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This is my day for posts (see or avoid my Dyson post).

Our new-to-us house is twelve years old. We have a well with quite a bit of sand in the water and apparently a lot of minerals.

We are looking into a whole house water filter to remove particles.

My immediate problem is the glass shower. It was covered with hard water deposits when we moved in. Every time one of us showers we turn off the water with one hand and start wiping it all down with the other hand. The deposits are getting worse.

What can I use to clean these off or are they permanent. I went so far last night as to put saturated with vinegar paper towels on the doors and left them overnight--no change. I have tried CLR and Lime-Away. DH even got out the straight razor blade and scraped which took some off but only a small amount.

I have lived in hard water areas in the past and have always managed to keep this type of door relatively free of deposits. I am stymied with this one. Maybe the previous owner's lack of immediate drying the doors has lead to etching. They aupposedly re-did this bathroom in the past year. (In actuality they re-did half including the shower but left the other half in original condition resulting in a bathroom with a split personality. Don't ask, I am also wondering why I bought a house like this one. I know it was because of the location and the trees.)

Ideas, thoughts?

Go to Walmart & get some pumice stones. They are usually in the laundry or other cleaning aisle. They don't cost much & shouldn't scratch anything.
I use them all the time on our toilets and my bathroom & kitchen sinks. They will scratch metal, so don't use them on a stainless steel sink or appliance. If your shower is one of those "plastic" all in one thingys, it will scratch those too.
Test a small corner before doing the whole thing to be sure it won't scratch.

Gwenda, Give the new bath-sized "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser - Extra Power" a try. Won't hurt and might just help! I've had pretty good luck with it!

Will the pumice stone or Mr. Clean Magic Eraser work on glass. So far the stone and tile used in the shower haven't been a problem but that glass--horrible.

Gwenda, Magic Eraser works like a gem on glass (and doesn't do any damage to the glass) BUT it might take a number of them to clean that big of an area with such old stains which is why I was happy to see the "larger" size premiered BUT it is still pretty small! I suggest buying a couple and seeing if they work first....

4zero steel wool will not scratch glass and lasts a whole lot longer (and lots cheaper) than the magic eraser. I eventually got ours clean doing so, then used RainX....and most of all trained DH to wipe down the glass and shower surfaces with a microfiber after every shower.
That said on the cleaning, no really easy way to clean the hard water deposits, unless you can remove the glass and lay it flat, cover with straight vinegar soaked rags or old sheets and drape with plastic overnight. The vinegar acid will work it's way into the deposits but it takes time. Other acids that are stronger concentrations work faster, but can also etch the glass.

Just to add: I always use the steel wool wet with vinegar or glass cleaner (or with auto polishing compound). It makes is easier to move around on the glass.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: conrad,

DH will not wipe down the glass no matter what I say.

I've found if you can lay them down it is easier. I have used a 3M green scrubber pad but I do not recall what cleaner I used last time.

The magic earser works if you only have a small amount. Otherwise it just smears it around.

We have the same problem, a well and lots of limestone. Limescale is a big problem, but we're planning on getting a whole house filter soon.

Vinegar works but it has to sit a long time to dissolve the stuff. I soak my shower head in vinegar overnight when it gets buildup.

I use Kaboom bathroom cleaner. It may take 2 or even 3 times and let it sit for 20 minutes. The deposits turn soft and slimy and then are easier to scrub off.

Thanks for the additional ideas. I went out of town for 8 days or so (great vacation but the hard water deposits were waiting on my return.)

I had some small magic erasers--didn't seem to work although perhaps I didn't apply enough elbow grease. The pumice seemed to have some impact but boy was that work. After it dried though it seemed like the majority of it came back. I'll have to repeat this I guess.

Tried soaking in vinegar but there is no way I can lay all the glass of this shower flat.

Tried Kaboom once--maybe I need to give it several tries. If I keep at this maybe...

I have yet to try the steel wool. Guess I need to dig through the garage boxes harder to find my supply.

I am now playing chauffewr for my 6 year old granddaughter who lives 40 minutes or so away. This is cutting in my time to work on this project. Maybe when she starts back to school in two weeks... Nothing looks easy about this.

I have a suggestion for once you get it all cleaned....apply rain-X on it so that stuff won't stick. You will have to reapply every so often but at least you won't be doing all the removal work!

Simple Green sprayed on and a steam machine. You can buy a steam cleaner for $50-100. I swear by them for just this type of job.
I used this combination on our old shower doors before the complete bath remodel seven years ago. Used once and doors were clean. You might have to repeat.

I also recommend the Eraser. You could spray Simple Green and start with an Eraser at the bottom of the Green runs and work up.

Have you tried the products that say they'll remove lime and rust and calcium? LCR????