Porcelain clean-up advice

[kenmoreguy64]

Does anyone out there have any good ideas or products you use to get hard water stains and/or scale build up off porcelain? One of my two belt-drive Kenmores has considerable build-up under the lid in the lid well.

Some of the build up may be from the prior owner's use, the rest is from the machine sitting outside in the rain (it was outside for at least several years) and though mechanically restored now, I am tired of the nastiness under the lid.

Any advice you have would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[panthera]

Rubbing Alcohol and Brasso

Are what we used to clean up the '59 Thumper's porcelain. Alcohol dissolves lime and scale very well without attacking porcelain. Brasso did the rest.
I would not use a strong acid, the porcelain just isn't made to cope with it.
Oh, an electric toothbrush works wonders.
Good luck!

 

[bajaespuma]

Proceed with caution

Go from weak to strong. Start with a strong solution of white vinegar in hot water then proceed to home-strength acids like CLR or Lime-Away.Use a plastic gentle abrasive pad or a brush. Be careful,both of your skin and the porcelain. I once made the mistake of using muriatic acid, a strong chemical painters use to rough up tile and porcelainized fixtures like bathtubs prior to enamel application. I used it on a Maytag washbasket. It completely removed all the rust and scale; but then it proceeded to removed the outer glaze of the porcelain enamel. I almost passed out from the fumes as well. The washbasket was ruined.

I've been trying to find someone, anyone who rebakes porcelain on to metal, but I'm beginning to think they don't exist.

 

[danemodsandy]

Gordon and Ken:

Gordon:

I would begin with CLR or Lime-Away; those are often all you need. For really really tough tough dreadful lime deposits, I use Zud mixed with Naval Jelly, but I warn you, the combo is very abrasive, so proceed with caution. Zud is a rust and stain removing powdered cleanser. The combo will remove the toughest lime ring in a toilet. I'd test first, to make sure your porcelain is up to the mix.

Ken:

Stove Porcelain Service does the kind of work you're looking for; a link is below. Not cheap, but when it's the difference between having something in good shape, or not, it can be worth it. They do both sheet metal parts and cast metal ones. They can match a factory colour or provide a custom one. Hope this helps!

http://antiquegasstoves.com/pages/reporcelain.html

 

[kenmoreguy64]

THANK YOU everyone. I will try your suggestions, and carefully. I already tried CLR one time thinking that was going to do it, but nope - it barely budged it. I will try the white vinegar in hot water deal, the alcohol and Brasso, and the naval jelly too - I have all that at home now.

Keep the suggestions coming if there are any others, and I'll let you know how this works!

Gordon

 

[toploader55]

Hey Toploader55 here.

If you remember the pics of my KD2-P, I used Soft Scrub and a 3-M yellow sponge with the nylon (or whatever) green back pad. Use the combo like lightly sanding mahogony in between coats. I'm going to attach a pic of the wash chamber just after I did it. The machine is running so well, the plastics in the top rack sounds like the drum section in a orchestra. Just remember to use the combo like a "wet sand". Use alot of water when rubbing the porcelain.
Look at that shine..."She shines like the top of the Chrysler Building".

 

[joelippard]

just for the record...

I tried CLR on some rust stains in the tub of the 1-18 I just got. I felt like it was a waste of my money. I've had CLR to not work before...

I got Whink rust remover at ACE Hardware and applied it with a sprayer and it worked great after it set for about 10 minutes. Just some FYI

 

[toploader55]

CLR

I've found it useless. Porcelain needs " Tender loving care" just as wood. My combo works great. The chemicals these days are horrible.

 

[christfr]

im gonna have to remember this for later use.. i have used in the past mild rubbing compound and wax that you use on cars and it worked for me

 

[kenmoreguy64]

All GREAT ideas folks, thank you so much!