Hard water stains on fridge water dispenser

Question

If your fridge has an outer water and ice dispenser, the chances that you’ve seen

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The Easy Way To Remove Hard Water Stains From An Ice Maker Drip Pan Using A Chemical
Personal Note From Penny
How do you remove limescale from a water dispenser?

white marks on the drip pan are probable. Not nice to look at but actually easy to clean.

Here’s two options, ones Eco Friendly, and ones not.

As we’ve all seen in this pandemic, you have to adapt to what’s needed in cleaning to be effective.
So don’t be afraid if the eco friendly cleaning option doesn’t work well for your stains. The back up option is effective and fast too!Remove the drip pan.
You may notice a lot of black mold where the drip pan was located. The water has seeped in the cracks for quite some time.
Going forward, we recommend removing the drip pan weekly and washing it, and the area around this to stop the growth of mold.about:blankGet a plastic or glass container that’s long enough and deep enough to fit the drip pan.

Place the drip pan inside the container.
Pour white distilled vinegar on the drip pan to cover it.
You may begin to scrub with a toothbrush or scrubby side of the sponge to see if the water marks easily come off.
If you notice they aren’t budging, then soak it for a few hours and scrub.
Soaking overnight may be the best option for stubborn stains.

The Easy Way To Remove Hard Water Stains From An Ice Maker Drip Pan Using A Chemical

Remove the drip pan and place it on a thick rag that you don’t mind ruining.
Use a Heavy Duty Acidic Cleaner found at your local hardware store and pour it directly on the drip pan.
You will immediately see bubbles form.
Begin scrubbing the white stains away and rinse.
This is literally a 1 minute time removal process.
Acid eats through things fast so you have to act faster.
Rinse, wipe and replace.

Personal Note From Penny

With both of these methods you can soak paper towels with the White Distilled Vinegar or Acidic Cleaner and wipe/scrub the other areas around the drip pan.
Be sure to rinse the areas with a spray bottle of hot distilled water after, since you can’t remove and rinse those areas off in the sink.
A major thing we have noticed when providing Austin Cleaning Services, is that clients have a hard time removing hard water because they are using their hard water to clean. Our Austin Housekeeping services understand theres a method to the madness of Hard Water removal and it’s a process best left to the Pro’s to routinely clean your home for you.

Linda, you can try vinegar to see if it works. That is what I used to clean out my coffee maker. , but If that doesn't work. Try the product called CLR. Its for Calcium, lime or Rust. I use it in my dishwasher and toilet to remove calcium and lime. We have hard water, so there is some calcium and lime buildup. CLR works great for me!...

Vinegar is all you need to remove those white spots.

I agree with the CLR...I use it all the time for calcium and lime build up

Sounds like a chemcal deposit. Try Lime away. Works right away. Just wipe your tray when you have these drips and they wont accumelat

you have hard water, minerals that are precipitating out. If ,I would start with vinegar; it works well. If you need more heavy duty, I prefer 'bartenders friend' to CLR; in either case, rinse carefully.

Toilet bowl cleaner works great!

Soak a paper towel with white vinegar, give it about 20-30 minutes, rinse it with water DONE DEAL!

Soaking a cloth with pickling vinegar and leaving it on for a couple of hours on trays removes all mineral and calcium deposits from hard water. Magic for everything from kettles to shower heads(these must be soaked just tie a baggie full around it). My trick to prevent this is to wash the tray with dishes every week or lay a dishcloth or tea towel under to absorb the moisture. If you have humidity control in your fridge by any chance this will assist..I stopped using CLR as I was informed I was paying mostly for good old water lol. The cheeky buggers!

Gilda on May 24, 2015

After applying the vinegar try rubbing the area with lemon oil, this worked beautifully for me.

I soak mine in 50% vinegar/water solution overnight. Scrub to remove deposits, then coat with a light layer of olive oil (or sunflower oil, etc), rubbing in well.

For a really tough stain like this I use automatic dishwashing liquid detergent mixed in some hot water..be sure to wear gloves As its murder on your skin.

Don't use a chemical on your water dispenser. You don't want to damage the tip.

If you let it go too long, it will calcify and be hard as bone. Unfortunately, then it will be very hard to get rid of if it adheres to your surface. You might be okay with plastic, but I had this problem on my grout.

Just soak it in some white vinegar for a few hours. Built up calcium/lime can take a little longer of soak.

I use vinegar it's safe and does the job

Another vote for white vinegar, that's what I use

Be careful with toilet bowl cleaner! I sat a container of that stuff on a formica counter one day...not knowing that some cleaner had dripped down the side. It stained (blue) and raised the surface of the formica!! I've tried everything I can think of to fix it, to no avail. Just soak your tray with a mixture of water and white vinegar, then scrub if needed with a soft cloth. Anything abrasive will scratch the plastic.

Ivy on May 24, 2015

white vinegar, let it soak on a rag overnite. Do it once a week, and don't let it build up. Also, I like the idea of coating it with oil. I am going to try some pam spray next time I get mine clean.

@Ivy - just a light coating and rub it in with a paper towel. Really cuts down on buildup next time and looks good too :-)

White vinegar cleaned mine. Soaked a paper towel and let it sit there.

Lime A Way is good for getting deposits off of plastics

Mary on May 25, 2015

White vinegar, that's all you need

I put the plastic tray in the top dishwasher basket weekly, and wipe up any spills right when they happen. Have not had a problem with the white stains since. Many things can be cleaned in the dishwasher...scrub brushes, ball caps, the list goes on. I also saw a hint where baking soda is added to white vinegar and hot water-- the items sit overnight, and are wiped and rinsed out the following morning. This works great on baking pans or any dishes with hard to remove stains or deposits.

My vote is for Lime Away too. Once it is clean give the tray a coat of any type of household oil, veg. baby, lemon and that should help any future calcium / lime deposits for adhering.

My vote is for vinegar also I have 4 indoor fountains that my cats use as water dishes (LOL) and even though I change the water frequently I get that white build up also and vinegar is the only thing that works and it is cheap - which makes it even better.

Skye on May 25, 2015

I use baking soda lightly sprinkled on the surface then a scrubby kitchen sponge dipped in vinegar and set it on the area with baking soda. After a few minutes, squeeze out the wet sponge and light scubbing will remove the hard water stain. A product called CLR will also work. Follow directions on the bottle.

I use white vinegar too, full strength. My husband cleans the coils on our hot pot by soaking it overnight. Great stuff, and no harmful chemicals or residue.

I've used vinegar and baking soda and it works pretty well. Lime Away worked best. It is an ongoing problem where I live and I have a black fridge...........

Yes, it is hard water, but you should be more concerned about what it will do to your appliances. Frigs with water supply lines eventually get blocked by this, and washers eventually quit due to hard water deposits blocking the pipes into and out of it. Please consider a water softener or you will be replacing your frig, washer and even your water heater! Ouch!

I use Lime away on all my plastics especially the black plastic area of the water/ice dispenser. It comes out shiny and clean. I use it on my plastic sinks in our mobile home. Can't wait to get new sinks.

I'm having the same problem, mine is so bad that it causes my water line to turn brittle where it has to be replaced. I've tried soaking in vinager overnight and did the baking soda/vinager paste and let sit...none of those worked. My husband says CLR will clean it.