Removing limescale in taps

[FoxtrotOscarFoxtrotOscar]

I live in a very hard water area.
One tap has completely dried up with limescale.
Another has several blocked holes in the head.
I've rubbed vinegar, lemon and bicarb on the exit, but to no avail.
Would like to spray vinegar into the tap head but the angle of it won't allow this.
Should the whole tap be removed?
Any tips?
It's a rental so installing a softening filter would be a last resort.

Sorry I can't link but I'm sure I remember seeing a little contraption you can fill with limescale remover and hook over the tap (sort of like a deflated balloon filled with the limescale remover) and you let it sit to get rid of it.
Shocking description so I do apologise! Hope you manage to make sense of it.

Ah here we go!

@NotHooray
Thank you!
Off to Amazon to investigate.

Get viakal. £2-3 from Tesco. Amazing

This is why I always cut the fingers of leaking rubber gloves off before throwing them away. Attached to a tap with an elastic band they're just as good as the Amazon thingies. White vinegar mixed with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda will do the trick.

@TamzinGrey
That's a great idea.
Will try this while I wait for my gadgets to arrive.
Thank you.
Limescale drives me up the wall.

I always use Harpic timescale toilet cleaner on my taps. Squirt it on. Leave for 20 mins. Rinse off. Nasty timescale comes away. Then I pour boiling water over tap to make sure all detergent removed.

Also have this and it is perfect for this job

I cut up rags and tie onto tap, then soak with white vinegar. The rubber glove idea is genius tho

Lidl do a good limescale remover, I think it's their W5 range. Might be a bit hard on the taps but works.

If it's a hot tap then keep your hot water below 60°c. That's the temperature that calcium carbonate (limescale) precipitates out of solution in water.

Another vote for Viakal here, used to live in a very hard water area and it was the fastest way to clear the limescale. Haven't tried the Lidl one but suspect it is pretty similar.

Any tips on how to clear lime scale from shower heads? And the metal twisted hoses on the hand spray shower hoses?

Fill a small plastic freezer bag with white vinegar and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. Attach it to the shower head with an elastic band so that the whole head is immersed, and leave it to soak overnight.
Next day rub the same solution over the hose using an old toothbrush. Leave for a couple of hours and then rinse it off.

A condom and an elastic band works as well.

See if Lidl still sell their bottle of Viakal equivalent. Not the spray kind, it needs to be thicker. You can put in a plastic bag and use a rubber band. Leave for as long as possible and then just rinse off.

When you descale your kettle pop the shower head in as well.

Sometimes the end of the tap will actually unscrew. I’ve been able to take them off with just my fingers sometimes.

You end up with all the bits that make up the end, sometimes there’s a little thing like a tiny strainer that collects grit.

You can then soak the bits in viakal. I have damaged the chrome on the end of the tap spout using the balloon method but I think that’s because I used too strong a solution for too long, so beware.

The edge of an old credit card can be really useful for scraping bits of stuck limescale off. Because it’s plastic it won’t scratch like using something metal.

Infact an old credit card is worth keeping in your toolbox, it can be used for scraping off paint etc.

I think I read on here that scraping the limescale with a 2p coin after treatment with limescale remover works well. I was really sceptical but did try that and found it worked like a dream

If your tap has a straighter end, rather than curved as in the picture, it doesn’t work. The descales just runs straight out. You’re better off soaking cotton wool and wrapping it on your tap with cling film.

Ive had success with a solution of citric acid in a spray bottle then scraping with a 2p coin. Also kilrock descaler gel that you can paint on is good.

I bought one from amazon. I filled it with Kilrock gel, and it did a brilliant job.