Limescale!!! does anyone know....

[mrspink27]

how to get rid of it organically... talking bout the bits in kettles irons etc.. seem to have quite a bit round the lid of my stainless steel kettle... sure there must be an old fashioned organic way to be rid of it....

any ideas?

i must have too much time on my hands today !!

lemon juice it's acidic and dissolves the limescale which is alkaline

can use vinegar as well, but maybe not in a kettle - a bit too pungent

Vinegar in water will do your kettle. Boil it up to do the inside, let it stand for a couple of hours then pour away and boil up a couple of kettles full of plain water to remove any taint.

Make up a strong vinegar/water solution to wipe around everywhere else, leave it for a couple of hours then wipe it away.

Don't fill the kettle too full; it will fizz up as it boils and try to flood the kitchen ...

Well, to be pedantic you are still relying on a chenical reaction so there is nothing 'organic' about it, as such!

Acid + metal Carbonate= salt + carbon dioxide + water

So Acetic acid (in the vinegar) will make a soluable calcium acetate salt with will disolve

Citric acid in the lemon juice will mafe calcium citrate.

Rinse it out in tap water x10 to make sure you shift it all before you use it.

Here endeth the chemistry lesson, just done this with our KS3 SATs classes!

um - the vinegar is an organic acid !

Isn't there a Dr Something that makes eco-friendly products? Hang on, I'll have a look.

He's Dr Reckman

hmb - you put me to shame - but I was sort of on the right track wasn't I??

must be heading towrads 30 yrs since I did chemistry

Yes, in that it has carbon, for that matter the carbon dioxide does too, but I was using the more common usage of 'organic' as almost 'non chemical', non nasry, nice and safe. Which as we all know is an odd division of chemistry. Botulinum toxin is organic, but it doesn't make it 'safe'

White vinegar ?

And just out of interest I use vinegar on my taps. Not because it is 'organic' but because it is cheep and I always have some round the house

I used to use lemon juice to descale teh steam steriliser - after the sachets of citric acid had run out

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HMB [shock} at your chemistry lesson!

that is the problem with "organic" - has two very different meanings

one technical and one social I guess, meaning it is something "natural" and "safer". But since you were talking chemistry I couldn't resist ....

Sorry forse of habit! I should be teaching year 8 at the moment but am bed ridden and dh has set up the lap top with me! So I can get my MN fix

But the science will out.

All of cookery is chemistry you know! We just don't get to tell the kids the good bits because of the NC!

Throckenhold, you are my type of gal!

it was one of those things that always puzzled me, in those dim and distant days when I messed around with organic chemicals

hope you get better soon.

My lab coat smelled for years after I did my organic option, no matter how often I washed it. God knows what it did for my lungs.

I spent last night sobbing in pain iin the shower

But two diazepam this morning and I feel muuuuuuuuch better. Man. Positivly laid back in fact! Another miracle of organic chemistry

my disseration at university was on a variety of organic chemicals and the best way to absorb (or was that adsorb? ) the smells - I used to stink the lab out .

to get back to the original post though - I am plagued by limescale too (live in Norfolk) and use vinegar to clean it up (but not often enough). I am contemplating a water softener if we can afford it once we get our extension built (waiting for quotes from builders).