The "As Seen on TV" Challenge

The challengers -- three cleaning products:



The competition -- one rust stain behind my toilet:



In truth, we are joining the competition already in progress.  I've been working on this stain for days.  My (regular strength) Mr. Clean Magic Eraser got a little off it off, and my Clorox Bleach Pen didn't do jack.  So, I went to the store today, planning to get me some CLR or something that would take that rust away.

(While at the store, I read the packaging on the Clorox Bleach Pen, which says that some stains "such as rust stains" may be "impossible to get out."  Thanks.)

CLR is made for rust, but has many warnings on it not to be used on this type of tile.

I spot the Kaboom, which claims (right there on the package) to work on rust, so I grab it.  I also grab the "Extra Power" Magic Eraser, seeing as the regular strength one made progress.  And on my way out, I nearly whack my head on the display of Krazy Koths, which again, right there on the package, say that they remove "Rust Stains from Tile."  I've got a Rust Stain on Tile.  I have no faith at all in the Krazy Kloth, but it's $5, so I figure to take one in the interests of science.

I figure to address the stain in increasing order of my confidence in the products.  Which means that Krazy Kloth is up first.  "Rub article to be cleaned with KRAZY Kloth then wipe with any untreated dry, soft cloth or paper towel."  Okey doke.  Now, the directions say it works without "rubbing and scrubbing."  No scrubbing = no results.  But when I did scrub away with that little dude, to my great surprise, I got this:



A marked improvement!  Stain is still visible, but, well, it actually looks like an effort has been made to clean it.  This puts the Krazy Kloth well ahead of the Clorox pen and Magic Eraser.

And speaking of Magic Erasers, I try the "Extra Power" one next.  Result:



Nada.  Looks exactly like it did before.  Extra Strength Magic Eraser jumps to the back of the line.

Finally, we apply the Kaboom Ultra Scrub.  Applying it took a little effort, as I did the whole "shake thoroughly" thing and then tried to "squeeze directly onto surface" only to discover there was a safety seal under the cap.  Removed cap, shook thoroughly, squeezed directly onto ... floor about a foot away from the stain.  That stuff flies out of the bottle.  OK, put it on stain, rub with sponge and ... hey, not bad.  Let's "repeat as necessary."  Result, after two shots of Kaboom:



Nearly gone.  OK, sure, you can still see some slight discoloration -- but I don't expect anyone to be looking that closely behind my toilet.  The goal here is to make the place look good enough for buyers, and I think I can now check "get rid of rust stain behind john" off the punch list.  Gold star for Kaboom Ultra Scrub!