Whether they are on your tub, your faucets, or your mirrors, there’s nothing more obnoxious than having to live with hard water stains. Luckily, we have some pretty amazing remedies for eradicating those cloudy deposits—and the best part is, all of the “cleansers” are already in your kitchen cupboard or medicine cabinet!

Here are 5 unbelievably simple ways to say bye-bye to those hard water stains. For full tutorials, be sure to click on the links below.

1. Cleaning Vinegar

   If that typical toilet cleanser just isn’t cutting it, it’s time to start taking advantage of our favorite household cure-all—vinegar! But when we say “vinegar”, we’re not talking about the kind you add to your salad dressing.

   When we need to lighten those dark spots and calcium deposits, we reach for cleaning vinegar, super potent vinegar that contains a higher amount of acidity than your run-of-the-mill variety. Pour this handy tool directly into your toilet bowl and scrub away. You’ll be amazed at how quickly those hard water stains magically disappear!

2. Hydrogen Peroxide

   Yet another favorite alternative to store-bought cleansers, ordinary hydrogen peroxide does a wonderful job in the bathroom, especially when confronted with that stubborn soap scum-hard water stain combo that accumulates at the bottom of tubs and metal fixtures, like faucets.

   You can either pour the peroxide directly onto the build-up and hard water spots, or you can supercharge it by adding some baking soda to the mix. Either way, allow it to sit for 30 minutes, then wash away with soap and water. Easy enough!

3. Apple Cider Vinegar

   While we’ll always sing the praises of the aforementioned and lesser-known cleaning vinegar, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention our old standby—apple cider vinegar. Aside from being another uber-versatile disinfectant – it even clears pores! – it also does an impeccable job of cleaning windows and glass that may come in contact with your mineral-heavy water supply.

   Just mix some of the apple cider vinegar with water in a spray bottle, and wipe away with newspaper. Soon your glass will be shining brightly once again.

4. Baking Soda

   If you have ceramic tile in your bathroom, then we’re sure that you have a serious love-hate relationship it. While it can give your abode a ton of character, hard water can easily wreak havoc on both the enamel and grout, quickly making even the priciest of tiles look cheap.

   To fix this, simply apply a baking-soda water mixture to the affected areas and allow some time for it to penetrate—about a minute or so should do the trick! Once finished, lightly scrub away… and pick your jaw up off the floor. Yep, it works THAT well!

5. Toothpaste

   There’s nothing worse than handing a cloudy-looking drinking glass to your dinner guest. Even though the glass may be straight out of the dishwasher, mineral-rich water can make it look as if you haven’t washed it in years!

   Now, vinegar works well to get rid of the blur – surprise, surprise! – but we actually like to use toothpaste even more. You heard that right; just brush on a bit of cheap, white toothpaste and rinse away. Doesn’t get much simpler than that.

Talk about easy cleaning! Now that you know how to best eliminate hard water stains, we want to hear from you. Have you tried any of these DIY cleansers before? If so, which is your favorite? What’s your secret for banishing hard water stains?