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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

do you use something inside your toilet cistern to keep it clean?

26 replies

southeastastra · 30/01/2009 20:12

sorry this is boring for a friday night

but the inside of mine is black and has loads of limescale, think it's slowing it up

OP posts:
SoMuchToBits · 30/01/2009 20:13

No. But I don't look in it very often .

Perhaps you should put some descaler in or something

SoMuchToBits · 30/01/2009 20:14

Obviously I lead a boring life, if I'm answering this on a Friday night!

whomovedmychocolate · 30/01/2009 20:15

Sounds like you have an algae issue - it's quite common. You need to drain it by flushing while holding up the ballcock (get someone else to do this). When it's empty lob in a healthy quantity of bleach and washing up liquid (or any shite smellies you hate work just as well if the inlaws bought you old lady bubble bath for christmas). Then half refill it (let the ball cock go for a bit then lift it again). And just blitz it with a nylon scourer. Let it fill properly with the bleachy water in it and leave it overnight. Then flush it.

whomovedmychocolate · 30/01/2009 20:16

OMFG I just admitted to knowing about fungal growth in toilets - how sad is my life?

Original poster
southeastastra · 30/01/2009 20:20

top advice though chocolate. will do it tomorrow.

the pipes are all blackened and the ballcock. urgh

OP posts:
SoMuchToBits · 30/01/2009 20:22

Well at least you had some useful advice wmmc, unlike me!

whomovedmychocolate · 30/01/2009 20:23

If it's really rank, chuck some bleach in there overnight to get rid of the worst of it before tackling it tomorrow - won't do it any harm and may well get rid of some of the sliminess. BTW hate to tell you this but you've probably got it in your taps as well if you have mould growing (it's alive you know). You can get some little brushes on wires from Lakeland to poke it out of your taps. Or continue to brush your teeth with mould (delightful)

Original poster
southeastastra · 30/01/2009 20:26

oh no why did you tell me that! argh

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 30/01/2009 20:28

As a stopgap, use the toothbrush of whichever member of the family has pissed you off the most today to remove the detritus from the taps

Lemontart · 30/01/2009 20:29

Yack - I made the mistake of looking inside my toilet cistern a while ago.. not nice! Good mix of grey limescale "tide mark" with a worrying green edge followed by lots of slimy black stuff over every plastic bit in there. Horrid.

One big tip: do NOT drain the cistern and then attempt to use a steam cleaner to zap and sterilize it. Boy, what a mess! I ended up having to clean every damn tile on the wall behind it as I literally splurted out billions of bacteria and mould all over the bathroom. Incredible I did not come down with a tropical disease as I must have inhaled some pretty outrageous stuff.

Next time I will take wmmc?s advice and use bleach and an overnight soak

Original poster
southeastastra · 30/01/2009 20:33

blimey poor you lemontart, another good tip though

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 30/01/2009 20:33

Lemontart - I made the mistake of blasting the bath plughole with a steam cleaner not realising that the overflow was at face height (and not covering it either). Splat city! It was minging in there!

I moved to this house and the first thing I did was blast all the taps and plugholes though - once you know what's down there, it's really hard to ignore!

DumbledoresGirl · 30/01/2009 20:41
whomovedmychocolate · 30/01/2009 20:43

DumbledoresGirl - it's better to go to a public loo and get a drink, the high volumes of water passed through them actually prevent build up of gunk. But little old ladies houses where they only make a cuppa once a day run, run for the hills. Or better still, drink wine!

Original poster
southeastastra · 30/01/2009 20:46

mine's not that bad!

OP posts:
Lemontart · 30/01/2009 20:47

Must admit, despite my unfortunate cistern experience, I am a steam cleaning addict. When you see the gunk coming out of your tap and even from under the tap fitting where it joins the top of the sink, it makes you realise how dirty our homes are. I know you need a little bit of dirt and bacteria around, certainly no pristeen home here, but inside you taps... Eeek! I use a steam cleaner to zap all my door handles too. Much kinder than anti-bac chemical stuff all the time and cheaper.

whomovedmychocolate · 30/01/2009 20:47

SEA, we do realise you've probably got a tiny insy wincy bit of green on your pipes and you're panicking, we just like winding you up

lucysmam · 30/01/2009 20:48

I wish I'd not clicked on this now!! WMMC, that's minging!

I'm going to have to scrub my taps now since they're ancient & looked like they hadn't been used for months when we moved in

Lemontart · 30/01/2009 20:48

like the wine idea

Original poster
southeastastra · 30/01/2009 20:49

it's more black than green, is that better?

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 30/01/2009 20:50

Erm no actually, green means it's growing, black means it's grown up, graduated and is now colonising other parts of the house (ie it's creeping mould rather than just spores)

It's behind you!

Original poster
southeastastra · 30/01/2009 21:07

now i remember - it all gathers up at the outside drainhole in a stinky gloop.

OP posts:
blossomsmine · 30/01/2009 22:26

I read somewhere that you can put a tub of bicarbonate of soda in you cistern overnight, flush in the morning and that clears it aswell. I have to steam my taps tomorrow now, thanks!

Furball · 30/01/2009 22:37

Just to warn, that I decided a good way to help keep the toilet clean was to add a couple of squirts of bleach to the cistern once a week. The bleach perished the rubber seals over time and we ended up with a leaky toilet.

I now use parazone tabs, that you plop in the cistern.

SoMuchToBits · 30/01/2009 22:39

DG, you'd be safe in our house, what with the amount of tea that Norman I drinks