How To Clean Limescale From Your Toilet Naturally
Is your toilet covered in brown limescale stains? Want to know how to remove it with one natural DIY ingredient instead of bleach?
I think we can all agree that limescale in your toilet is a giant pain in the backside.
If you live in a hard water area, you’ll be familiar with the pesky white stuff that takes over your kitchen and bathroom.
You might have been told you can’t keep limescale at bay without bleach, but I disagree.
While I dislike using hazardous chemicals in my home because of the kids, I still prefer to use evidence-based alternatives.
Limescale is an alkaline substance meaning it needs an acid to dissolve it. It’s basic chemistry.
Bleach, which is made from a sodium hypochlorite solution, is an alkaline, too. It is designed to disinfect and remove stains. Bleach may whiten the colour of limescale, but it will not remove it.
Keep reading if you want to know how I remove built-up limescale from my toilet without bleach.
COMING UP
What is limescale?
How do you remove limescale naturally?
Where can you buy the ingredients?
Why do you need to remove limescale?
How can you prevent limescale from building up in your toilet?
1. What is limescale?
Hard water naturally has minerals, like calcium, in it. Limescale appears in places where water is heated or left sitting. When the hard water evaporates the chalky mineral deposits are left behind.
You will find limescale on your:
Taps
Sinks
Kettle
Shower pane
Toilet
Dishwasher
Washing machine
Pipes
Coffee machine
Some of the places limescale shows up are invisible, like your washing machine, so it is important to de-scale them every 1-3 months.
Read next: how to remove limescale and build-up from your washing machine
2. How do you remove limescale naturally?
The trick to removing limescale is with acid and heat.
Commercial cleaners tend to use hazardous substances such as hydrochloric acid or sulphamidic acid which are toxic to aquatic life and unpleasant to inhale.
They are not the sort of chemicals I want in my home now that I have children.
The acid of my choice is citric acid because it is cheap and plastic-free.
Alternatively, you could use white vinegar but I find citric acid is more effective and works out cheaper. It is also better for the environment as you don’t have to pay to ship the water weight which reduces the carbon footprint.
I like to use a homemade citric acid and (boiled and cooled) water spray to regularly squirt on areas that are likely to be affected by limescale, like tiles, taps and sinks.
How much does citric acid cost?
The price of citric acid is between £2 and £11 (depending on what size you buy) and it comes in paper or cardboard packaging.
The following steps will help you remove limescale from your toilet overnight using natural, non-toxic ingredients.
Before you go to bed, make sure everyone has an empty bladder. If you need a pee in the night then don’t flush until the morning.
Fill the kettle but stop it before it gets to boiling.
Tip the hot water down your toilet.
Tip half a cup (roughly 120g) of citric acid down there and leave it overnight.
In the morning scrub the limescale away with your toilet brush.
If it’s particularly bad, you may need to repeat it a second night. A pumice stone can also help remove limescale from the waterline.
4. Where can you buy citric acid to clean your toilet?
You may be able to find citric acid in local hardware stores, but if not, I have a separate blog post that has several places to buy citric acid in the U.K. or U.S.A.
Most of them are eco-friendly stores so you can buy all your homemade cleaning essentials and toiletries in one place to help you save on postage.
5. Why do you need to remove limescale?
While nobody wants their toilet to be covered in brown stains, limescale doesn’t mean it is dirty or unhygienic.
Over time, limescale can build up in the internal parts of the toilets and may cause it to restrict water flow and affect flushing efficiency.
Luckily, limescale in your toilet can be prevented with minimal effort.
To prevent limescale from building up in your toilet using natural citric acid, there are two things you can do:
Keep a box of natural citric acid nearby and pour a small amount down the toilet each night
Clean out an old spice jar and use it to sprinkle citric acid down the toilet before you go to bed.
This will help prevent limescale from building up in the toilet and mean you no longer need that bottle of bleach.
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I’d love to hear how you get on in the comments below.