Click below to shop amazon and support my blog. Thank you!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

A Rusty Red Shower No More!

We have well water with a high iron content which makes our water hard, leaving rust stains.  I've tried all kinds of things to clean the toilets which have permanent rings in them.  If I had found a solution to that problem, I'd be posting about it.  But unfortunately I haven't.  So if anyone knows how to remove rust stains from toilets, please let me know.  

I did however, find a solution to my rust stained shower.  Earlier this summer, I borrowed my parent's pressure washer and cleaned our siding and sidewalk.  You can read more about that HERE.  And in case you don't feel like clicking on that link to read the whole story, here's a comparison shot for you:

I mentioned in that post how fun and easy pressure washing was and that I'd like to have a mini version to clean inside the house.  Little did I know, I already had a mini version of this.  It was a Bissell Steam 'N Clean that I had bought years ago and forgotten about.  

This is what mine looks like, but I couldn't find it for sale anymore.  Their current model is called the Bissell Steam Shot and looks like this:




I'm assuming it would give the same results, but I don't know for sure.

Our master bath shower is completely done in tile.  There is a border going around the middle that has some dimension to it which I'm sure adds some architectural interest, but in reality, all those grooves and crevices trap water and turn the tile red. Here's what it looked like before I steam cleaned it:



And here it is after:



Here's a side by side comparison.  The border tile on the left is cleaned and the one of the right is still sporting that rusty red finish.





It took me about an hour to do my entire shower but I am so pleased with the results.  I am no longer seeing red!  I was so excited that I tried to use the Bissell Steamer on the shower in the kid's bathroom.  That one is not tiled, it's one of those one piece shower and tub surrounds.  It didn't have rust stains on it, but there was some soap scum.  The Bissell Steamer did not work so well at removing soap scum.  Oh, well, guess I just have to use good old fashioned elbow grease to get that clean.

Anyone else have some cleaning tips to share?