REALLY Stubborn limescale!

sebastianj

Sainsbury own brand 'toilet cleaner' Lime scale remover works wonders. Only 60P per bottle.
seb

pigeonpie

both our tiny bathrooms (ex rental flat) are encrusted with limescale of at least 10 years' vintage. This is a very hard water area. It's not just the taps and tap plates/shower heads in the shower, but less accessible areas of the tiled floor and around the shower cubicle, base of loo, inside loo etc.

I have tried for hours with various things like vinegar, all manner of 'guaranteed limescale remover' products and a lot of elbow grease. It looks a tiny bit better but is still bad especially the tiles around the back of the loo, a bit in the loo (looks worse than before I cleaned the rest of it) and the shower taps. The fittings are enamel so I can't go at them with steel wool. The tap fittings are chrome. There is black ingrained around the one basin tap that will not shift as well, no matter what I try. That tap has probably leaked from day 1 so that's why. (still leaks a bit).

We may sell the flat in the next year and we can't afford 1 new bathroom, let alone 2. We had quotes for 1 new shower room (it's only 1.5m x 1.7m) the cheapest of which was over £3500 with fittings so are just going to give both bathrooms a mega clean and then try to replace anything so grotty that it can't be revived.
Does anyone have any suggestions please?

The only thing I haven't tried is Cillit Bang as there are no windows, iffy old extractors and I thought it may finish me off in a confined space

valk_scot

I vaguely recall Agie in "How Clean is Your House" using a pumice stone on a really stubborn toilet. The other thing I recall my mum doing was use denture powder (basically dry powder toothpase) and an old toothbrush to get into grotty corners. I'd try a paste of vinegar and something abrasive like fine sand or salt (no salt on enamel) as well.

angeltreats

valk_scot wrote: »

I vaguely recall Agie in "How Clean is Your House" using a pumice stone on a really stubborn toilet.

This works! The toilet in our old flat was encrusted with limescale when we moved in, and rubbing it with a pumice stone worked miracles. The bit right at the bottom of the toilet was harder to get at, but the thing that seemed to work the best was dropping a few denture tablets down the loo and leaving them overnight.

rosie383

I had to do the pumice stone thing in our loo after trying many different chemicals. I just used a disposable plastic cup and scooped out all the water then scrubbed away.
The Harpic power loo cleaner (in a black bottle) that I bought in Poundland, worked really well in my sink and on encrusted taps, and edges of tiles. I know it is meant for loos, but I thought I would try it anyway, and it brought them up sparkling. The house we bought had thick encrusted limescale everywhere too, especially the toilet.

RAS

Hi

I had similiar chrome taps and limescale. I bought some cheap lemon juice from Lidl, put it on a kitchen towel until almost wet and wrapped it round the tap end and the base to start with. The following morning, the scale had started to separate from the tap and I was able to remove it in lumps. used the same method on flat surfaces and wrapped round other bits of the taps.

For the loo, when I was going to be away, I bought a bottle of cheap cola, pumped the loo almost empty (whiffy) and then filled the bowl with cola. When I came back all but the worst sections had cleared. I have tackled those corners and will repeat in the hope of clearing the last bit next time I go away.

marmiterulesok

You can use vinegar on any hardened limescale deposits,by soaking some tissue in vinegar,wrapping it round the area,and,if possible,sealing it with an elastic band.Leave for an hour or so,but not overnight,as the acetic acid could etch the finish,even on chrome taps.Do not use on gold-plated taps.(From Kim and Aggie's 'Cleaning Bible?).

Fruball

pigeonpie wrote: »

The only thing I haven't tried is Cillit Bang as there are no windows, iffy old extractors and I thought it may finish me off in a confined space

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Someone else mentioned the Power toilet stuff in a black bottle - I have found that to be really really good.

Otherwise, in OS fashion I would scoop out water in the loo (having first fixed the thing in the cystern that makes water come out... oh, i remember the BALLCOCK) and fill it up with cheap cola... That stuff would strip paint i reckon (would never drink it )

Let us know what worked best so we don't have to do all the testing

Teazel

Hi
We also have hard water here. I saw a post a long while ago on here recommending something called Spirit of Salt, strange name I know but it works. It does fume quite a bit and you should wear gloves as it is a fairly concentrated acid of some sort. Probably not very old style but works a treat on limescale in toilets (around 15 minutes seems to do it) and have used it carefully on chrome taps for a minute or two. Supermarkets don't seem to sell it. I get ours from a small hardware shop in town. Hope this helps.

pigeonpie

thanks for the ideas! I'll have a go. Someone else had said to me to try cola and I thought they were joking.
I hope I don't lose my teeth any time soon if that's what denture powder does.......!!

are you sure a pumice stone wouldn't scratch the enamel? I think I may try that last. The 'soapscum' mottled look on the shower and bath screen is quite big so can't really wrap it in vinegar cloths or lemon as it's too big an area. Do you think you get to a stage where it's actually not possible to get it looking clear and clean again?