Help, oh please HELP! I thought the old vingegar on the end of the tap trick was safe, but..........oh please help me, household tip gurus!

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Bloody, bloody hell. I thought I used a standard, safe household tip last night, in putting a vingegar-soaked pad on the end of my brushed steel finish tap to remove some limescale. The limescale's gone, but the tap has discoloured badly. There are some orangey/brassy bits and some dull grey bits. There's no surface damage in the sense of an obvious removal of a coating, or any residue, it feels clean but looks crap! I'm in a panic - is there anything I can do to rescue it?

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Vinegar, even

[southeastastra]

think you're only meant to leave it on for about 15 mins, i've done the same with stainless steel and too much limescale remover. you could try brasso but it's probably permanent.

[maisym]

happened to me - I repainted the bit with metalic paint - looked fine after.

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bloody bloody bloody bloody hell

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Everything on the internet's telling me to USE vinegar, there's nothing about vinegar damage!!!

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Looks like you're right ladies, it's permanent. This is what I got back from the manufacturer:

In cases of limescale build up on a tap Franke do suggest using vinegar or lemon juice briefly and gently, making sure to rinse well afterwards. This does not mean leaving a pad soaked in vinegar against the tap for a length of time. It does sound as though you have damaged the finish to the tap and the only recommendation we can make is perhaps the purchase of a replacement tap part from our service agent.

Thanks for replying, anyway. Have calmed down a bit now - it's not the end of the world. Annoying though. Might look into whether I can just get a new spout.

[beckybrastraps]

I would sue Kim and Aggie...

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Was just thinking along similar lines Becky! Sure it was them I got the "tip" from...