We have an old claw tub (50+ years old) in our apartment. In an attempt to clean and brighten it up we used bleach!
For the bleach stain on the old porcelain tub, I would try using either "Barkeeper's Friend" or Zud, both are recommended by the porcelain enamel industry for cleaning everything from porcelain sinks to school chalkboards and whiteboards. Works on copper bottom pots too.
I tried the baking soda/peroxide blend on my clorox stain in the tub and voila, no more stain! Thank you!
Clorox 2 was the answer for me! I made the same mistake of using bleach on an old porcelain tub and Clorox 2 liquid worked like a miracle! I didn't even have to scrub - just poured the Clorox 2 all over the tub, spread it around and let it sit for a little while and it removed all the brown stains like magic!
I used comet liquid spray bathroom cleaner on my claw tub. You let it sit. I am not sure about the bleach stains, but try the comet.
I remember doing something similar and I think rust remover (that came in a bottle) did the trick. I believe any brand might work. I would avoid any type of clorox at this point.
You may want to try the rust remover as I remember it worked for me.
Good Luck
Just did this exact thing and can now tell you - don't panic! hydrogen peroxide absolutely works for this problem. (if needed you can make paste by mixing small amount with baking soda or cream of tartar). Otherwise, I know that denture tablets will remove all stains from the inside of any porcelain teapot - so maybe worth a try?
We live in military housing and our tub was AWFUL!! I went and got Mr. Clean magic erasers and soam scum remover.... it looks brand new. Good Luck!
I stained my whole tub by letting bleach sit in it all day. The baking soda and peroxide paste removed the stain immediately.
Just wanted to add to this. If you're in the UK & Ireland Cif Oxy-gel spray will do the trick. I'm an American working in Ireland and I caused the most awful red stain in my tub from bleach. I read this and thought "Oh hydrogen peroxide" that will be easy to get because obviously Clorox 2 isn't sold here..
I tried tons of things, lemons & baking soda, flash rust remover and Cif Oxy-Gel was the only thing that worked. It's marked as having Oxygen based bleaching agents in it so it sounds like its similar to Clorox 2
Thanks so much to Linda C and the suggestion of the Clorox 2! Worked like a charm! The yellow stains in my old tub came out like magic! NO SCRUBBING! Awesome! :)
Thank you thank you thank you! I used the peroxide after leaving bleach on the porcelain tub. It worked like a charm!
I had poured bleach down my drain and let it soak overnight. In the morning, when I went to rinse it with warm water, the bottom of my tub was stained brown. I tried a comet paste, the Lime-Away for calcium/lime/rust deposits, and nothing worked until I read the post.
THANK YOU! I thought my tub was ruined from my efforts to clean my tub with bleach and comet, until I came across the information shared here! What a relief! The tub looks like new again!
I made the HUGE mistake of putting bleach in my 100 year old claw foot tub in hopes of cleaning it, I ended up with browns stains wherever the bleach made contact. In panic I tried everything, nothing helped except for the Hydrogen Peroxide and baking soda. Removed the brown stains and saved the tub for another 100 years.
I am living in a rental property with a lamipanel shower. I tried cleaning the shower with "exit mold" (bleach), who was to know that I'd get brown stains! Thank you so much for your remedy. I tried it and at first was disheartened as it didn't appear to be working.
My partner suggest a couple of drinks and a movie to try and unwind after all of the hard (and apparently useless) work scrubbing the darn shower. After the movie he called me into the bathroom to see the shower. It was white again! To any of you trying this remedy, you may need to leave it a while and not scrub so hard. It really does work!
Thank you soooo much for this remedy.
My partner and I are living in a rental property with a "lamipanel" shower recess. I sprayed it with "exit mould" and left it for 2 minutes. When I returned to clean it, it had a large number of brown stains. I was devastated! I tried everything I could think of and even tried vinegar as suggested by a friend. Nothing worked. Then I found this remedy.
Oh my gosh, this is amazing. I bet I spent $35.00 on cleaning products tonight, trying to get a brown stain out of my tub. I cleaned something with a clorox based spray cleaner in my tub earlier today. Several hours later I went in to remove the item from the tub. To my horror, the overspray had caused brown stains to form. I grabbed the bleach, added water, and soaked. A half hour later I drained the tub to find brown stains from end to end. I WAS HORRIFIED. I tried lime away, soft scrub, cascade (liquid, for the dishwasher) comet, mr clean sponges, and ten different scrubbing pads. Everything just made it worse. I read this post.
