Removing Hard Water Stains from Glass

If hard water stains have you down, I have a few tricks to help you reduce or eliminate their appearance. I like to attempt to remove hard water from glass using the least abrasive ways possible before trying the harder ones. These methods are listed from least abrasive to most abrasive, try the lighter ones first then move onto the harder stuff if that doesn’t work for you.

Windex or Any Other Glass Cleaner – Before attempting to buff your glass clean, did you try cleaning it first? Grab your paper towels and favorite glass cleaner, maybe a microfiber if you’re concerned about dust, and see what a general cleaning will do for you.

Lime-A-Way – This one is pretty straight forward here. Spray it onto your glass and let it work its magic. After a few minutes wipe it down with a sponge and rinse the surface with water. This process can be repeated, but may take additional time to remove the calcium build up. If this doesn’t make your glass crystal clear, continue reading.

The scrubber pad on the back of your sponge – Using a lot of elbow grease, I’ve been able to remove hard water spots by scrubbing and buffing excessively using the back of a good sponge. Not only with it help your glass look marvelous, your arms will get one hell of a workout.

Scotch-Brite Scrubbing Pads – While very similar to using the sponge method, this is a slight step up in abrasiveness. Get yourself a new Scotch-Brite pad and go to town. Once these pads get worn they don’t work nearly as well or quickly. Make sure it’s wet and soapy, then begin scrubbing.

Steel Wool – This is hands down my favorite method of cleaning stubborn glass. However, test a small area before you start attacking your glass. You want to remove the hard water, but not scratch the glass. While I haven’t had any issues with scratching or etching my glass, that doesn’t mean you won’t. Make sure the steel wool or the surface you’re cleaning is wet before you begin. If your steel wool doesn’t have soap already embedded into it, then dip it into a water/soap mixture first. Work the wool in small circular motions and keep going until the surface feels and looks smooth.

Razor Blades – While I do not recommend this to just anyone, a NEW razor blade with a perfect smooth blade can be used as a last resort effort to chisel off whatever may be on your glass. Only attempt to use this on smooth glass. Be extremely careful if you attempt to use a razor blade as you can easily scratch and destroy your glass. With the surface wet, gently run the blade over whatever it is that is caked on the glass. Apply light pressure and move the blade in a gliding motion, imagine you’re shaving the glass smooth.

Categorised in: Cleaning, Tips and Tricks

This post was written by HDG