Cleaning Toilets

lovemesomemonster · October 2015

Does anyone have any tips/tricks to getting hard water lines off toilets? They were already there when we moved into the house, and although I clean them once a week at least I can't seem to get rid of them. I know the toilets are clean but I still do not like the look of them, they always look a little dirty to me so any tips would be great!

littlemushroom · October 2015

Oven cleaner works great. Spray on and let sit for a few hours to overnight. That worked on the lines in our toilets that wouldn't come off with normal cleaner plus scrubbing.

lovemesomemonster · October 2015

littlemushroom said:

Oven cleaner works great. Spray on and let sit for a few hours to overnight. That worked on the lines in our toilets that wouldn't come off with normal cleaner plus scrubbing.

THANKS! I will try this tonight after work!

emmaaa · October 2015

We have extremely hard water and the only thing that works is "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner.

lovemesomemonster · October 2015

emmaaa said:

We have extremely hard water and the only thing that works is "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner.

Where do you find that at?

emmaaa · October 2015

lovemesomemonster said:

emmaaa said:

We have extremely hard water and the only thing that works is "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner.

Where do you find that at?

I get it at WalMart in a two pack for about $3.00. I was skeptical because it is cheap but it works really good. I also buy the tablets to put in the back of the toilet to help as well.

madamerwin · October 2015

I have no proof this works, but try Urnex or Puro espresso machine cleaner... It is a magical stain remover, and I would be shocked if it didn't remove hard water stains. You can get it on Amazon for about $10.

ericasm0703 · October 2015

All of the toilets in our new house have hard water stains, and using Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner for Tough Stains (orange bottle) worked. There was one toilet where it didn't do as well and I used oven cleaner and it worked wonders!

OliveOilsMom · October 2015

ericasm0703 said:

All of the toilets in our new house have hard water stains, and using Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner for Tough Stains (orange bottle) worked. There was one toilet where it didn't do as well and I used oven cleaner and it worked wonders!

The Clorox product above is what I used at my old house. I used to find it at my local Target but haven't recently. Lysol makes a similar one for hard water stains that also works good.

Emmaa - Be careful with using those tablets you place inside the tank. They can actually do more harm than good. We have a plumber doing work in our house and he said he was relieved we did not use them.

emmaaa · October 2015

I'm going to have to look in the oven cleaner!

@OliveOilsMom I did not know that about the tablets...do you know what the harm is from them? I definitely don't want to be messing anything up!

OliveOilsMom · October 2015

emmaaa said:

I'm going to have to look in the oven cleaner!

@OliveOilsMom I did not know that about the tablets...do you know what the harm is from them? I definitely don't want to be messing anything up!

I really don't recall exactly why, but it has to do with the chemicals sitting in the tank.

princessleia22 · October 2015

emmaaa said:

We have extremely hard water and the only thing that works is "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner.

I agree that "The Works" is awesome. I've tried so many toilet products and this one by far works best from my experience. I get it at our local Frys Grocery (AKA Kroger). I usually will empty the water out of the bowl, squirt it on, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Then everything comes off super easy by just wiping it down with the toilet brush... no scrubbing needed.

lovemesomemonster · October 2015

Thank you everyone! These are all awesome ideas. I will be making the list and going shopping tonight

jenna8984 · October 2015

I should probably try some of these on my tub. We just moved in and we can tell which of the 2 showers got used more often because the tub is all stained.

jennyleigh16 · October 2015

I use the Lysol extra strength stuff and it works really well. Plus side, it smells minty.

Also, CLR is amazing.

luckya23 · October 2015

emmaaa said:

I'm going to have to look in the oven cleaner!

@OliveOilsMom I did not know that about the tablets...do you know what the harm is from them? I definitely don't want to be messing anything up!

I think it corrodes the rubber in the flapper and other rubber/plastic parts.

luckya23 · October 2015

jenna8984 said:

I should probably try some of these on my tub. We just moved in and we can tell which of the 2 showers got used more often because the tub is all stained.

What's the material? Bark Keeper's Friend is the only thing that works in my cast iron enamel sink.

