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Scrub Stains with Drywall Screen and Cleanser — Apply Toilet Cleaner for Hard Water Stains

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Part of project

How to Remove Stubborn Toilet Stains: A Guide for Hard Water · Step 2 of 5

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In this video

After the initial clean, sprinkle a generous amount of Bar Keepers Friend powdered cleanser directly into the water and onto the hard water stains in the toilet bowl. Take a small, cut piece of the drywall sanding screen and use it to scrub the stained areas. Apply firm pressure and use circular motions to work the cleanser into the stains. The combination of the abrasive screen and the powerful cleanser will break down and remove the stubborn mineral deposits.

Goal: Toilet Cleaning

  • Focus on scrubbing in circular motions to effectively remove the ring and other stains.
  • While the drywall screen is generally safe for porcelain, avoid excessive force to prevent any potential scratching.

Used in this video

  • Gloves (brand: Unspecified, Gloves Material: Rubber) — Protecting hands from germs and cleaning chemicals.
  • Drywall sanding screen (brand: 3M, Grout removal tools: utility knife) — Scrubbing away hard water stains.
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FAQs

What safety precautions are essential when using strong toilet cleaners for hard water?

Always ensure good ventilation by opening windows and using a fan to disperse fumes. Wear rubber gloves to protect your skin from chemical burns and eye protection to prevent splashes. Never mix different chemical cleaners, as this can create dangerous and harmful reactions.

My toilet stains are very stubborn; what if the cleaner doesn't work after one application?

For extremely stubborn stains, you can extend the cleaner's dwell time beyond the recommended 30 minutes, or repeat the entire cleaning process. A pumice stone is highly effective for persistent mineral deposits that chemicals alone might not dissolve. Ensure you scrub thoroughly, especially in areas under the rim.

Do I need a special toilet brush, or is any brush okay for hard water stains?

While any toilet brush will help, one with stiff bristles is more effective for dislodging hard water deposits. For really tough, caked-on spots, a pumice stone designed for toilets is highly recommended, as it can gently abrade away mineral buildup without scratching the porcelain.

How long will this project typically take, and what's the estimated cost for removing hard water stains?

The active cleaning time is quite short, but you'll need to account for the cleaner's dwell time, usually 20-30 minutes, potentially longer for severe stains. The cost is minimal, primarily for a hard water toilet cleaner (around $5-$15) and possibly a pumice stone ($5-$10), making it a very affordable DIY task.

Transcript
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So there, so what you want to do then, is you want to grab your drywall screen, and you want to cut them into little squares, you don't need a big square or anything like that, just about this size, you probably won't need more than one square per toilet unless your toilet's just like really bad. And then, you have your barkeepers friend, again, please wear gloves, barkeepers friend is really, really dangerous, not good for the skin, don't get in your eyes, just don't. So, sprinkle that in there, and in little, you want it gently, but firmly, going circular motions here. And you can see that it's already starting to get cleaned up, and you can also see that, I mean, even though I'm cleaning these toilets, and I have these gloves on, I mean, it's not like my whole hand is submerged in the toilet, and so a lot of people are totally grossed out by nasty toilets, which they are gross, but in order to get this done, your hands are going to be covered. So, you just keep going in little circular motions, and the story behind how I figured this out was I had literally tried everything, as I had mentioned, and nothing was working, so I went to my local hardware store, and I had read online that a lot of people had used pumice stones to get up the hard water, but I had also read in comments sections, I don't do it, don't do it, it will scratch the porcelain. And I was like, wow, this is wonderful, what do I do? I can't scratch the porcelain, I don't own, we don't own our home, and I'm sure that I'll make our landlord really, really happy, if I, you know, we come back to him and say, oh, what, sorry, we, you know, scratched all your toilets with it, trying to get them clean. So, instead, I asked around, and the man at the local hardware store recommended these drywall sheets, and as you can see, they work beautifully, this toilet is all nice and clean, and sparkly will probably take me about five minutes, and they stay clean for a while, and there is no porcelain scratching, so you just kind of continue some spots, we'll be trickier than other spots, depending on how long it's been or how hard your water is, and just be patient, and scrubbing harder doesn't necessarily get it to go away any faster, so circular motions, and then just to show you a comparison, and a flush the toilet,

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