Our cleaning lady used an SOS pad inside the toilet, and now there are gray stains! I let it soak twice with toilet bowl cleaner and scrubbed, and it helped a little, but is still there.
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Have you tried the Mr Clean Magic Eraser? Certainly worth a try.
I had an sos pad sitting on my drain rack and the solution from the pad dropped onto the porcelain. It appears stained but rubbing my finger over it, it has exposed the next layer of coating.
Mary,
Are you sure that it's stained and not the enamal scratched off by using the SOS pad.
Teresa from Va.
You might try a pumice stone for toilets. Wal*Mart sells them for less than $2.00. Good luck!
I was looking on the internet how to get rid of urine stain on my 2 yr. old sons potty chair. They said to use straight vinegar. Well needless to say, over time the potty chair stunk of urine even with regular cleaning. I filled up the chair enough to cover the bottom of base with vinegar and the rest hot water.
You may have to live with grey stains or replace the toilet. The SOS pad may have scratched the finish beyond repair.
We had a tub that the previous owners used abrasive cleaners on. The glaze was damaged. We painted it with Klenk's Tub paint. (Tons of preparation work involved there... I have dreams of sanding that tub.) That worked for about two years, until the paint was chipped by a sharp, heavy object.
You can also get tubs professionally resurfaced. It probably wouldn't pay to resurface a toilet (I don't think they're that pricey) unless it is a particularly amazing toilet!
Ok, here's the trick. Use 'Barskeeper' (for Porcelain) on those slim Clorox scrub pads. Just use this combination, with some elbow grease, and it will remove the blue stains from the SOS pads and no trip needed to Lowe's for a new toilet!
This worked like a charm. It cleared up the SOS blue streaks immediately, with very little work involved. THANK YOU!!!
Which suggestion worked for you? The Bars keeper and a slim Clorox scrub pad?? I'm desperate! Many thanks. Liz
the bar keepers friend cleanser took the stains from the SOS pad right out of my toilet bowl! thank you sooooo much for the suggestion!!!!
I'm so glad it worked out for you. Thanks for letting us know.
I'd use some Barkeepers Friend or Bon Ami cleaner and use it on a sponge and scrub the grey places. It may just rub out.
Susan from ThriftyFun
Do you still use that cleaning lady? I would complain to her for ruining your toilet. Maybe she can figure out how to get rid of the stains but it may be that it is scratched rather than stained.
She did not do this on purpose. It seems she was trying to clean the toilet really well. I have a cleaning lady, and I am so happy to have her. She does a good job, but, occasionally, she does something I am not, totally, happy about, but I am so happy to have an honest, hardworking person to help me.
I am a cleaning lady; the gray in your toilet is the same as a pot marks in your kitchen sink, you can use Barkeeper's Friend (works excellent on rust) comet or any of your other household cleansers.
What was she trying to clean in your toilet that she had used SOS?
BABBIE
comet does NOT work - I am suffering from the same issue and will have to try something else.
I read somewhere else to try a copper brillo pad. FYI - doesn't work. Made a few little marks. I then had some vinegar so I just poured it in there and let it soak, occasionally using the toilet brush and a sponge to wipe the areas. It worked!! It was actual stains because the longer it soaked, the dark particles left behind by the steel wool were at the bottom of the toilet. Thank you everyone!
Oh, and FYI, no, I am not asking her to come back to clean! It was her 2nd time cleaning here. Who uses an SOS pad to clean a toilet??!
It says for use on porcelain on the box of sos pads. Try cleaning your own toilet. Not a good reason to fire someone.
Babbie: There was a stubborn ring in the rear of the toilet...however, I already was planning to use a pumice stone to get rid of it. I believe that's what she was trying to get rid of. I was very worried because our place is a rental and I do not want to have to pay for a new toilet when we move! Also, I did try ajax, lysol toilet bowl cleaner, bleach, mold/mildew remover and none of it worked, until I used the vinegar.
Had the bluish grey discoloration in toilet bowl. Tried bleach , toilet bowl cleaner and didnt work with soaking paper towel laid on area. Just used vinegar and Bar Keepers Friend and it removed easily with Mr clean magic eraser
The only guaranteed product is Spirit of Salts! I moved into a house with a toilet so dirty I assumed I would never be able to clean it properly. I put in two cups of Spirits of Salts, let it sit for two hours, flushed and scrubbed out with toilet cleaner. The toilet is as new, without any damage. Make sure to ventilate VERY WELL.
