Toilets will look dirty all the time if there is limescale festering at the bottom of the bowl.
No amount of bleach or scrubbing will get the awful-looking brown build-up off the bottom of the toilet.
Bleach may look like it is working, but it is just bleaching and whitening the actual limescale, and you will notice that it will return fairly quickly – usually the next day.
So what is limescale? It’s a hard mineral deposit that will grab onto any imperfections found on the bottom of the toilet bowl. The more the limescale accumulates, the more scale it collects.
After having no success when using bleach or scrubbing the toilet, one cleaning fan took to the Mrs Hinch Army Cleaning Tips Facebook page anonymously to ask what they should do.
Posting a picture of the bottom of their toilet bowl coved in black limescale, they wrote: “Help! I clean my toilet regularly with different types of bleach products, has anyone got any more tips to be able to remove this stubborn limescale-type staining?
“I have in the past removed the water completely and scrubbed it by hand but it just comes back? I live in a very hard water area. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.”
Many group members in the comments section were suggesting using some sort of Harpic toilet cleaner.
Julie Mead said: “Black Harpic, leave overnight and get as much water out as you can.”
Fairy Daines wrote: “Black Harpic. Scrub with a brush then leave for as long as you can, then flush. Bleach won’t get rid of limescale.”
Debbie Allen commented: “Harpic Black, leave it overnight to soak and it will come straight off in the morning.”
However, for those who want instant results, rather than having to leave the product to sit overnight, some suggested using a common household item – citric acid.
Sarah Newman wrote: “Citric acid powder, followed straight away with a kettle of boiled water.
“You will literally see it disappearing before your eyes. No harmful chemicals and toxins either.”
Faye Finch instructed: “Pump most of the water away with a loo brush, then put a couple of tablespoons of citric acid down there. Add hot water and it will dissolve it easily. Bleach won’t clear it. It whitens, but doesn’t remove.”
Sonya Sheppard claimed: “Bleach whitens, it doesn’t remove your limescale. Get yourself some citric acid and a kettle full of boiled water, put a good amount of citric acid in the loo then some boiled water and watch it fizz – honestly works wonders.”
Express.co.uk previously put citric acid to the test on kettle limescale and the results were instant, so it’s easy to see how this would work well for toilets ridden with limescale.
