Hard water is tough on kitchens and bathrooms. For many of us, water marks and build-up around plugholes and faucets is a constant struggle. Constantly purchasing new cleaning products to manage the problem can also be expensive. But what if you could make your own DIY cleaning product, using ingredients from your kitchen cupboard? Good news – you can!

What you’ll need:

• Hot tap water
• Washing up liquid
• White distilled vinegar
• Lemon juice (optional)
• Plastic spray bottle
• Sponge
• Cleaning cloth/ rags
• Washing up gloves

How to make your DIY cleaner

Gather together three simple ingredients: white distilled vinegar, tap water and washing up liquid (regular washing up liquid is fine for this). If you don’t have any white vinegar, you can purchase it for around £1 at your local supermarket (make sure to use white vinegar though, not dark). Don’t worry – white vinegar has a comparatively weak odour which will dissipate quite quickly. You also have the option of adding lemon juice, which will give your mixture a fresh, citrus smell.

Wearing a pair of washing up gloves, take your plastic spray bottle and pour in approximately 200ml of hot water from the tap (do not use boiling water). Next, add 100ml of the white vinegar. Lastly, add around half a teaspoon of washing up liquid and a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice. Gently mix the ingredients together in your bottle, making sure they’re fully combined. Shaking the bottle will help this process along but watch out for the bubbles!

The measurements given here are based on filling an average spray bottle. You can multiply up or down, depending on the size of the job.

How to apply your cleaner

Once your mixture is ready, use your spray bottle to spritz a small area on one of your surfaces, as a spot test. It’s a good idea to spot test when using any new product, to ensure no damage is caused to your surfaces. Once you’re happy to continue, spray any surfaces that have hard water marks. The water should still be warm at this point, but not so hot that it’s uncomfortable to touch.

Leave the mixture on your surfaces for about a minute, to let it do its work. The more build-up you have, the longer you may need to leave the mixture. Still wearing your washing up gloves, take a sponge and gently scrub away the mixture. Any hard water marks should lift away easily.

More stubborn build-ups may require a more intensive soaking. To do this, saturate a cleaning rag or some paper towels in the mixture and press them onto the area you want to clean. This is a good method for faucets or plugholes. Leave the rag in place for about 30 minutes, then remove it and wipe the residue away with a sponge. If necessary, repeat this process until the build-up has gone.

As a last step, gently rinse your newly gleaming surfaces with cold water and wipe them down with a dry cloth. In the case of vertical surfaces like shower guards, you could also use a squeegee. We hope you find this advice useful – however, to prevent hard water marks from occurring in the first place, you may wish to consider installing a soft water system in your home.

[Photos by jarmoluk and Hans]