Tub-stain Tears

March 31, 2007 4:25 PM

Good lord I'm in trouble! Last night I soaked a few white shirts in Clorox, rinsed them, and then hung them up over the tub to drip dry. One of the shirts had a little black design, and when I got up in the morning I found this hideous stain in the enamel of my tub which looks like was caused by the bleach/ black dye combination drip dripping all night, and which my landlord will *freak out about* when he sees it! Any ideas?
posted by forallmankind to home & garden (24 comments total)

Bon Ami + elbow grease?
posted by Good Brain at 4:29 PM on March 31, 2007

Have you tried pouring a little Clorox over the stain? Guard your eyes and use adequate ventilation.
posted by ikkyu2 at 4:29 PM on March 31, 2007

Bleach giveth and bleach taketh away. I'd recommend filling up the basin with a water/bleach mix and letting it stand for a while, or even overnight. **USE ADEQUATE VENTILATION** if you leave it standing for a while. This cannot be stressed enough.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:33 PM on March 31, 2007

Seconding Bon Ami.
Blood, dye, rust: B.A. kevorks 'em all!
posted by Dizzy at 4:33 PM on March 31, 2007

If the previous suggestions don't work, try some Bar Keepers Friend. You can probably find it at the grocery store. It has a bit of oxalic acid in it, and will take out nearly any stain.
posted by found dog one eye at 4:34 PM on March 31, 2007

ikkyu2: I have tried Clorox Clean Up to no avail. I'll go try a stronger solution and report back...
posted by forallmankind at 4:36 PM on March 31, 2007

I second Bar Keepers Friend, but just mix it up into a nice pasty consistency and apply it to the stain --- do not scrub. It's abrasive and will scratch the hell out of the tub's finish.
posted by nathan_teske at 4:37 PM on March 31, 2007

enamel of my tub

Is this porcelain enamel? If not, you might be in trouble. As a last resort I would use Barkeeper's Friend as a scouring agent and some 00000 steel wool. This will undoubtedly cause minor scuff damage to your landlord's property, but should be a lot less noticeable than the stain. Good luck.
posted by mrmojoflying at 4:40 PM on March 31, 2007

How about a Magic Eraser? They're weirdly good.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:43 PM on March 31, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I got rid of some similar stains in my enamel sink by covering them with Comet, letting it sit for a couple of hours, then scrubbing it off.
posted by suki at 4:47 PM on March 31, 2007

OK - regular strength Clorox has no immediate effect. I'm rather in agreement with Civil_Disobedient and I did try leaving toilet paper soaked in Clorox Clean Up on it for an hour or so - maybe an overnighter will have more effect. I'll pick up some Barkeepers Friend too. Thank you for the suggestions so far....
posted by forallmankind at 4:51 PM on March 31, 2007

Ditto corpse! I would be SHOCKED if the Magic Eraser didn't work. It's basically like 10,000 grit sandpaper. $4 for 4 - give them a try!
posted by peep at 4:59 PM on March 31, 2007

Yeah those magic erasers are aptly named. This looks like a job for one.
posted by frieze at 5:32 PM on March 31, 2007

4th-ing magic eraser. it is truly amazing.
posted by Mach5 at 6:11 PM on March 31, 2007

Paper towels saturated with full-strength bleach and allowed to sit overnight have worked pretty well for me. Not bleach-water mixture, not a cleaning product with bleach in it, but full-strength bleach. Probably horrible for a lot of reasons, but it seems to work.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:18 PM on March 31, 2007

and the winner is....

Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions - I live to see another day!
posted by forallmankind at 6:20 PM on March 31, 2007

Hey, you missed that rust stain ! ;P
posted by lobstah at 6:29 PM on March 31, 2007

Hey - the old Magic Eraser doesn't work on it's own you know! (Honestly, I did put in about 10 minutes on the rust stain for karmic alignment, but I'd already done 30 on the original stain and it just got old all of a sudden. A future project then, I think...).
posted by forallmankind at 6:44 PM on March 31, 2007

Am I the only one that didn't think that stain was that bad?
posted by electroboy at 11:35 PM on March 31, 2007

I kinda looked at it and thought that with the general condition of the tub (ie, rust stains) the new addition wasn't the end of the world. But some landlords (we had one) would charge you for damaging the dead flies that were on the windowsill when you moved in.

Glad you got your answer, the magic eraser is indeed magic. (Can't wait to discover in ten years millions of child are being born with Mr. Clean based deformities; miracles of modern housekeeping always have a price attached.)
posted by maxwelton at 12:25 AM on April 1, 2007

Am I the only one that didn't think that stain was that bad?

Nope. If that was hideous, my tub immediately after rinsing the latest Unnatural Haircolor Experiment would be TOO SCARY FOR THE INTERNET TO HANDLE. Seriously, it looks like the aftermath of the shower scene in Psycho, at least if Janet Leigh were some sort of alien with blood colored like grape Kool-Aid... (A bit of bleachy-scouring-powder like Comet or Ajax takes care of it, though.)

If the Magic Eraser doesn't do the trick for you on the rest of the rust stain, that's another spot where Barkeeper's Friend should do the trick.
posted by Smilla's Sense of Snark at 1:08 AM on April 1, 2007

Magic Eraser will change your life!
posted by santojulieta at 9:40 AM on April 1, 2007

Magic eraser is what we use at the portrait studio to clean the backgrounds and those things are GROSS! I would trust it just about any stain/scrubbing job. Glad to see it worked for you.
posted by nadawi at 12:43 PM on April 1, 2007

Magic Eraser! DO NOT apply directly to the forehead!

Bon Ami is what we use to great effect on our big-ass enamel sink, so I'd have recommended it, if the Eraser didn't already do the job.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:20 PM on April 1, 2007