CMGragain · October 2015

I use something called Kaboom!

kvruns · October 2015

that's how mine were when I bought my house years ago and the only thing that worked was dousing papertowels in vinegar and sticking them along the inside of the bowl on the parts that were bad. let it sit for a few hours and come back and scrub. You need something that will eat away at the hard water/calcium/whatever it is

jenna8984 · October 2015

luckya23 said:

jenna8984 said:

I should probably try some of these on my tub. We just moved in and we can tell which of the 2 showers got used more often because the tub is all stained.

What's the material? Bark Keeper's Friend is the only thing that works in my cast iron enamel sink.

I don't know, I think just normal plastic since they are only 10 years old.

emmaaa · October 2015

jenna8984 said:

luckya23 said:

jenna8984 said:

I should probably try some of these on my tub. We just moved in and we can tell which of the 2 showers got used more often because the tub is all stained.

What's the material? Bark Keeper's Friend is the only thing that works in my cast iron enamel sink.

I don't know, I think just normal plastic since they are only 10 years old.

Be careful with some of the ones that are recommended that are toilet bowl cleaners. I know on the bottle of mine it says not use on anything but a toilet because the shower is made of different material.

In our shower I usually do a deep scrub every month with a Magic Eraser and then use Lysol or 409 the rest of the time.

luckya23 · October 2015

jenna8984 said:

luckya23 said:

jenna8984 said:

I should probably try some of these on my tub. We just moved in and we can tell which of the 2 showers got used more often because the tub is all stained.

What's the material? Bark Keeper's Friend is the only thing that works in my cast iron enamel sink.

I don't know, I think just normal plastic since they are only 10 years old.

It's probably fiberglass and the previous people used an abrasive cleaner that took off the protective coating :-(

wandajune6 · October 2015

luckya23 said:

emmaaa said:

I'm going to have to look in the oven cleaner!

@OliveOilsMom I did not know that about the tablets...do you know what the harm is from them? I definitely don't want to be messing anything up!

I think it corrodes the rubber in the flapper and other rubber/plastic parts.

That's what my plumber has told me as well. I've also heard that if you invest in fancy toilets, the warranty will be voided by them.

zitiqueen · October 2015

I third or fourth or fifth The Works. You might even be able to find it at a Dollar Tree.

thisismynickname2 · October 2015

Hey, whatever you do, don't immediately try another cleaner if the first doesn't work. I did that boneheaded move when I first moved into my place. Regular cleaner didn't work so then I poured in bleach. I practically passed out from the fumes. Space out the cleaning efforts!

emmaaa · October 2015

thisismynickname said:

Hey, whatever you do, don't immediately try another cleaner if the first doesn't work. I did that boneheaded move when I first moved into my place. Regular cleaner didn't work so then I poured in bleach. I practically passed out from the fumes. Space out the cleaning efforts!

I have definitely done that. Our bathroom doesn't have any ventilation or a fan so I had to put a box fan in there to clear it out!

OliveOilsMom · October 2015

My mom has told me that my great grandmother's favorite cleaning solution was half ammonium and half bleach! Talk about fumes! It's amazing I'm even alive!

madamerwin · October 2015

OliveOilsMom said:

My mom has told me that my great grandmother's favorite cleaning solution was half ammonium and half bleach! Talk about fumes! It's amazing I'm even alive!

Can't that kill you?!

OliveOilsMom · October 2015

tfmrserwin said:

OliveOilsMom said:

My mom has told me that my great grandmother's favorite cleaning solution was half ammonium and half bleach! Talk about fumes! It's amazing I'm even alive!

Can't that kill you?!

YES!

lyndausvi · October 2015

OliveOilsMom said:

My mom has told me that my great grandmother's favorite cleaning solution was half ammonium and half bleach! Talk about fumes! It's amazing I'm even alive!

So basically mustard gas?

It is a wonder you are alive.

On another note, if you do use bleach, FLUSH the toilet before you pee. If you don't you will make your fumes.

princessleia22 · October 2015

lyndausvi said:

OliveOilsMom said:

My mom has told me that my great grandmother's favorite cleaning solution was half ammonium and half bleach! Talk about fumes! It's amazing I'm even alive!

So basically mustard gas?

It is a wonder you are alive.

On another note, if you do use bleach, FLUSH the toilet before you pee. If you don't you will make your fumes.

My husband found that one out the hard way a while back. I had bleached the toilet and was letting it sit for while and didn't tell him. He came out of the bathroom and told me I need to start putting a note on the toilet or something if I'm letting bleach sit in there.

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