Limescale in toilet

[NomoneyNohoney]

Our loo has limescale at the rear of it, towards the u-bend. I've left limescale remover overnight, poured into the water, but it's not shifted it. Anyone know a better way of getting rid of it? Could I scoop out some water to lower the level a bit, before adding the limescale remover?

[csearle]

Our loo has limescale at the rear of it...

Don't try siphoning it out NmNh

I found that the limescale remover overnight method works well but, as 1nv has suggested, you need to get most of the water out first. I succeeded with a plunger.

Good luck,
be brave,
Chris.

[malakoffee]

It might help to heat up the residual water before adding the limescale remover.

If you use a kettle, avoid pouring boiling water on the pan itself . .. . obviously

It is quite rewarding to see a large piece of limescale drop down from an unreachable and unseen position.

I flush with ( soft ) water out of the rainwater barrel these days. Algae rather than limescale.

[sg31]

I had to remove limescale from toilets in rental properties I owned. The most effective thing I found was brick cleaner from a builders merchant. It is a strong acid so care is needed.

These were empty properties so it was safe for me to use. I wouldn't recommend it's use if there are children and pets around.

If you do use it make sure you flush the loo a couple of times before using it.

[Midsmartin]

The key is that anything acidic will do the job. Vinegar will remove limescale - though probably rather slower than whatever brick cleaner is made of. But if the limescale is a very thick concretion then it will take a very long time. I discovered I could chip off the accessible limescale with the end of an old knife as well (tried this after leaving it overnight). Might not be recommended in case you scratch something!.

[redsturgeon]

I bought a bottle of some incredibly strong acid from Homebase that was sold for this purpose...it worked well...I'm sure it was more powerful than Coke.

John

[bionichamster]

As others have indicated, an acid is key to dissolving it away. Fill the bowl with vinegar overnight and next morning rubberglove up and give it a scrub.

I've recently bought pint bottles (they are called 568ml!) of white vinegar in the B&M store for 35p for general household cleaning, it may be even cheaper elsewhere, either way a few pints of that is cheaper than many branded toilet cleaners and it has 1000's of other practical uses.

BH

[NomoneyNohoney]

Thanks for that tip BH - I'm going past B&M later today.
Have a virtual rec!

[88V8]

Coke also dissolves rust.
It never ceases to amaze me that people are prepared to marinade their teeth in it.

V8

[Loir]

We use Cola (cheap supermarket stuff) for soaking brass and copper in to clean them.
Works very well.

Not so sure about in the toilet.

Loir

[plodder]

Spirit of salts worked well for me. Used on some intransigent looking loos.

[Hardgrafter]

I am professionally design and troubleshoot industrial water desalination plants, where limescale is usually enemy #1.

You need to get the pH of the cleaning solution to < 3, the lower the faster it is. Also as others pointed out, heating the solution speeds up the process.

Its safe to use Citric Acid (you can buy it in crystal form on Amazon, and also good for kettle descaling. It gets the pH down to about 2.5. After all its basically just concentrated lemon juice.

I second the comments on Coca Cola - its Phosphoric Acid at pH 3. Ugh....

But brick cleaner is much faster to react, as its usually Hydrochloric Acid (e.g. Wickes Bostic Brick and Mortar cleaner) which can get the pH down to 1 or even less. Read the COSHH sheet!

Do not, in any circumstances, use bleach at the same time. You will gas yourself with chlorine fumes.