in Lowes on Saturday,, getting staples to do a screen project,,
anyways,, Lowes had vinegar on an end cap display,,,
30% acid!
THAT is some potent stuff,, and it cleans like it !!,

I knew a guy that DIY made vinegar,, the local farmers bought it off him, he claimed it was 30 to 40% acid,,
The farmers bought every drop he made,,

Might want to try the Lowes 30% vinegar,,
(IT was ~$20 a gallon,,,)
 
SweetMK said:
Normal vinegar is about 5% acidic,, maybe 6%,,

Cheapo store brand seems to range all the way down to 3% acid.
I say that because the cheap store brand just does not perform..
( If you smell the cheap stuff, it almost smells like water!! :mad: )

So, that said,,
I was in Lowes on Saturday,, getting staples to do a screen project,,
anyways,, Lowes had vinegar on an end cap display,,,
30% acid!
THAT is some potent stuff,, and it cleans like it !!,

I knew a guy that DIY made vinegar,, the local farmers bought it off him, he claimed it was 30 to 40% acid,,
The farmers bought every drop he made,,

Might want to try the Lowes 30% vinegar,,
(IT was ~$20 a gallon,,,)
Click to expand...

I saw that vicious vinegar when I was looking to give the washer a really good clean. Decided not to chance it. I buy my white vinegar from Smiths, AKA Kroger for readers to my east.
 
DWalt said:
My DIY cleaner for many years is diluted hydrochloric acid. Like the stuff used to adjust pH in swimming pools.
Click to expand...

I have used that method many, many times.

We used large stainless tanks in our manufacturing process.

Real large.

The hydrochloric acid took off all of the impurities imbedded in the finish.

But, be sure and finish it off with warm soapy water.

bdGreen
 
If you want to do some serious cleaning on stainless or titanium mix vinegar and peroxide in equal parts. It creates peracetic acid.

I use it to clean my 22 suppressor. Put it in an old glass Planters Peanut jar, and let it soak overnight. Rinse with water, and it looks brand new.

As far as I know the only thing it won't harm is glass, stainless, and titanium. I wear rubber gloves when handling it.
 
When we first got our water softener, we noticed a slight green stain forming on our upstairs shower stall base - nowhere else. We checked around and ended up using a mixture of baking soda and vinegar. It worked great! SWMBO was getting frustrated because none of the vaunted commercial products worked very well.
 
There is a toilet cleaning compound sold at WalMart that is just dilute hydrochloric acid, but I do not remember its trade name. I make my own equivalent solution.
 
Another hoorah for vinegar, I won't digress, but vinegar, salt and dish detergent makes the best, non-toxic, weed killer on the planet!
1 gal vinegar
1.5 cups of salt
2 tabl spoons of liquid dish soap, fill hose end sprayer and go to town, kills anything green.

Kills lawn bugs dead too!
 
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DWalt said:
There is a toilet cleaning compound sold at WalMart that is just dilute hydrochloric acid, but I do not remember its trade name. I make my own equivalent solution.
Click to expand...
It is called Works Toilet bowl cleaner. Had rust stains in toilet that nothing seemed to remove even using baking soda and vinegar with scrub pads on it. Used Works by adding and leaving for two hours then Quick go with brush and the toilet was pure white and looked new. Just don't get any of it on you or breath fumes
 
grover99 said:
It is called Works Toilet bowl cleaner. Had rust stains in toilet that nothing seemed to remove even using baking soda and vinegar with scrub pads on it. Used Works by adding and leaving for two hours then Quick go with brush and the toilet was pure white and looked new. Just don't get any of it on you or breath fumes
Click to expand...

When I moved into my house after it was built, our water had a yellow look to it for about a month and a half. It left stains in the toilets that nothing would remove.

My mom told me about The Works. The name fits, I've never seen anything like it. My Walmart stopped carrying it a year or so ago, but Amazon has it.

i-p3DcQtK-X3.jpg
 
wood714 said:
When I moved into my house after it was built, our water had a yellow look to it for about a month and a half. It left stains in the toilets that nothing would remove.

My mom told me about The Works. The name fits, I've never seen anything like it. My Walmart stopped carrying it a year or so ago, but Amazon has it.

i-p3DcQtK-X3.jpg
Click to expand...

Sounds good, but thinking about rural people is it septic tank safe!

Lucky for me I get very good natural soft water from my well!
 
"Sounds good, but thinking about rural people is it septic tank safe!" Says on back of bottle "Will not harm septic systems"
 
My wife uses works also. Not always eassy to find.. I think she gets it at Lowes mostly. Our water locally has alkali in it. It is kinda bad on the aerators and screens on faucets. I bought one of the 3 packs of Brushes HF sells ...one bristle one brass and one stainless. Put the partially clogged faucet ends in vinegar for an hour...then brush 'em
 
Just go to Home Depot and buy a gallon of full strength HCl. Dilute it about 3:1 with water and you have "The Works." HCl is not nearly as dangerous as Nitric or Sulfuric acids if it gets on your skin, but try not to get any on you. The fumes from concentrated HCl are somewhat irritating so work outside. Far less of an issue if diluted. People with swimming pools use the concentrated HCl to adjust the pH of the water. That is why Home Depot sells it. Or it can be bought at any pool supply store. Works great for de-scaling a water heater tank also. Have used it for that purpose several times. That will probably take a full gallon. Fairly simple job the way I do it.
 
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SweetMK said:
Normal vinegar is about 5% acidic,, maybe 6%,,

Cheapo store brand seems to range all the way down to 3% acid.
I say that because the cheap store brand just does not perform..
( If you smell the cheap stuff, it almost smells like water!! :mad: )

So, that said,,
I was in Lowes on Saturday,, getting staples to do a screen project,,
anyways,, Lowes had vinegar on an end cap display,,,
30% acid!
THAT is some potent stuff,, and it cleans like it !!,

I knew a guy that DIY made vinegar,, the local farmers bought it off him, he claimed it was 30 to 40% acid,,
The farmers bought every drop he made,,

Might want to try the Lowes 30% vinegar,,
(IT was ~$20 a gallon,,,)
Click to expand...

A friend of mine out in the country uses that Lowes vinegar on his driveway weeds, just uses a garden sprayer, it doesn't take a steady stream. He's got it down to a brisk walk down and back a couple times to refill, he used to use a weed burner but it got too scary with the current dryness. You can mix up your own with ascetic acid concentrate from certain outlets, I think Graingers carries it.
 
One interesting thing about TheWorks bowl cleaner is that both Walmart and Amazon have it on line for $19.00 for two. I picked up one bottle at my local Hi-VEE for $2.99 a bottle.
 
grover99 said:
One interesting thing about TheWorks bowl cleaner is that both Walmart and Amazon have it on line for $19.00 for two. I picked up one bottle at my local Hi-VEE for $2.99 a bottle.
Click to expand...
I believe a gallon of concentrated HCl at HD is around $10. That will make around 3 to 4 gallons of "The Works".
 
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