Removing limescale/water stains from a toilet bowl

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#3029697 30-Jan-2023 15:35

BKF is great stuff, I used to bring it over from the US before you could get it here because it's so useful. It's just oxalic acid and some mild abrasives so at a pinch you could brew some up yourself, but better to just get a tin of it for general use around the house.

Before trying Chemico which is pretty abrasive, try a cream cleanser like Jif if you haven't already.

Finally, once it's clean consider putting some sort of automotive protectant on it to shield it from re-staining.

Hammerer

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#3029738 30-Jan-2023 18:09

Very gently wet sanding works well to clear stubborn scale and concretions.

My wife uses very fine sanding blocks discarded from paint jobs by family and friends.

You normally only have to do it once when moving into a house/flat because other cleaners with brushes should prevent it reforming.

edit to add link. I was originally wary of abrasives affecting the vitreous surface. But a lot of people do it without problems e,g,

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2004/11/13/fine-grit-sandpaper-should-be-used-carefully-on-porcelain/28824078007/

snnet

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#3029774 30-Jan-2023 20:00

I've used charcoal activated cleaners before -- including charcoal toothpaste! It takes a few goes and you don't want to leave it on for probably more than 20 minutes at a time as it can stain but it really cleaned mine up, I think I had the same problem

(I brushed it on with an old brush)

farcus

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#3029777 30-Jan-2023 20:08

if it smells that bad, are you sure it is just limescale? 🤮
The bad smell is likely an ammonia buildup - although I guess this could be trapped in the scale.

tdgeek

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#3029781 30-Jan-2023 20:22

farcus:

if it smells that bad, are you sure it is just limescale? 🤮
The bad smell is likely an ammonia buildup - although I guess this could be trapped in the scale.

Where the OP coloured in where the issue is, it shouldn't get hard water buildup, it gets pee buildup. Thats how I saw it

MikeAqua

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#3029837 31-Jan-2023 08:44

farcus:

The bad smell is likely an ammonia buildup - although I guess this could be trapped in the scale.

I think this could be an issue in one of our toilets. If it's left closed up for a few days (which it often is) the room gets a fishy smell. I've checked for leaks and there are none.

Any suggestions about how to get rid of the ammonia?

Mike

Bung

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#3029845 31-Jan-2023 08:58

Have you checked the water level in the unused toilet? Sometimes wind over the vent can cause the water in the trap to bounce. You could end up with low water level allowing sewer gas into room.

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MikeAqua

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#3029881 31-Jan-2023 10:10

Bung: Have you checked the water level in the unused toilet? Sometimes wind over the vent can cause the water in the trap to bounce. You could end up with low water level allowing sewer gas into room.

It looks normal. How deep should it be?

Mike

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#3029913 31-Jan-2023 11:55

The water level in the bottom of the toilet should fill the U.

snnet

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#3029941 31-Jan-2023 13:09

MikeAqua:

farcus:

The bad smell is likely an ammonia buildup - although I guess this could be trapped in the scale.

I think this could be an issue in one of our toilets. If it's left closed up for a few days (which it often is) the room gets a fishy smell. I've checked for leaks and there are none.

Any suggestions about how to get rid of the ammonia?

Does the room in question have any other plumbing fixtures - shower, bath, vanity - that don't get used all that often? Sometimes you need to run water in these to fill the waste up a bit to stop the smell if you don't use these items often

OllieF

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#3029946 31-Jan-2023 13:53

We use citric acid to clean the toilet.....dirt cheap. Just chuck a couple of tsp in the toilet bowl, let it dissolve for about 10 minutes, then move the water all around the bowl with the brush. We've used it clean the shower hose as well, got rid of loads of limescale on that as well.

neb

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#3029962 31-Jan-2023 14:49

snnet:
Does the room in question have any other plumbing fixtures - shower, bath, vanity - that don't get used all that often? Sometimes you need to run water in these to fill the waste up a bit to stop the smell if you don't use these items often

Yup. In particular if you've got (say) two bathrooms with showers and always use one of them then every six months or so throw a bucket of water down the other one to keep the trap filled otherwise it'll eventually dry out and let sewer smells in. It's subtle enough that you won't know where it's coming from, or even that it's there a lot of the time.

MikeAqua

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#3029971 31-Jan-2023 15:20

snnet:

Does the room in question have any other plumbing fixtures - shower, bath, vanity - that don't get used all that often? Sometimes you need to run water in these to fill the waste up a bit to stop the smell if you don't use these items often

Nothing. It's a stand alone toilet.

Mike

richms

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#3030006 31-Jan-2023 16:47

I had to use steel wool to get some stuff off my toilet - used 0000 grade because it was the finest.

Richard rich.ms

tdgeek

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#3030058 31-Jan-2023 19:05

richms:

I had to use steel wool to get some stuff off my toilet - used 0000 grade because it was the finest.

Ive seen that on YouTube. Easy to get here? Ive never looked. Just asking as Kiwi supply lines are never as broad as overseas.

I need to attack calcium/limescale on the shower glass. Im heading towards Vinegar and dishwash (the latter is as a surfactant) Then sand with bicarb. 0000 is on the radar though as well

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