White Water Stain Removal for Cookware

It's hard to wrap your mind around the idea that plain water can stain your favorite cookware. But plain water has minerals that remain behind when heated, thus staining your cookware with a white film. These stains are unsightly and generally hard to remove.

Cleaning Cookware

Before you even begin to worry about the stain on your cookware, wash it by hand in hot soapy water. Many times the dishwasher is to blame for the white stains, whether they are caused by detergent deposits or the water itself. After you have washed and dried your cookware, take a closer look at it. Run your fingers along the white stain to see if you can feel it, try to scratch some off with your fingernail. Each of these things will tell you a bit about how to deal with the stain. If you can feel it, the stain has built up over time and may require more than one attempt to remove it. If you can scratch it off with a fingernail, you will just have to put some elbow grease into the job. If neither of these is the case with your stain, attempt to remove the stain and hope for the best.

Pre-Treating Cookware

Fill your sink with hot water, 2 cups of white vinegar and 1/4 cup of baking soda. This will make a fizzy bath for you to place your cookware into. The best way to pre-treat the white stains on your cookware is to let them soak in this mixture overnight. The baking soda and vinegar will work together to break down the stain, and if there are any actual mineral deposits, such as ones you can feel or scratch off, the soaking will soften them and often lift them away.

Removing the Stain

To remove the stain from your cookware, you must employ a heavy duty scrubbing sponge or even a toothbrush. Drain the sink, and run a few inches of hot water in the bottom. Make a paste on your scrubbing sponge or toothbrush by getting it wet and sprinkling it with baking soda. Use this paste to scrub the stain. Baking soda is abrasive but won't harm your cookware because it dissolves quickly into a strong cleaning liquid when water is introduced. After you have scrubbed the stains, don't rinse the cookware, but use a clean cloth dipped in vinegar to rub over the stained area again. Let the cookware sit for about an hour, and come back and rinse it. To make sure the stain is removed, dry the cookware to see how it looks. Use the vinegar dipped rag to shine the outside of the cookware before drying.

References

• Baking Soda and Cookware Stains
• How to Get Rid of Water Stains

Resources

• Home Remedy for Water Stains