Wondering how to prevent calcium buildup on faucets or remove them?
After a long time of using faucets, you may notice a white buildup around them. This is calcium salt, which can cause a slower water stream and damage the faucets and fixtures.
Since their presence may make you uncomfortable, you want to remove them immediately. Yet, knowing how to prevent them from the beginning will make the removal less of a hassle.
Prevention is better than cure. Let’s see how we can do it. Below are some reasons why calcium appears around the faucets, some tips to get rid of it and prevent calcium from coming back.
What Causes Calcium Buildup?
Calcium buildup is also known as limescale, which often happens when using hard water – water with high calcium and other minerals – or hot water.
The white residue contains calcium salts, mostly calcium carbonate (CaCO3), and appears around the faucet’s surface or inside pipes.
When this situation happens, it can make you feel frustrated and uncomfortable. You feel like everywhere is full of chalk powder and somewhat dirty. Even though you have cleaned up many times, it appears tight, crusty, and sticks hard to the faucets.
Here are some tips on how to remove and also how to prevent calcium buildup on the faucet.
How To Get Calcium Buildup Off Faucet?
Calcium buildup is so pesky and unyielding that normal cleaning is not enough to remove it. Anyways, there are many ways to get it off your faucets.
White Vinegar And Lemon
Vinegar and lemon are familiar ingredients in the kitchen. You can completely take advantage of them to remove stubborn calcium deposits on faucets and other kitchen appliances nearby.
All you need to do is mix white vinegar with warm water to clean the buildup. Otherwise, mix it with lemonade to enhance its effectiveness to deal with more stubborn spots.
Specialized Cleaners
Specialized cleaners are one of the most effective ways to clean off calcium buildup on stainless steel faucets. They can effectively clean these buildups on faucets and other household appliances, toilets, and bathrooms.
Keep in mind that these cleaners are chemicals, so they are harmful to the environment and your health. Prepare a pair of gloves and a face mask beforehand. Make sure you follow safety instructions to protect your health as well as your body.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is a widely-used substance for bleaching, deodorizing, and cleaning, and it works amazingly to eliminate calcium. It can effectively clean dirty places and get rid of unpleasant odors and harmful bacteria.
You can mix baking soda with white vinegar or lemon to have a more powerful mixture for cleaning. These ingredients are natural, so it is safe to use them often.
Toothpaste
Toothpaste isn’t just about cleaning your teeth. Additionally, stainless steel cannot withstand strong acidic detergents. Such cleaning agents will seriously damage the faucet’s surface if not used properly.
You can use toothpaste to clean the faucet with a brush, just like brushing your teeth. Easy right?
Scrubbing Tools
Together with the detergents, you should find yourself something soft to scrub, such as a towel, a sponge, a brush, and a pair of gloves. Do not use iron scrubbers, or else you may scratch the faucets’ surface.
With the six suggestions above, hopefully, you now know how to get calcium buildup off the faucet.
Read more: How to remove the flow restrictor from a delta kitchen faucet in 5 simple steps
How To Prevent Calcium Buildup On Faucet?
Calcium buildup is not only unsightly but also harmful to plumbing and other pieces of equipment. It can clog and destroy pipes. It is advisable to know how to prevent calcium buildup in the faucet in the first place to avoid the hassle of removing it.
Depending on the severity of the problem, you should regularly clean the water pipe and piping systems to avoid further damage. A more effective approach is to have some appliances installed to solve the problem.
For example, you can install a water softener or a water filter system at home to filter out unwanted minerals from your water.
Spending a lot of time cleaning can be frustrating. Therefore, you should find a way to prevent calcification instead of waiting for it to appear and combat it. Here are some recommendations:
Have Your Water Tested
Before you apply any methods to protect your water piping system and faucets, make sure you have your water tested. After testing, you can determine what kind of solution you might take.
If the water test shows that your water is hard, take action!
Install Water Softener Equipment
Water softening is the removal of calcium and some other metal cations in hard water. Soft water helps prolong the life of pipes and faucets and protect the health of your family.
If your family drinks water directly, you should have one at home to purify your water. There is an abundance of water softener systems on the market for you to choose from.
Water Filter System
Most water filters exclude harmful chemicals and bacteria that can cause illness in general. Other benefits of filtered water include better water taste, cost savings, and being more friendly to the environment than bottled water.
In this case, a water filter system can help. And, of course, it will also help prevent your pipes and faucets from nasty calcium deposits.
The water filter system and water softener are the same to some extent, but the water filter is more widely applied. Water filter not only removes chemicals, but it also prevents bacteria and other water contaminants.
Now, do you know how to prevent calcium buildup on faucets? These solutions may be costly, but it is worth spending to protect you and your family from hard water. So, it’s not a bad idea to have one of those appliances installed at your house. Isn’t it?
Conclusion
While calcium deposits do not directly affect your family’s daily life and health, they look dirty and unpleasant. However, it signals that your family’s domestic water has a problem, so preventing them is also protecting your family’s health.
Whatever method you take to remove and prevent those deposits, try to do it safely and correctly for the best results. Make sure again you know how to prevent calcium buildup on faucets and how to remove them properly. Hope the above sharing will help you.
If you have mastered all of the above tips, let’s get started!
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