You may be wondering, 'What exactly is hard water and why does it leave stains?' When we say that the water is hard, we actually mean that it has a high concentration of minerals dissolved in the water. When water contains high levels of magnesium, calcium, and iron, it’s considered "hard”.
As water travels from its source to your home, it comes in contact with underground minerals, picking up traces of them as it moves through layers of rock. The more time your water interacts with (and absorbs) these minerals, the harder it will be.
Stains appear when hard water droplets dry and leave behind calcium mineral deposits. Usually, the stains are white, but the color can vary depending on the minerals present in the water. For example, high levels of iron tend to leave brown or reddish spots.
If left for too long, hard water stains can become permanent, so it's best to remove them as soon as they appear.
One way to prevent hard water stains from forming on your dishes is to stop them from building up in the dishwasher. To do so, make sure to clean the dishwasher once a month using this simple method:
Related: How to Clean and Maintain Your Dishwasher Step By Step
If you want to remove hard water stains by hand-washing your dishes, a mixture of vinegar and baking soda will do the trick, too.
Of all the rooms in your home, the bathroom is the most likely to have hard water stains from the constant flow of water and the use of lathering products in the sink, bathtub, and shower.
To remove hard water stains from shower walls and bathtubs:
Related: 17 Common Cleaning Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Bathroom
To remove hard water stains from shower-heads and faucets:
If the stream in your shower becomes weaker than usual, it could be due to minerals in hard water clogging the shower-head. To clean your shower-head, dip a toothbrush in white vinegar and scrub the water jets, then wipe it clean, and turn on the jets to blast out the clogging mineral residue.
You could soak the whole shower-head in vinegar, too, but bear in mind that doing so could damage the finish of the shower-head.
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