Limescale? in Toilet - How to Remove?

ribze1 on 01/06/2023 - 21:32
Last edited 04/06/2023 - 13:48

Hi everyone,

A couple of years ago I came home from an overseas trip and our toilet water was murky and the bowl was stained. We were not able to get it out via scrubbing, toilet cleaners etc.

I suspect it is limescale via google searches but the recommended methods to remove have not worked for me. It's helped don't get me wrong but I still have the heavy stains.

Pics: https://imgur.com/a/L3KETIc

Methods used:

  1. Bi-carb + vinegar, then toilet brush. Emptied the bowl of water first, just pure vinegar. I did this a second time and left it in all night.
  2. CLR. Have done this twice, first time left it in for 20 minutes then scrubbed with pumice stone, then toilet brush. Second time left it in for 2 hours. Again emptied the bowl first.

Does anyone know what this is for sure or have ideas?

Thank you.
Ribze1

Edit: Scalex was the lifesaver

Method:
10pm last night - I emptied as much water as i could, added 2 heaped teaspoons of Scalex then topped up with warm water to the highest stain point.
9am this morning - just scrubbed with the toilet brush and flushed.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • duk242 on 01/06/2023 - 21:33
    +7

    Try Scalex from Bunnings - Pretty tough stuff. Did real good on our loo :)

    • trex on 01/06/2023 - 22:28

      Can't agree more. Used Scalex for a very stained toilet bowl and the results was amazing!

      • FujiFruit on 01/06/2023 - 22:42

        How much to put and how long do you leave it in there ?

        • skid on 01/06/2023 - 22:55
          +2

          Dissolve one teaspoon in hot water, pour it into the bowl and leave it overnight. Works even better if you leave it in the bowl for 24 hours.

        • trex on 01/06/2023 - 23:03
          +3

          I poured a generous amount from the bottle for a toilet that has been heavily stained over a number of years. Left it to sit overnight and with very minimal scrubbing the next day, toilet was good as new.

    • ribze1 on 01/06/2023 - 22:53

      I'll start with this, thanks.

      Will report back.

    • ribze1 on 04/06/2023 - 13:48
      +2

      Winner winner! Bowl is spotless. Thank you so much.

      • duk242 on 04/06/2023 - 14:04

        Yay!
        I was surprised by it too :)

  • MS Paint on 01/06/2023 - 21:48
    +2

    What's green and sits at the bottom of your toilet?

    Kermit the bog.

  • KaTst3R on 01/06/2023 - 21:53
    +5

    Lol why did i click the picture while munching on some potato chips….

  • elgrande on 01/06/2023 - 21:57
    +1

    I used https://www.bunnings.com.au/peerless-jal-1l-one-shot-thick-c… and a large drill bit to chip away.

  • seannami on 01/06/2023 - 22:11
    +1

    One thing you could try is pouring a 2l bottle of coke into it (slow so it doesn't flush) and let it sit overnight. Then flush, and scrub with baking soda paste a a pumice stone. This will shift a decent number of toilet stains one way or another.

    • [Deactivated] on 01/06/2023 - 22:59

      pouring a 2l bottle of coke

      Would Pepsi work?

      • skid on 01/06/2023 - 23:03

        I tried Pepsi Max and it didn't work for me.

        • [Deactivated] on 01/06/2023 - 23:04
          +3

          Pfft …if it cannot remove limescale then ppl shouldn't drink it

      • seannami on 02/06/2023 - 05:59
        +1

        It's the combo of Citric acid and sugar that does it, so Pepsi might but diet won't.

  • pegaxs on 01/06/2023 - 22:16
    +4

    Look up “sulfamic acid” (NOT sulphuric acid) Buy some at Bunnings in powder form.
    Take it home, mix it with some water as per the instructs on the container…
    use a plunger or something to get most of the water out of the toilet and pour in the sulfamic acid and leave it for an hour or so.
    Sulfamic acids react with lime and basically eats it. You will come back and almost all the limescale will have dissolved and you will need to just run your regular toilet brush around the bowl to clean up what is left. No pumice stones, drill bits, screw drivers, crow bars or what ever else people are suggesting…

    Repeat as required.

    Do NOT use other acids like sulphuric or hydrochloric acids, apart from being dangerous to handle, they can react with the limescale and produce things like chlorine gas (from memory).

    • WreckTangle on 02/06/2023 - 07:39
      +5

      (from memory).
      Memories from WW1?

  • brendanm on 01/06/2023 - 22:38
    +2

    Hydrochloric acid. Bunnings has it. Cheap and a bottle lasts ages. You only need to use a little bit.

  • justgooddeals on 01/06/2023 - 22:39
    +4

    Dynamite works well

  • Kongzi on 01/06/2023 - 22:47
    -1

    Bleach

    • ribze1 on 01/06/2023 - 22:54

      Tried that too actually, one of the initial options.

      • Kongzi on 02/06/2023 - 13:09

        It works. Just gotta put more

    • trex on 01/06/2023 - 23:07
      +4

      Bleach is not effective against limescale

    • pegaxs on 02/06/2023 - 12:52
      -1

      Bleach removed the poo staining, not the limescale itself.

