How to Remove Calcium Crud

Aug 11, 2010 · written by Amy · Home Remedies

I know I shouldn’t talk about in polite company. It’s crusty, yellow, and flaky. Gross. It’s really something that should only be addressed in private. But I was so relieved to find a sure-fire remedy, I have to tell you about it. Calcium crud. My gag reflex kicked in when I looked too closely at the tray in our fridge door. No amount of scrubbing or scraping would clean it, so I’d resigned to just averting my eyes when I filled a glass of water. But thanks to some twitter friends, I discovered a miracle worker on the dang crud: vinegar! First, with some persuasive tugging, I removed the tray. Then I filled it with vinegar and soaked it in the sink for half an hour. And I watched the vinegar bubbles eat the little calcium suckers. Finally, with just a gentle swipe of a sponge, it was good as new! If you have calcium crud around faucets, it’ll work there, too. (If you can’t get a puddle to stay, try soaking a sponge in vinegar and setting it on the crud.) Know any other miracle cleaning tricks that use vinegar?

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4 Comments

  • Alissa Aug 11, 2010
    I shook a few tablespoons of baking soda down my bathroom sink and chased them with a healthy dose of vinegar. Besides fun, science-project-esque fizzies, helped clean out the drain guck!
    • Amy Aug 12, 2010
      That sounds much more appetizing than some of the ways I've pulled wads out of the sink.:) Good trick!
  • lynn cherry Aug 11, 2010
    Funny you should ask. Just this week I went to brew a cup of coffee and nothing happened. I was starting to panic and trying to decide if my pj's were grocery store appropriate when I remembered vinegar. I ran a pot of half water/half vinegar and then another pot of water and then brewed my coffee....The morning was saved!
    • Amy Aug 12, 2010
      Wow! That's a minor miracle remedy, right there. And sounds like the one run with just water was enough that the coffee didn't taste like vinegar. Oh vinegar, you're my new favorite.