Letter 8229

Please, help me remove a stain from a bath tub 

+ I have stained my heavy old-fashioned bath tub by pouring sulphuric acid down the drain to remove a clog; the fumes have made dark brown stripes on the sides and bottom of the white enamel tub. Is it possible to remove these unsightly stains with ordinary javel water bleach? If not, what should I do short? Can anyone help me, please. David Alexander Mitchell - Montreal QC, Canada + An oxidation problem has occurred. Let's de-oxidize......... buy Naval Jelly [link is to product info at Amazon], A RUST REMOVER. Simply, a de-ox, and will remove those drip-rust-stains...... as well as the chemical stain that you incurred. Drawback; the porcelain may have impurities that were reacted upon by the staining acid. Regardless. Proceed by getting gloves & goggles on now. Use a 1" paint-brush and brush on the Naval Jelly until it is absurd. Leave room for 4 HOURS, with fan running. Return and DON ON the gear again. Rinse the jelly off completely. If another layer is required (doubtful), then let surface dry, or force-dry with a hair dryer. Apply coat #2 absurdly, leave again 4 hrs. Paul T. Knisely - Kenmore, Washington December 1, 2006 I hope I can save someone 8 hours of torture. To remove those brown stains in the bathtub caused by sulfuric acid fumes, pour some hydrogen peroxide [link is to product info at Amazon] on the area. The brown stains will disappear faster than they showed up! Dennis Mostyn - Lincolnwood, Illinois March 22, 2007 Hi I put neat bleach on my old enamel bath to clean it, but when I came back there was a horrible brown stain I can't get off. can any one help Mrs Jennines - U.K.

HI
I had Terrible stains in my tub from a professional drain opener made with sulfuric acid. I used the Works ( green bottle and I think that helped little) Then I put on Lysol thick blue toilet cleaner and that worked great!!!!!!
Also, I had the stains in my kitchen sink from the same drain opener product, and the Lysol toilet cleaner worked on those also. I got most of the stains out! You should try it. It may have scratched my tub a little and hurt the finish.. not sure, but the nasty horrible brown stain is gone and that is great. Good luck.
Try it on a small spot in your stained area and see if it works and if it is safe for your tub or sink

Colleen Mcgraw
- Grand Rapids, Michigan

Similar to others above, I used a sulfuric acid drain declogger in my bathtub drain and the fumes stained the entire tub a dirty brown. Normal cleansers didn't touch the stain and I was really worried until I found this site. The hydrogen peroxide (simple drugstore antiseptic) sounded like the least caustic remedy so I tried it first, painting it on with a paintbrush. Presto, the stain disappeared with each brushstroke! Thanks, Dennis!

Tbruce Bridgeman
- Toledo, Ohio

I just sprayed basically, straight bleach on the mildewed tile grout in my tub surround and cane back a few minutes later to major rusty colored drips all over the sides of my tub. I tried the hydrogen peroxide idea (put some in a bowl and brushed it on with a paint brush) and the stains disappeared instantly! Thank goodness! My husband would've gone through the roof if he saw that! Thanks Dennis!

Erin Boone
- Houston, Texas

I had used bleach on the tub for stains also and ended up with brown stains - I used CLR [link is to product info at Amazon] and they were gone in minutes.

thanks for the help

Don Taylor
- Arl, Texas

Like others, I used a commercial drain cleaner with sulfuric acid on my older bathtub drain. The fumes stained the entire tub - bottom, sides, top rim - dark brown. I scheduled a company to reglaze it (for $350) and then thought to check online. I poured some hydrogen peroxide on the stains and they vanished! Thanks to the person who took the time to post this solution. You saved me a lot of money. This is a great site.

Janet Fisher
- Newton, Massachusetts