How to Remove Rust Stains from a Bathtub

If you have rust inside of your bathtub and would like to get rid of it for good, forget about purchasing harsh chemicals or bottled cures that promise to work but do not. Forget scrubbing until your hands are raw, only to still find the rust stain fully intact. The following instructions will help you remove rust off of your bathtub, leaving it to look sparkling clean and fantastic. The cure is surprisingly easy, inexpensive, and very effective.

The first step is to get the rusted spot wet. You can just turn on the bathtub faucet to do this. Now you want to take a pumice stone, I use a ninety-nine cent pumice found in the Health and Beauty aisle of any grocery store, and wipe down the spot. You do not have to use a lot of pressure because the pumice works so wonderfully well. In fact, you want to rub with the stone gently because you do not want to scratch your tub. Scratches leave a whole new issue to deal with.

Continue to wipe the spot, keeping the spot wet. When it dries out, just turn the water faucet in the tub on again to saturate it. Make sure too, that you are rinsing the end of your pumice stone as you go, to clear the rust from it that will accumulate while you work. Repeat this process until you have gotten off all of the rust you think is going to come off in this manner (remembering to rub the pumice against the tub gently to avoid scratching). Sometimes rubbing the end of the pumice on the rust alone will do the trick. Other times, depending on how bad the rust stain is, it may only take the majority of the rust stain off. If you have some residual rusting left after scrubbing with the pumice, proceed to the next step.

To rid the remaining bits of rust, or the residual tint that may be left after scrubbing, grab a real lemon and a container of salt (regular table salt in a large-sized container with a pour spout). Make sure you are doing this step when you know the bathtub is going to be out of use for the rest of the day and night (have yourself and family members take baths and showers in the tub early that day) because the lemon and salt are going to need ample time to work. You will not be disappointed if you allow enough time for this step. Now pour salt on the rust stain, be generous and cover every inch of it. Any remaining rust that is still there after the pumice scrub, must be covered with salt; areas not covered will remain after treatment.

Now you want to take your lemon and cut it in half. Squeeze the juice from the lemon on top of the poured salt. You can be liberal. Allow to rest over rust for twenty-four hours or more. Make sure someone doesn’t accidentally turn on the bathtub, or otherwise get the spot wet, or you will have to start the salt and lemon treatment from scratch. Once twenty-four hours, or more, have passed, you will see the rust that was remaining in the tub has now transferred itself to your salt pile. Simply wipe out or rinse down the drain (easy, breezy). The tub should now be very white and completely rust free.