  • sumyungguy on 01/06/2023 - 23:10
    +1

    I routinely use a rounded stainless pate knife to scrape off limescale. In the past, I descaled an aged toilet bowl with a spoon. If lime it'a best removed with a physical intervention. Not 100% sure looking at your image.

    • [Deactivated] on 01/06/2023 - 23:29
      +3

      That will just scratch the porcelain and permanently (profanity) it up.

      • sumyungguy on 01/06/2023 - 23:30

        It doesn't if you find the right tool. Dentists descale teeth with metal tools.

        • Protractor on 02/06/2023 - 11:14
          +1

          Let's hope this conversation doesn't give them any alternative ideas….

  • MeesusEff on 02/06/2023 - 00:01
    +3

    I bought the big bags of citric acid in Amazon to use for cleaning toilets. It does great for the most part but the super tough ones at the bottom I've considered a lost cause

    • Mythreesons on 02/06/2023 - 10:50

      I buy citric acid in the little containers from the supermarket, it does a great job.

  • JIMB0 on 02/06/2023 - 05:20
    +1

    Harpic oxi action works well. Leave it soak overnight if possible then it comes off easy with the brush.

  • tabitha731 on 02/06/2023 - 07:21
    +4

    Get a jar of citric acid from the baking section in the supermarket, pour half into the bowl, leave overnight. Give it a light scrub first thing the next morning. And it should look like a brand new toilet

    • 87percent on 02/06/2023 - 07:44
      +1

      I second this.

    • CSR on 02/06/2023 - 07:55

      Third this. Works a treat.

  • TrustNoBody on 02/06/2023 - 08:07

    hydrochloric acid got 2 of my toilets perfect when nothing else worked

  • HelpMeiCantSee on 02/06/2023 - 08:11
    +1

    I personally use strong acids for toilet cleaning. Nitric is my pick for anything that has any chance of being organic. It does smell a bit when it’s working but very effective.

    Hydrochloric has the issue of venting chlorine gas, so I don’t recommend to people.

    Nitric acid is found at lab and cleaning supplies places. Just be aware it has a specific gravity of approx 1.5 (for 98%). It’s HEAVY, deceptively so- a 15L container weighs approx 25kg. But it’s super useful stuff if you’re ok and safe working with chemicals

    • pegaxs on 02/06/2023 - 12:57
      +2

      Hydrochloric has the issue of venting chlorine gas

      I mentioned this above as well. Added to this is fact that it is dangerous to handle. There are much better acids to use than one of the most dangerous.

      • HelpMeiCantSee on 07/06/2023 - 09:05

        Nitric is arguably more dangerous, but yes. All strong acids must be handled and used with extreme care.

  • bamzero on 02/06/2023 - 10:00
    +1

    Sulfamic acid. Hillmark Scalex at Bunnings etc is 100% powder, and you'll find a bunch of other products there with diluted sulfamic acid as the active ingredient, like Glitz calcium scale and rust remover, one shot toilet cleaner and probably lots of others but they're are the ones that come to mind from when I was looking for sulfamic products a while back.

  • Jeannie77 on 02/06/2023 - 10:51

    Hydrochloric acid worked like magic for me and I had tried plenty of other things like CLR and scrubbing but with hydrochloric acid I did not even need to scrub, it all just disappeared.

  • knasty on 02/06/2023 - 11:20
    +2

    Why do people mix bicarb and vinegar? Each on their own have a purpose, but as soon as you mix them you undo each of their individual cleaning properties.

    • Kongzi on 02/06/2023 - 13:09
      +2

      They don't understand chemistry

  • Gdsamp on 02/06/2023 - 13:00

    Once you treat the symptom, time to fix the cause.

    Changem your diet

    • Kongzi on 02/06/2023 - 13:10
      +1

      What type of diet can cause this?

      • Gdsamp on 02/06/2023 - 14:29
        +1

        Limes

  • iminabrons on 02/06/2023 - 13:05
    +1

    BTW.
    Mix Bi-carb with vinegar and you get;
    sodium acetate + water + a lot of carbon dioxide gas.
    Sodium acetate is the stuff they use to flavour potato crisps to give it their Salt and Vinger flavouring.
    Good luck trying to clean anything with that. On the other hand, you can always tell people if they lick your toilet bowl it will taste like crisps.

    • pegaxs on 02/06/2023 - 16:20

      Weirdly enough… bi-carb is an alkali and vinegar is an acid, so they basically make a neutral paste… Vinegar reacts with limescale a similar way as it does with bi-carb, so mixing it with bi-carb first is pointless (unless you are trying to make a mildly abrasive paste). Just add the vinegar to the limescale (which is still shit, because vinegar is only about 5% Acetic acid anyway).

      Bi-Carb = NaHCO₃
      Limescale = CaCO₃

      Best thing is, if you mix vinegar with limescale, you get calcium acetate, water and carbon dioxide. You can then use your new found calcium acetate to make Tofu :D

  • Sinnerator on 03/06/2023 - 08:31
    -1

    drink more vinegar CLR

    edit, just looked at pic, eat more fibre and actually clean your toilet

  • FujiFruit on 04/06/2023 - 16:44

    Would this work to whiten inside kitchen cabinets that has turned yellow ?

    • skid on 05/06/2023 - 10:57

      No. They can only be whitened using a chemical bath. Not worth doing.

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