Help......I've made things worse cleaning my toilet.

[Tolkienista]

I've lived in my house for a year and I've inherited what i now realise is a toilet with extreme limescale.
Thought I'd have a go today at removing it myself with tools around the house and general cleaning products, I've ended up making it much worse as you'll see in the pictures......I used a plastic scraper to get some of it off, but it looks far worse now.

What do I need to buy that will actually work?

It came up as "sensitive image" when I put these pictures on, so I apologise if these images are offensive, but I wanted to make sure that it is indeed limescale on my toilet bowl ..... because it's not coming off for me, despite my very best efforts.

Take the water out (I use a cup) and fill it with Coke until the stain is covered. Leave overnight. Flush

Try Viakal which you can buy from Home Bargains. For really bad limescale, empty all the water out with a small cup then the last bits with a sponge, pour the whole bottle in and leave it to work overnight. The Viakal stinks but is excellent at removing limescale.
Flush it away as normal the next day.

Pour some soda crystals in and leave over night then scrub with a stiff brush that should do it, might take a few goes

Those harpic tablets are amazing. Put a couple down the loo overnight. Keep repeating it

Ours was way way worse than that when we moved to this house

as above, remove all the water first (scoop out and use a sponge for last bits)

Coke trick - worked a bit

then scrub scrub scrub, pick away at it with an old credit card, literally any way you can get it off.

vingear was also effective. Leaving vinegar down there for a bit then scrubbing worked the best for us

then the Hapric toilet cleaner in the black bottle - every week. It’s the only thing that completely keeps our limescale at bay.

Just seen the other posts above - I had forgotten but YES those blue harpic tablets (in a black packet I think) were incredible. I left two down there and then scrubbed, they were what shifted the final hard bits of limescale

Remove all water and use Hydrochloric acid patio cleaner, aim for as strog as you can get.
20-30% is ideal bit it is rarelly sold as patio cleaner in UK

It’s these, isn’t it? https://amzn.to/3KvkZr4
The Harpic ones, I mean.

Yes the Harpic tablets in the black box are incredible!

Ours got very bad at one point glares at DH who wasn't doing a good job of "his" job. I used the Harpic toilet stuff with limescale remover. Poured a LOT down the toilet, including around the bowl, and left for HOURS. Then flushed and scrubbed with a sponge. Worked well and it's never got like that again.

Just to say, i think a big problem with limescale like this is that people aren't generous enough with the product or the time they leave it for. YOu can't be wishywashy about this. Pour loads. Leave for ages.

Oh wow .....so many replies in such a short time.
Thank you all.

Luckily I've got a downstairs toilet too, so I can afford to leave whatever product I choose for as long as I need and use the other toilet while it's doing it's job upstairs.

It honestly looks far worse now, than before I started. I should have realised that nothing under my sink in the way of day to day cleaners was going to shift it!

Two Harpic Black Tablets Of Doom (or the Lidl knockoffs) should sort that out overnight. A brief scrub with the loo brush the next morning and you're good to go.

If they don't then it's the time for removing the water with a plastic cup and applying Viakal.

Second this, but I add some ice and a slice of lemon. Otherwise it looks, well, just a bit common. 🫤

You can use a pumice stone to scrape it.

About to change your life with this. It's so simple and obvious but my brain only made the connection a few months ago:

Kettle descaler sachet. Boil the water in the kettle, whack in the sachet, chuck the full approx 1.5litres down the toilet and let it sit

My GCSE Chemistry evades me, but I'm sure whatever's in the Waitrose Essential descaler sachet is far far cheaper as raw ingredients on Amazon, but nobody's got time for that

Spirit of Salts

(I don't know why it's called that, it's Hydrochloric Acid)

Open a window if you can, Pour it in, DO NOT breath in the fumes. Leave it a bit (5-30 mins) and then flush.

All the nasties and limescale will be gone, no scrubbing needed

It's grim stuff though, don't get it on your hands/clothes etc.

Generous amount of soda crystals and white vinegar. Leave overnight and then scrub. It might take a few goes but will completely remove it.

Spirit of salts will pretty much dissolve everything. Might need to evacuate the house whilst you do it.

One of the best MN tips I got!

Get Domestos zero limescale - does exactly what it says on the bottle!

Make a paste from cola and corn flour, (supermarket own brand is fine) it works!

I used to be firmly in camp Harpic tablets, but since reading Nancy Birtwhistles insta, I use citric acid and it is so much more effective. Just dissolve a few tablespoons in boiling water then add just enough cold water to cool it down a bit then put in the toilet overnight.

Ive done that before, I ended up with a coke stained limescaled toilet.

I was going to say citric acid. I had very limescaled toilets when I first moved house. Now I don't!! Initially I did it overnight to properly clean it.
I've made up a spray of citric acid and water, and spray the toilet every so often. It works immediately and is so satisfying!