Does your toilet bowl have nasty brownish or yellow rings around it? Stains running from beneath the rim to the water level? A brownish rust stain in the bottom? All of these stains are caused by a buildup of minerals from hard water. Because porcelain is porous, it's especially prone to picking up these nasty stains and holding onto them forever.

Don't despair if this sounds familiar to you. There is a way to eliminate these problems and to keep them from coming back. By following these simple cleaning tips, your toilet will look great once again:

•Turn off the water to your toilet.

•Flush it repeatedly until the bowl is empty of water.

•Get some heavy duty paper towels and soak them with an all purpose bathroom cleaner or orange citrus cleaner. You can also use white vinegar.

•Line the toilet bowl with the paper towels. Let them sit there.

•Keep the paper towels wet for several hours by adding more citrus cleaner as it dries out.

•When the water spots start dissolving, get out your stiff bristled toilet brush and scrub to remove the scale. A toilet brush with a bent tip will make the job easier by getting up under the rim and into the trap to get at the source of the stains.

•Turn the water back on and rinse thoroughly.

•If the treatment didn't completely dissolve the stains, buy a pumice stone at a janitorial supply store or a hardware store.

•Wet one end of the pumice stone. Keep it wet while you work. Rub the pumice stone across the stains very, very gently.

•Switch to the nylon bent tip toilet brush again to scrub away the remains of the stain.

•Maintain the cleanliness of the toilet by giving it a daily quick scrubbing with the toilet brush. While you're at it, scrub up under the rim to remove hard water and lime deposits that will drip down the insides of your toilet. Remember to rinse the brush well and to hang it to dry when you're done.

You can remove lime scale and alkaline deposits from your bathroom sink using the same method. Just soak paper towels in citrus cleaner or vinegar and line the bowl of the sink with them. Then, keep the towels wet with the solution for several hours. After this time has passed, scrub the stains with a nylon bristle toothbrush or cleaning brush and then rinse with clear water. Voila! A sparkling clean sink to match your perfectly clean toilet.