Believe it or not, Rust remover for clothing will WORK on metal scratches on porcelain. God bless you. : )
I have a house cleaning buz. myself and one day I notices scatches on one of my client's Porcelain tub. I sprayed some Grease Lighting cleaner, let it soak for about 3-5 minutes, then I scubbed really hard with a Mr. clean magic eraser and then I cleaned with w/dawn soap to make it shine.
this exact thing happens to my white porcelain sinks. use Mr. Clean Magic Eraser with comet cleanser and the gray will scrub out.
This works - as long as you didn't scratch the porcelain ( I know it looks like YOU DID) - I was so worried - but THE WORKS (it's a frothy cleaner tub and shower cleaner) took it out so easily. It looks like it was scratched but this cleaner removed it!
I had a cleaning crew come yesterday and they used an SOS pad on my enamel coated steel tub, now it has gray scratch marks all over it. When I noticed it, they said it was there when they started, (it wasn't grey when they started it was badly dirt stained because it has a non-slip surface on the bottom (hate that)). Now what do I do?
Is there anything to try before calling someone to resurface the tub? I'm so mad, I don't know why they would use an SOS pad on anything they SCRATCH all surfaces. Do they really think, I rather have a scratched surface than a dirty or stained one?
Cleaning professionals, help me out here, this crew obviously does not know how to clean things without damaging things.
It's quite possible that Bar Keeper's Friend will do the job; it works like a champ with metal scratches from plumbers snakes. Just shake about 1/8 cup in the water and wait a few hours. Actually, when I did it I forgot so it was overnight. When I opened up the lid I was completely amazed- didn't have to flush and I was looking at a gleaming white bowl!
The vinegar did work. Oh thank you God! I was just in one of my OCD moments was grossed out by my boyfriend's stained toilet and was horrified at the result. There was no comet, ajax, barkeeper's friend nothing else to clean it but an SOS pad. He had vinegar in his pantry and it worked like a charm. Thank you who ever you are who posted the vinegar suggestion! What a relief!
Vinegar works like a charm! Thank goodness! I was worried I was going to have to buy my landlady a new tub...
I clean houses for a living, for 15+ years, and I would say definitely vinegar and an old sponge, or vinegar and a Magic eraser. And to the people whose cleaning company did this, I'd fire them. That's cleaning 101... you don't want them ruining anything else in your house, especially something that can't be fixed.
Hi Great advice. I bought 'The Works' according to my maintenance man. I'm in a rental complex. Problem is I can't open the lid on it. I'm not a strong woman at all and don't want to ask anyone here. Can you let me know how to do it? Thanks much. Happy holidays!
I'm 14 and accidentally used an sos pad to get hair dye out of my bath tub it left gray marks everywhere!!!! I let vinegar set on it for about 10 min. And scrubbed it with a mr.clean magic eraser the dye and the marks came out ! :)
Magic eraser and vinegar works like a charm
OMG - I used SOS on my cast iron tub to clean every duty black grime from construction workers. To my horror the SOS left gray circles as if I took the white layer off. I read this post and used Magic Easer first, which took 50% off. Then I used white wine vineager which removed the rest. Whew!
Dont worry about it . I just did the same thing. Lol I was freaking out but then I cut off the water supply to the toilet and used some comet and it came right out. It doesnt do anything if you dont cut the water. I tried.
Good luck
Cut off water supply to toilet, flush toilet to remove excess water in bowl. Sprinkle Ajax or Comet on a sponge. Works perfectly
I did just the same thing today, tried everything then had a Bravewave, TOOTHPASTE, rubbed it in with toothbrush sponged it off and Gleaming White again.
I had same grey stain after using stainless steel to remove stains. I used magic eraser with comet and it came out
Just worked excellent with no scrubbing! DL Permatex Hand cleaner!A common hand cleaner youd find in the auto parts stores.
Lysol toilet bowl cleaner. Removes it instantly. Light scub with sponge.
Yep, I tried The Works Toilet cleaner. The Grey ring disappeared. Yeah!
I did this. And I used whitening toothpaste it removed all the stains the Brillo pad made
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