We’ve all been there – staring at those stubborn hard water stains, wondering if they’ll ever go away.
But what if I told you that the solution to this age-old problem might be sitting right in your kitchen cabinet?
Contrary to popular belief (fueled by marketing campaigns and cleaning product manufacturers), you don’t need a dedicated cleaner for every little task in your home.
In fact, with a touch of cleaning science, you can whip up your own potent concoctions.
Cleaning products generally fall into three categories: acidic, alkaline, or solvent-based.
Our DIY super cleaning host, Carl of Cleaning How To, ventured out and purchased three primary cleaning ingredients, all of which are eco-friendly, natural, and safe for the environment.
The result? A bathroom cleaner that costs mere cents to make and outperforms the store-bought version that does the same job.
Investing roughly 25 dollars, he secured about five years’ worth of cleaning supplies, rendering everything else in his cupboard obsolete.
After a day of testing these homemade, eco-friendly products, he tackled various household chores, from cleaning the bath, hob, sink, to the toilet.
But the real challenge lay ahead- removing the lime scale from a shower screen.
The magic formula? A blend of white vinegar and isopropyl or rubbing alcohol.
The rationale behind this combination is simple. While the IPA (rubbing alcohol) tackles the grease, the vinegar takes on the limescale.
Together, they form a potent yet inexpensive cleaning solution that promises to rid your bathroom of limescale swiftly and effortlessly.
And not just the bathroom, either.
For those keen on trying this out, here’s a quick recipe:
Aim for a 20% vinegar mix (about 100ml) and add roughly 5% IPA (around 50ml).
A few drops of dish soap can act as a binder, and then top up your bottle with water to make about 500ml.
If you’re particular about the scent, a few drops of essential oils should do the trick.
But the real test lies in its application.
On his first attempt, using a magic eraser (though a microfiber towel would suffice), the results were astonishing.
Within but seconds, the hard water stains started to vanish, revealing a clear demarcation where the treated area ended and the untreated began.
The grease and detergent residue from showering, which initially hindered the vinegar’s effectiveness, was broken down by the rubbing alcohol, allowing the vinegar to target the mineralized bits on the glass.
But this limescale remover wasn’t his only success.
His homemade bathroom and kitchen cleaners, as well as an oven and “hob cleaner” (think stove tops and hot plates), were all equally effective.
The best part? They were all budget-friendly, environmentally conscious, and made from just three ingredients.
As one satisfied user commented, “I used your formula on glass shower doors and the tile inside the shower and WOW, the results were amazing. I had been using a product specifically marketed for water mineral and soap scum build-up, but the vinegar/alcohol mixture was SO much more effective. (Confession: When you said to use IPA as an ingredient I nearly rushed off to the store to buy a beer…glad I listened more carefully! 😃)”
Well… can we blame him?
Another chimed in, “Wow! This works better than any commercial product out there and it’s cheap and environmentally friendly, thanks so much! 👏”
And yet another shared, “I tried your shower cleaning hack and it’s the best yet I’ve tried to date – sharing this tip it’s all I know 😁😁😁.”
Clearly, if the comments are any indication, Carl has stumbled onto something great here.
If you’re faced with the same pesky hard water stains that most of us are, remember that the solution is but a quick blend away.
With a little bit of ingenuity and a dash of science, you can ultra-simplify your cleaning routine, making those hard water stains a distant memory.
See Carl’s limescale-obliterating cleaning solution work its magic in the video below!
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