Every homeowner wants to own a clean and shiny bathroom with a squeaky clean toilet. However, hard water stains and limescale in the toilet bowl can make your whole bathroom look bad.
Besides, limescale does not only make your toilet look dirtier than it is, but it can also clog the flushing jets and pipework.
Don't let this happen! Learn here how to remove and prevent limescale deposits in your toilet.
How limescale ends up in your toilet?
In many areas, tap water is known as hard water because it carries dissolved minerals like calcium and magnesium. When hard water evaporates, it leaves behind minerals that react and form a hard, chalky-like buildup known as limescale.
Why are hard water and limescale a big deal?
Drinking hard water is not necessarily bad for your health, with almost no side effects—besides leaving a bad taste. In fact, some of the minerals found in hard water are needed in a regular diet!
However, hard water can damage your appliances, fixtures, and pipework. Limescale builds up in every place where hard water runs through. With time, it can clog the pipework and damage your boiler, dishwasher, and toilet.
Do you want to keep your toilet clean and working in top shape? Learn here how to remove limescale!
How to remove limescale from a toilet
Most homeowners find out that limescale is building up in their toilets when a nasty stain inside the bowl doesn't come off easily. Usually, the mineral deposits are so hard that a toilet brush is not enough to remove them.
If you are wondering if you can get rid of limescale, here is some good news for you! The easiest way to remove mineral deposits is by dissolving them. However, there are other ways you can deal with limescale.
Here are a few methods to remove limescale from your toilet!
Method #1. Remove limescale with white vinegar
Are you looking for a natural alternative to remove limescale? You can do it with white vinegar and elbow grease!
Have you ever heard that you shouldn't use vinegar to clean stone tile and fixtures? That's because vinegar contains acetic acid, which isn't gentle with minerals. Luckily, you can use vinegar's acidic nature to dissolve mineral deposits.
Here are the steps:
- Pre-treat stains with vinegar: You can use undiluted white vinegar, as it won't hurt the porcelain. Spray the stains generously, and leave the vinegar sitting for at least 3 hours to penetrate the buildup and dissolve it.
Also, you can pour vinegar into the bowl and leave it overnight. However, this method might need a more considerable amount of vinegar.
- Scrub the limescale: After letting vinegar do its magic, you need to scrub the limescale away. Instead of your toilet brush, you'll need a stiff-bristled brush or the non-metallic scouring pad of an old kitchen sponge. Put on your rubber gloves and scrub the stains.
- Flush the toilet: Once you finish scrubbing, it's time to flush! In lightly stained toilets, you should be able to remove the limescale by following the previous steps.
However, if you need to remove a thick buildup, you might need to repeat the previous steps or use the following method.
Method #2. Remove limescale with sandpaper
When dealing with thick limescale, dissolving it with vinegar can take time. However, you can opt for a bold and faster method: sanding the limescale. If you go this route, you need to be careful and not scratch the porcelain.
Here are the steps:
- Sand the thick buildup of minerals: You can use medium-grit sandpaper to reduce the bulk of the limescale. Don't sand the porcelain surface during this step—only the mineral deposits.
- Use fine sandpaper to remove the remaining limescale: It's less likely to damage porcelain with a fine-grit sandpaper. However, you still need to be careful. Sand the stain until it's gone, then flush your toilet.
Note:
You could use a pumice stone to scrub mineral buildup on the bowl surfaces. When pumice stones are wet, they are safe to use on porcelain.
Are there other ways to remove limescale from your toilet?
More than likely, you have heard that it's possible to clean a toilet with Coke. Believe it or not, this makes sense! Coke (and most dark-colored sodas) contains phosphoric acid, which can dissolve minerals in the same way as acetic acid in vinegar does.
However, why use soda when you can use other products instead? You won't get better results by pouring Coke instead of white vinegar.
Can you remove limescale with bleach? When removing limescale and other mineral deposits, you want to use acidic products, and bleach is quite the contrary. Bleach will only disinfect and leave the limescale clean and bright!
How to stop limescale from building up in your toilet
As mentioned above, mineral deposits are left behind when hard water passes through the toilet. The hardness of water depends on the water's source in your area—and investing in a water softener is expensive. Instead, you can rely on cleaning habits to prevent scaling.
Here are two quick things you can do monthly to prevent limescale in the toilet:
Pour vinegar into the tank
Pouring acidic cleaners down the toilet can help you prevent hard water stains and mineral deposits. Some people recommend lemon juice, but the most reliable and affordable product to use is white vinegar.
Each month, pour a cup of white vinegar into the toilet tank. Leave it for 30 minutes before flushing it.
Scrub the entire bowl
Mineral deposits enter your toilet as soluble compounds. However, once these compounds build up, they'll keep solidifying on your toilet's surfaces. In other words, scrubbing last week's water stains is easier than cleaning the buildup from the previous year!
Scrub the entire bowl with your toilet brush once a month.
Let Rain City Maids help you keep your home clean
Keeping your home clean goes beyond scrubbing the toilet! Are you too busy to do the cleaning chores? Let Rain City Maids give you a helping hand. We are Eastside Seattle's best cleaning company!
Get a precise estimate directly from our homepage. Just tell us your cleaning needs and how often you want us to clean your home.
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