Removing limescale below toilet bowel waterline.

[4andnotout]

The bowel has a build up of limescale upto the waterline, i have tried toilet duck and elbow grease but it isn't shifting!
Can anyone recommend anything?

[Nontoxic]

Pour a bottle of coke down and leave overnight (tip from the Martin Lewis website.)

[Saltire]

lol at "bowel".

Sorry

I get limescale on the bowl and recently tried Duck Power something or toehr. its made by the toilet duck people,a dn is in a black bottle. I can't remember the whole name though. it's Power soemthing

[pipsqueak]

never tried it but i think someone told me that full fat coke was good for this task-

[mrsgboring]

We had this appallingly when we moved into our last house.

About a bottle of Viakal and lots of scrubbing was the best. Cheaper and better for the environment is a massive container full of pickling vinegar and a kettlefull of water, plus lots of scrubbing.

Always leave it unflushed for as long as you can stand, post-scrubbing.

You just have to keep chipping away at it, doing a major clean every few days.

[Saltire]

OOh, I've never heard of putting coke down the bowl, will have to try that

[4andnotout]

It is fairly early in the morning so please excuse spelling mistakes

I will try the coke today, i presume you can use a cheapy own brand.

[cmotdibbler]

Works best if you bail out as much water from the pan as possible first, and then just pour in any brand of cola. It's the acid that works - or cheap white vinegar is very effective. If limescale comes up above the water line, put kitchen towel damped with vinegar around the bowl and keep it wet with vinegar.

[Helium]

We've got this problem - and the coke didnt help - actually it just stained the limescale a worse colour!!!
I find pouring a decent amount of bleach and then leaving for hours does help - left it whilst at work all day the other day and it made quite a difference.
I saw Kim and Aggie use fine grain sandpaper..wrapped it around a look brush I think..

[Tangle]

Bleach won't shift limescale, though, it'll just remove any staining so the limescale is less obvious.

To remove limescale you need something with an acid base - Viakal or Limelight if you want brand names, or vinegar (distilled malt does the job quite well). Adding heat speeds up the reaction, just make sure you don't splash as you go. Removing water from the bowl before you start will make whatever goes in more concentrated and so more effective.

Most branded toilet cleaners that specify they remove limescale (NOT toilet bleach) have an acid base and will most likely be more strongly acidic than over-the-counter acid - if nothing else is working it might be worth trying an entire bottle of a limescale removing toilet cleaner (such as these by Parazone, Toilet Duck and Harpic) and leaving it overnight.

[bodiddly]

The only one I find that really works is Harpic 100% Limescale Remover in the blue bottle. I put it in overnight and it has cleared by morning!

[4andnotout]

It has improved slightly by putting the green toilet duck in overnight every night since last thursday, will try the Viakal if i can get it, if not i'll have a go with harpic.

Oh just remembered i have 2 bottles of white vinegar in the cubboard for my nappies do you think that would be enough if i empty the pan first?

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

Try scrubbing it with a pumice stone too. That was on kim and aggy's.

[Tangle]

Worth a try - cheaper than Viakal, afterall.

If you're going for an EMPTY empty pan, just make sure you've got some ventilation until you restore the air lock with vinegar...

[bran]

I find the Harpic tablet thingys work well, you drop them in and they fizz. You'll probably need two of them to start with and leave it overnight. White vinegar should work too if you leave it long enough, that's what I use on my kettle.

[4andnotout]

Dp is now amazed at the wealth of knowledge on mumsnet, he thought it was for merely gossip

[Tangle]

We aim to amaze

[blithedance]

Was going to suggest the pumice stone too (wearing rubber gloves obviously). Needed to do this when we moved into a scummy rented house and it worked a treat - my own house is the scummy one now

[4andnotout]

I dont even own a pumice but if this doesn't work i'll buy one and try it!

[roquefortlover]

I have had this problem and nothing worked BUT last week I used Domestos Zero Limescale in scary black adn green bottle. Twas magical - leave for half an hour, flush and scrub (with nonstick scouring pad in my case) and it has all gone! I was ridiculously excited so only too happy to share my joy...

[4andnotout]

Limescale has gone Took 2 bottles of vinegar and 2 minutes and it has totally gone

[cmotdibbler]

Fabulous !

[GentleOtter]

Would it work on peaty water stains?

[Tangle]

Impressive!

Did you empty it first or use hot water, or did you just chuck it in? And how big were the bottles? Did it fiz (important bits )?

GentleOtter - it depends... If you've got discoloured limescale then yes, it should - but if the stain has penetrated the surface of your sanitary ware then it'll be a lot LOT harder to shift. Try it and see - chucking a bottle of vinegar down your toilet won't do any harm (as long as you haven't got a cistern or rim block).

[4andnotout]

I emptied the bowl first then poured 2 of the 568ml bottles in, by the time i got back upstairs with the boiling kettle it had gone, i didn't see any fizzing but had a puff of vinegar fumes when i lifted the toilet seat
Im v.v.v impressed and rang my mum at 10pm to tell her about it She was mightily impressed.

[dadno1]

Cola works because its full of citric acid. Cut out the middleman and just buy citric acid. Its used in homebrewing and as a rub/marinade. You can find it with the spices, I had a Rajah 100g pack - 90p which worked a treat. Just pour a few table spoons worth in the toilet water. If its light scale, you can get to work straight away and a bit of scrubbing will get rid of it quite fast.