What is that dark ring that grows around the top edge of the waterline in the toilet bowl when you let it go without cleaning/disinfecting for a week or ten days? Mold, bacteria, worse?
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6 years ago
Ring Around the Toilet
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6 years ago
Minerals and solids in the water. That is where the water evaporates first leaving residue. I put in a glug of bleach, let stand about 10 minutes, and brush it around at least once, maybe twice a week.
I'm a stickler on clean bathrooms. The rest of the house can be in disarray, but the toilet has to be perfectly white and no odors.
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6 years ago
Does chlorine remove the minerals with out damaging the porcelain?
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6 years ago
I took his post to mean the bleach is a disinfectant, not a mineral remover...
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6 years ago
But it easily cleans it too. I don't know how well it would work if you let it build for 6 months though. Should be done at least weekly, depending on use.
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6 years ago
On Thu 01 Jun 2017 06:03:48a, Ed Pawlowski told us...
I think it must depend on the water. We swab our toilets daily and clean them weekly with a good quality OTC product. However, even with that effort we are left with a browish ring at the water line. We have started using a commercial caustic toilet cleaner every two weeks which eradicates it completely. These were brand new toilets when we had them installed 4 years ago.
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6 years ago
Not if it's established and on there long enough. But some hydrochloric acid does.
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6 years ago
AFAIK, your area has very hard water. Are you doing any treatment?
Some of the in-the-tank treatments work, but Kohler (the brand we have) says not to use anything as they can harm the workings.
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6 years ago
On Thu 01 Jun 2017 09:31:23a, Ed Pawlowski told us...
Likewise, ours are also Kohler. In other homes we've had here we've always had a water softener. Unfortunately, our plumbing network runs throughout attached units and there is no way or place to install one. When we had them in the past it made a world of difference.
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6 years ago
That is iron deposits. Some of the wells around here have huge iron deposits. Their toilets look like hell.
Fortunately, our water is mildly soft and is mostly calcium. It builds up over time, but it is not so ugly as iron deposits.
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6 years ago
On Fri 02 Jun 2017 03:20:03p, Oren told us...
The conmmercial product we use contains muriatic acid. I'm sure part of what is in our water is iron. However, our area is known for having extremely hard water. I"m not sure what our water source is, but I thing a large percentage of Arizona water is from river sources. Ours is a public water supply and we don't personally have a well. There doesn't seem to be any type of buildup in the bowl rim. We hve a good flush and water from every orifice.