How a Calcium Deposit Can Damage Your Surfaces

Johnson HenryMay 16, 2022

6 2 minutes read

If you’ve ever noticed white marks or streaks on a surface in your kitchen or bathroom, you’re probably looking at a calcium deposit.

Calcium deposits are unappealing to look at and can damage surfaces in your home. When left on faucets or shower heads, they can even cause problems with your plumbing.

Trying to clean a calcium deposit can be frustrating, especially when it seems like they keep coming back. There are many possible reasons you have these unsightly white spots in your home, but we have the solutions.

Read on to learn what calcium deposits can do to surfaces, and how to get rid of them!

What Is a Calcium Deposit?

The tap water in your home contains several minerals, which vary by where you live and your water source. These minerals include magnesium, silica, lime, and, most commonly, calcium.

When mineral heavy water (referred to as “hard water”) dries on surfaces, it leaves a hardened white substance behind. These white marks are calcium deposits.

Harmful Effects

Apart from simply making surfaces look dirty or unsanitary, calcium deposits have other nasty effects.

Left for too long, calcium deposits can set into surfaces and become even harder to remove. After long enough, the stain can become permanent. Worse yet, they can actually penetrate a surface and harm its finish.

In addition to surface damage, calcium will accumulate on your faucet and showerhead. This buildup can decrease water flow, which can cause serious problems with your pipes.

Buildup in other places like sinks or toilets can also cause clogged pipes.

Calcium Deposit Causes

What causes a calcium deposit is primarily the quality of the water itself. While all tap water has some mineral content, hard water has a particularly large amount of minerals.

Water from wells or rivers tends to have more dissolved minerals and be “harder” than water from other sources.

Hard water, having more calcium content, is more likely to leave behind white stains.

Removal and Prevention

Now that we know what causes calcium deposits and what they can do to your home, let’s talk about cleaning them. You’ve likely scrubbed and scrubbed, only to see another deposit the next day.

Use white vinegar to pretreat surfaces before cleaning. The acid in the vinegar dissolves the minerals from the hard water, and the surface will be much easier to clean.

To prevent calcium deposits, you can use a water softener system to remove minerals from your water. Soft water is better for showering and washing dishes, as it mixes better with soap.

If water softening isn’t an option, you can buy Cal Block or a similar protectant to prevent calcium from building up on surfaces.