Limescale, the chalky deposit that often builds up in toilet bowls, can be difficult to know how to clean – especially when regular cleaning products, even the powerful ones don’t seem to make a dent in removing them.
According to cleaning fans, bleach won’t make a dent when it comes to limescale at most it will lighten the stain without removing it.
Instead many suggested using a product that “works better” – and it’s not too pricey either.
These suggestions were recommended to a member of the Mrs Hinch Army Cleaning Tips Facebook page after they shared a post asking for advice.
Posting a picture of her toilet covered in brown limescale, Leilah Wigmore said: “Please help, we have very hard water and our upstairs loo is very limescaley.
“Having tried Steradent tablets, I tried the bottle of coke overnight and it’s made it even worse. Any advice please?”
After one group member suggested using bleach, many were quick to advise against it.
Hayley Chiverton said: “Bleach will only take the colour out it won’t get rid of the limescale.”
Jane Norton wrote: “It [bleach] doesn’t remove limescale it just masks the colour white. Harpic black works much better than this.”
The majority of Mrs Hinch fans had suggested “black Harpic”, otherwise known as Harpic Power Plus.
Melissa Gray wrote: “I had this [limescale] and I used black Harpic and left it overnight and just repeated for a couple of nights – no scrubbing or anything needed.”
Bethany Joseph commented: “It has to be Harpic black and it will 100 percent remove these stains. Leave a good thick amount for a couple of hours. Come back and scrub and it will be gone.”
Posting a picture of the toilet cleaner, Claire Whyman said: “This stuff is amazing. Leave it for 20 to 30 minutes, then flush. We have really hard water.”
Penny Read wrote: “Black Harpic. My toilet goes like this after 10 days if I don’t clean it due to the hard water.”
Leanne Moore commented: “Black Harpic all the way. My toilet was worse than this, also in a high limescale area. I tried everything cola, emptying the water and scrubbing with all kinds of products but nothing worked.
“I used black Harpic and left it overnight, next morning quick scrub with the toilet brush, flushed and it was gone.
“Now I just use black Harpic weekly. I put it in at the start of the bathroom clean and then scrub with the toilet brush and good as new every time.”
Harpic Power Plus has become a popular cleaning product to remove toilet limescale and is quite cheap too. It retails for £1.20 at Iceland, £1.30 at Tesco and £1.85 at Sainsbury’s.
