Any chemists? Need HCl advice

I do that. We have very hard water. Do not raise the water level as that may flush it. Just pour about a cup full in. Mix it up with the toilet brush Close lid and let it soak a while. Use brush again and then flush. DO NOT INHALE THE FUMES. WW

Go for it. It's not that bad.

We used to pipette everything by mouth. Except urine (go figure). Suck up a couple of milliliters of HCL and your teeth are REALLY clean!

In case the acid doesn't do a good enough job, a couple of cups of bleach will often remove the stain. Flush away the acid first.

i'm curious as to how you think you are going to raise the water level in the bowl.

be advised, the muratic will etch the porcelain.

By displacing enough to cover the ring. I figure a peanut butter sized plastic container filled with water will do the trick. I obviously don't want a metal lid in with acid.

Thanks for all the responses guys, makes me a lot more confident!

Fumes are a big issue. I've heard one good hit of the vapor will melt lungs.

And as always, wear a face shield when working with acid.

the bowl level will remain constant no matter what you put in there.

Not if you plug the toilet with a rag or similar object.

If the water can't go out, it can only go up.

1. Stuff LARGE rag in toilet to stop outflow.
2. Add HCl.
3. Rag starts to fall to pieces...

Just saying, this whole acid thing sounds worse than a little scrubbing.

The plasticizers (sp?) in some automotive paint will melt your lungs.

I've worked with strong HCL (muriatic acid) and it will sting your nose like you wouldn't believe.

But you can get it on your skin no problem (but if you've got any cuts - they will sting like a bitch).

I'll take a gallon jug of HCL/Muriatic from Home Depot and take a paper towel and fold it a few times and hold it against the opening of the jug and hold the jug upside down a few seconds to saturate a small area of the paper towel.

Then I'll take the paper towel to my bathtub or sink and clean away any film (soap film, mineral, what-have-you).

This works effortlessly, no real scrubbing or elbow grease. Rinse with water. Doesn't harm the finish at all.

I have one sink that is made out of some sort of composite pastic-sort-of material, some sort of fake marble. HCL doesn't harm it either.

No problem. Just avoid fumes and be careful not to splash on eyes, skin or clothing. I probably would not use more than half a cup or so wetting the ring and letting it soak.

First, I hope you tried a toilet brush?

You'd have better results, if you use something like a turkey baster to remove some water from the bowl. Then, use the same turkey baster to gently apply the acid around the top of the bowl, let it run down into the water.

Wait a minute or two, and see if you can scrape the ring off with a toilet brush, or plastic burger flipper.

Flush, to dilute, and move the chemicals down the drain. While the water is flushing, scrub with the plastic flipper, or plastic heavy duty spoon. Scrub with toilet brush.

Discard the plastic scraper.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

I plan to raise the water level in the bowl above the ring (glass filled w/H2O), then pour the acid in. Is this a bad idea? Seriously, no troll, I am about to do it. Its a little scary taking the top off the acid when you see white fumes come out.

Use a five gallon bucket of water, and fill the entire bowl. And let us know what happens. If that doesn't fill the bowl, use another bucket of water.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

By displacing enough to cover the ring. I figure a peanut butter sized plastic container filled with water will do the trick. I obviously don't want a metal lid in with acid.

Correct. The rag does start to fall to pieces.

The process takes, however, several hours for any noticeable effect. If then.

Yes. Now I have been mixing bleach with vinegar to produce chlorine gas to do some odor control. Its highly dangerous. Hcl is going to do it better.

Greg

So I left out:

I wondered if anyone would voice that opinion. I just think the whole thing with acid is full of unpredictability. Like, for example, a rag is a rag. It could be cotton, wool, rayon, lots of things. It could have previously been used and not clean. The rag could stand up fine. On the other hand...

That _might_ work. I'm pretty sure most plastic bags will stand up to HCl. (Actually, I have no idea. I see HCl is used to make PVC.)

Try a green 3M scrubber.