Limescale in toilet

did it do it in the old bog?

Jim K

Yeah we had the problem in there, where the little holes under the rim where blocked and no amount of scrubbing with a little brush helped so I just bought a new one as the old was was damaged and limescaled up.

Install a water softener, or use a lot of descaling acid. Or both.

If you mean that dreadful green stuff from Domestos, we found it utterly useless too: and it leaves green stains of its own everywhere.

You might ask your water supplier if they are going OTT on their water hardness: I think, even for this there are supposed to be limits. If yours is not exceptionally high, our water is directly from the Chalk and is quite hard, but the loo does not lime up all that quickly enough to be difficult to control. What I do is keep an eye out for when the sump seems to be retaining skid marks longer than it should. Then I sprinkle citric acid crystals around after a flush so that they stick to the sides and some go into the sump, and leave it over night. Next day I flush, and then follow up with the bog brush and bleach. It keeps clean without very much effort.

The holes under the rim are not so easy, but my 20% citric spray can get up there and soften it; followed by a stainless scourer swarf scrub in the actual groove, and if necessary a suitable sized nail/screwdriver/drill bit clears out the holes. A mirror helps. [Don't use a stainless scourer on the main visible bowl as it will mark. You can, however use an ordinary iron scraper on any tougher deposits you have, and the acid will remove any marks that makes.] The holes only really need doing once in a blue moon, so it is not as fiddly as it sounds, but if you have an economy flush model you want them as clear as possible or the whole bowl may not get rinsed.

Any reasonably strong acid will obliterate limescale rapidly. HCl, sulphamic acid, or if you have the patience of Job then citric would work. You can get acids from a builder's merchant. Yes, some are dangerous, especially 98% sulphuric acid.

NT

citric acid will remove it and should be safe.

Robert Dyas and some other hardware retailers sell concentrated hydrochloric acid as a descaler. This is highly-effective although care is needed in using it as it releases hydrogen chloride gar which is not nice. I think it's about £3 - £4 for a 500ml bottle. It definitely works as I've used it to completely remove all signs of scale from a heavily scaled up toilet bowl.

Killrock from B&Q. £2. Pour it in. Leave overnight. Scour round to remove last vestiges. Works a treat.

Peter Scott

Sugar Soap worked on my last bog. Not had a problem with the new one.

Just keep it away from all chromium though, including stainless steel. It does like that!

Been there, done that and learnt the lesson the wrong way!

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Richard saying something like:

Local pick-up only, I'm afraid.

How do you block it?

Whatever comes to hand. A bunch of plastic bags usually

Fix a balloon to a long tube. Insert ballon round bend. Blow up via tube and tie off tube.