gross toilet ! How to get rid of limescale

tigerfeet2006

When we moved into a flat that was rather minging, my Mum used patio cleaner on the loo. She had gone through goodness knows what else to6 start with but that was the only thing that shifted it.

pigpen

harpic... ordinary bue one.. couple of the tablets for over night and the liquid for above the water line.. soak kitchen roll in it and stuff under the rim.. twinkly bog!

delain

LandyAndy wrote: »

Don't go down that path.;):)

OK :rotfl:

Seriously, I'm going to try that vinegar thing. After I've been back to the washing thread I'm curiously addicted to.

maryb

spirits of salts.

We had builders in for a month while we were on holiday.

Came back and looked at the downstairs cloakroom - nuff said:eek:

Spirits of salts is brilliant when only chemicals will do

kittykat500

It is also a good idea to drain the toilet of water before using a limescale remover. This can be done by using a mop and bucket and wringing the water out bit by bit, then leaving the limescale remover overnight. Attack with the mop, or abrasive scourer. This should work!

If you use a mop in this way, remember to wash out in water and then soak it in a strongish bleach solution afterwards, to get rid of any nasty bacteria!

Sublime_2

LandyAndy wrote: »

Sponge on one side, scratchy nylon on the other. A bit like these.



They work for me.

I use those for everything. If limescale remover, or vinegar used first on the brown stained area, should scrub up a treat. I buy the cheap and nasty ones 10 for £1, as I always throw mine away. Well you would anyway I hope after cleaning the toilet pan. :eek:

squeakyclean226

mazza111 wrote: »

Don't know if you can still get it but i used to buy Citric Acid(powder form) in the chemists for doing this job, can't remember how much it was but it was rather a lot cheaper than the normal limescale removers. Worked as well as vinegar without the smell . Sorry for being so vague but i live in a nice soft water area now :j so no limescale :j

The citric acid works fantastic. I get mine from this company: http://www.dri-pak.co.uk/citric-acid.html :beer:

Rallydrive

Pouring litres of bleach down the toilet is not going to do the environment any favours at all is it. Let's try and be a little bit more conscious of the eco-system and the creatures that live in it!

vl2588

Same with most cleaners, including Ecover et al. Best thing is to use as little of whatever you do use as possible. Obviously there are degrees of harm though!

clairehi

I live in a very hard water area and moved into a house with 3 toilets that had not been properly cleaned in years apparently. I tried most things including the value cola method which just stained the lime darker brown- avoid!

firstly you need to EMPTY the toilet as the water dilutes the action of any cleaner. the easiest way is to (wearing rubber gloves) put a large sponge down the loo and squeeze it out into a bucket. you can buy a value car sponge for 31p from tesco and throw it away after.

secondly, when the toilet is empty of water you need an ACIDIC cleaner to dissolve limescale as it is alkaline. Domestos Zero is the best product I have found in the supermarket. it contains hydrochloric acid which is a strong acid which dissolves the limescale, and like other toilet cleaners is thicker so it sticks to the sides of the bowl.

("Spirit of salts" is AFAIK an old fashioned name for hydrochloric acid itself, the active ingredient in Domestos zero, and could be used instead but I would be very wary as neat it is powerful stuff. also, as it is of a water like consistency, the acid alone will not cling to the surfaces of the bowl. the Domestos zero product is more user friendly but you should still wear gloves and eye protection when using and wash off any spills immediately - it WILL burn and it is very easy to get splashed when scrubbing vigorously.)

lemon juice and vinegar will also have some effect against limescale, but much less powerful, as they contain weaker acids than the above.

thirdly, leave the product on for as long as possible and use a scourer to remove the product and limescale, again taking care to protect yourself from splashes.

good luck!