What lasts longer than my fhumbnail.

[micky]

I can't figure out what made them occur, but there are deposits on my bathroom sink, at different heights, no less. I've never let water sit in the sink, usually not at all, and in maybe 10 cases I have but no more than a couple minutes.

I have Bar Keeper's friend (but have to find it), and I have a Magic Eraser, that Gomez and Nestork recommended for shower floors. I have Zud, but just noticed that it doesn't promise not to scratch.

So first I used Sof'-scrub. Verrry slow if at all, and worse I think it was just rounding off the corners so it would make other methods harder to use.

What worked well was my thumb-nail. It would take whole "chips" off in one stroke, almost half a square millimeter at a time. Worked maybe

100 times as fast as Sof-scrub. And what got removed was small enough that it didn't get under my nail and hurt, like some other things have.

The problem was that my thumbnails wore down.

Do they manufacture finger-nail equivalents?

There have been lots of things my thumb or other finger did well at removing, etc. I could wait until my nails get longer again, but I'm thinking it's more civilized and commercialized to buy something. And would not require so much waiting.

Any suggestions of something like a thumb- or finger-nail?

If they can make artificial hips and knees and ears, surely they can make finger-nail equivalents.

[Pico Rico]

buy a whole chicken, feet and all?

[Stormin Mormon]

Do you have a mailing adress? How about Geico cards, and faux credit cards.

My Dad used to use em for scraping dough while bread making.

I give them away to kids for Christmas presents.

- . Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

.

[Stormin Mormon]

See if the local mortuary can sell you some used ones?

[Dan Espen]

Yep.

Plastic scrub pads.

[micky]

Yes, why?

I get those occasionally in the mail. I tried to buy gas with one but it turns out I need a a driver's license made out to John Good Neighbor.

Where can I get one of those?

I have another longer than credit card piece of plastic I use when I want to loid a locked door. Unfortunately I'm not 18 anymore and if I were to find a door and do that, I'd probably go to jail.

I also have some expired credit cards. I'll try them. Thanks.

[micky]

I have some of them. I'll try them too. Thanks.

I did try already one with a thin layer of blue scrubbing stuff on one side of a sponge, but it probably is softer than a plastic Brillo-type pad.

OT, not that I would use them on the sink but I used to have a brass scouring pad; a bronze one, maybe: a copper one; and brillo pads which I think are made of iron or steel, since they rust, and some non-Brillo bigger steel pads sold in hardware stores. . I figured each was better for certain things, yet to be determined, than the others were.

But a couple wore out and I haven't found the exotic ones for sale anymore. And in one case I finally found them but they were much smaller and seemed to make using them harder.

[Ameri-Clean]

They do make fingernail equivalents; women use them all the time. They simp ly glue onto your nails. However, it sounds like you have hard water deposits and the solution is to use an acid-based cleaner to dissolve them without scratching the sink. Tr y vinegar--soak a paper towel with it and leave it on the surface for a cou ple of hours. If that doesn't work get a bathroom cleaner with phosphoric a cid. You should see it fizz up as it dissolves the mineral deposits. Test a small spot before using it all over. Safe to use on most sinks--but do not use an acid on marble. Do not use hydrochloric acid or muriatic acid.

[micky]

Okay. I'll test in another sink that needs replacing anyhow**. Thanks.

A RL friend of mine agreed with credit cards and recommended the obnoxiously named "loyalty cards" and also plastic knives, but I haven't had time to try anything yet.

**LIke my spare oil burner, when I saw that I had somehow damaged one a bathroom sink, a different bathroom, first I had bought a replacement, but I wasn't careful enough and it goes on above the counter instead of below, and I can probably make it work fine, but I kept my eyes open and a neighbor remodelling his bathroom threw away an identical sink to mine, So I have that in the basement and I'll install it. The big box store I bought the new sink from is out of business, the whole chain is, so I'll just give it to a plumbing supply store. Maybe they'll give me a free flapper in return, but that's not important.

[nestork]

I agree with Ameri-Clean.

I would try several cleaning products to see which, if any, work well at removing those stains. Phosphoric acid works well on mineral deposits, as does CLR. Neither one should hurt an enameled steel sink.

If the rings are the result of washing oily or greasy hands in the sink with bar soap, then mineral spirits should remove those stains.

Don't use any kind of acid on real marble, or even real granite. Don't use acetone or nail polish remover on artificial marble.

A popsicle stick makes for a good artificial finger nail. Plastic ice scraper blades for scraping the ice off of car windshields should also work well.