I grabbed the hydrogen peroxide, poured it on, and watched the stains disappear like magic right before my eyes. No scrubbing, no nothing. It only took a few seconds. It only took a few seconds for me to throw away all those nasty chemicals too. Thank you so much!
Girlfriend, just did the same thing. After searching the net for a few minutes they listed a bunch of chemicals like CLR, or Hydrogen Peroxide or CLR. Being 3am I couldn't go out and get these things. But I did have some Oxyclean Laundry Detergent. Put that on a sponge and scrubbed till it came up. Worked like a charm.
Hydrogen peroxide works. Keep those bleach products away from your old tubs! Use a non-bleach cleaner. Clorox 2 for example will still get your tub spotless without the harmful effects of "real" bleach.
A miracle! Thank you! It worked!
I just poured peroxide on it and it did squat. :(
:sigh:
I am off to the dollar tree to buy them out of this stuff, it totally works. I am so stoked, lol.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! A mixture of peroxide and baking soda worked instantly! What a relief.
Amazing! Peroxide & baking soda. My uncle called me hysterical because he wanted to surprise me with by cleaning my old claw foot tub and used Clorox. Once I arrived and saw the horror it looked more like a rusted bloodbath from a crime scene. I told him to relax while I searched online we cannot be the only people who have done this. I came upon this fabulous website. I decided to pour the peroxide until I run out and get the baking soda. My uncle was so hysterical he kept yelling Santa Maria, Jesus Christo, Dios Mio. Joking, I told him please leave the crime scene. His hands were shaking so bad he could not put the cigarette in his mouth. I had to remind him no smoking indoors please. Well right before our eyes it was gone and so were the old stains without scrubbing. Now I can laugh but earlier no so funny.
Oh man! Thank goodness for this site! I knew I wasn't only one and I had zero clue why my perfectly good claw tub turned brown. Now I know I have tried everything! Down to acid lol but I have got to try this as soon as I get home. Thanks so much :) I did not want to throw my tub out, I love soaking in a hot bath.
Thanks so much for the tip. The peroxide & baking soda worked perfectly. Here's my story: I bought a book "99 cent solutions" and in it was how to brighten the white in your sink by lining the sink with paper towels, then douse them with bleach. It worked so well on my sink that I decided to do the same in my claw foot tub.
When I returned to the bathroom to remove the paper towels, the entire bottom of the tub was brown! I almost had a heart attack and immediately began scrubbing the tub with no results. Then I looked online and found this site so I poured peroxide in the tub and went to get the baking soda. When I returned to the bathroom, moments later, the brown was already disappearing. How delighted I was that all the brown was removed without scrubbing.
Wow, I was cleaning my tub today and used scrubbing bubbles bleach spray. It used to not leave any brown stains but the last time and this time, there were stains near where my brown body scrub was. I don't know how my mother removed the stains the first time. Today was worse. I scrubbed so hard and left the bleach on the stains to no avail.
I decided to go to sleep and tackle it tomorrow. Then I googled and stumbles upon this. I got out of bes, poured hydrogen peroxide on the stains, spreading it around with a sponge and voila, clean! Thanks! I didn't mix anything and just poured hydrogen peroxide over the stains.
Hi I know this is an old post but I just wanted to thank everyone on here! My husband bleached our coloured tub in our rented flat in England - and it went completely brown! But thanks to you I have been able to revive it and its green once more (not my preference but much better than brown! Lol) I ended up using vanish oxygen action as we don't get clorax 2 over here and I couldn't find the Cif oxi gel recommended on here but having read all you comments I knew I needed a hydrogen peroxide mix and the vanish contained that - it worked like a miracle and I can not thank you all enough! It's on occasions like this I love the Internet x hope you all had a great Christmas and a very merry new year x
Morrisons Brights & Whites Active Oxygen Stain Removal Spray £1.20 worked like magic!
I had sprayed a 1937 enamel bath with Detol mould and Mildew spray to try and brighten it up, awful brown marks appeared so I used bleach to try and remove them and made matters 10 times worse. I tried lemon juice and cream of tartar, baking powder etc and then towels soaked in white vinegar none of which really worked, maybe faded a bit.
Thank you to those who recommended oxy products, bought every one I could find and started with cheapest, stains just disappeared as I sprayed it on, no rubbing just rinsed it off and the bath looks better than ever.
Did you try lime away or CLR? There is also a cleaner you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot called Krud Killer. You can also try Lysol Disinfectant Power Toilet Bowl Cleaner with Lime & Rust Remover.
