I have a gray toilet, also a white one that have the bad rings in them that I cannot get out. I need any suggestions with things I might have in my home to use. I've tried lime cleaner but that doesn't work. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks, Fran from Racine, WI
I'll third the pumice stone, it works like a charm. Oxy clean, I believe, is simply a mix of hydrogen peroxide and any old cleaner. You can buy HP for about a dollar at Walgreens.
Editor's Note: Oxyclean is made from sodium percarbonate. Although hydrogen peroxide will work for many stains, it is different.
The Mr. Clean Eraser works for me after trying every chemical known! You have to use it each week when you clean the toilet, but it gets the rust off! The Mr. Clean Eraser is the best invention. Don't ask me why it works on nearly everything, without harmful chemicals, but it does. You can also now buy Safeway brand Erasers, just like Mr. Clean, but cheaper. Good luck!
We have hard water and use the toilet brush to "plunge" quickly for a few minutes to lower or even remove the water in the toilet (a trick from a custodian friend). We use Lime Away, the thick, green, stinky stuff. Pour it around the exposed ring and let set a while and brush. This works great on bathtubs too. But ONLY if they are porcelain. It will eat anything else. Occasionally we plunge the water out of the toilet and rub with a pumice stone. They are available in many markets. A lot of people in Home Depot type stores don't know what pumice is so ask for "one of those scrubbing stones or bars".
"The Works" is the best cleaner I have found for my toilet and not very expensive, I bought my at Wal-Mart
I use a pumice stone and rub the stain out. It is gentle, but make sure your toilet is porcelain and not plastic. I find them at my local dollar stores.
I have to ditto the poster who suggested Oxiclean. Our 5 yr old home had badly stained Kohler toilets. Just down in the deep part. We tried all kinds of things and then my husband just threw some Oxiclean powder in, let it sit about an hour and then used a brush. It worked great! (12/31/2005)
A good cup of vinegar before bed every night will do it. The ring isn't dirt, it's from the hard water. (01/01/2006)
By Juanita
Chlorine, used for swimming pools. Let it sit overnight, flush and clean as usual. (03/07/2006)
By Willem
you can go to www.centurysupply.com type in pumice and there you go or you can also go to www.grainger.com and type in plumbers pumice and its there as well. I've used it, it's great stuff
By Melissa
I am actually a Zep Manufacturing Rep so I might have a little more insight on how to get the rust off. If it is indeed rust, products like Oxyclean etc will not get them off. You need an acid- acids are what will eat up rust. Most toilet bowl cleaners you will buy in stores are very weak in terms of acid. Even the Zep products sold at Home depot are not that strong. The products Zep Reps sell (generally only to businesses) have high levels of acid depending on the product used. If you are able to let your product sit in the toilet overnight, then it is cheap crap. A decent product would harm the toilet.
jzoelln AT hotmail.com for questions (08/18/2006)
By Joe
The rings could be either stain or mineral deposits or combination of both. Stains are usually easier to clean since they are thin. Mineral deposits however are much harder to clean and the older and thicker they are the harder it would be to clean. Mineral deposits can be removed either chemically using acids or mechanically using pumice. Bleach and baking soda are both non-acidic, they are basic and will not remove the mineral deposits. (As an experiment you can try to put egg shells which are minerals, in vinegar which is acidic and see what happens to it after a day). Anyone who has found good results using bleach or baking soda or any other base chemical products most likely removed stains and not mineral deposits of any significant degree.
By ToiletScience
Due to hard water, we get toilet bowl stains that are hard to remove. The cure-all for me is to remove the back reservoir lid and place a funnel into the over flow pipe then pour muriatic acid down the pipe. This cleans the flushing vents around the rim and then flows down the side of the bowl. About 6 ounces does the job. After a couple minutes, the bowl is brushed clean. Warning: this is truly an acid and proper ventilation is needed and be careful not to splash any on your carpet or clothes! (11/25/2006)
By
I empty out the water and use Lime-away and a razor blade. This sounds really funny but you can use a razor blade to scrape the ring and it works! It scrapes them right off if they are hard water stains. Again only on porcelain though. (12/05/2006)
By traci
The pumice stone and good old fashioned elbow grease will remove the stains. THE TRICK is to not allow the stains to return -- and you do that by swishing the bowl every day or two. You do not need to use cleaner, just leave the bowl brush right next to the toilet and every day or two give it a swish (in clean water of course) and flush. The stain will not have a chance to build up and come back. (01/18/2007)
By Kris
In my cleaning business I use pumice stone. (01/18/2007)
By Karen
Regarding the ring in the toilet bowl, I tried using most of the methods and products recommended, above, but none would get rid of the ring. What finally did do the job was a product called "Zud". It is a heavy duty cleanser and it did a great job. I have used this product before for difficult stains and thought I would try it in the toilet bowl. I rubbed the ring using a damp cloth with "Zud" on it. It worked beautifully. It is nice to know I finally can get the toilet bowl really clean.
Note: I had already let Lime Away sit in the bowl for a couple of hours, but the ring still remained. That was when I decided to try "Zud" as a last resort. It could be the combination of the two, but I suspect it was the "Zud". Good luck!! (04/14/2007)
By Patricia
On the Rachael Ray TV show they said to pour old soda pop (like a can that's been sitting in your garage for too long) onto the bowl, let it set at least 2 hours, then scrub with a brush and flush. The acid in the old soda helps to eat away at the buildup.
Well, it can't hurt to try and you weren't going to drink it anyway. (04/15/2007)
By Holly
There are some good recommendations here. I only ask that everyone use a little common sense. Consider what you are putting down the drain. In some cases acids are being prescribed as the only effective method to remove stain. Sure the waste water is treated in most cases but, the acid remains and makes its way back into the environment. It might be back in your drinking water some day. Or maybe your kids drinking water. Saying acid is the only effective method to remove stain is like saying a nuclear bomb is the only way to effectively end the war in Iraq. Both will work very well but, consider the consequences. I have found that a little good old fashion elbow grease works. Pumice stones and the razor blade techniques works without harm to the environment. (06/05/2007)
By Steve
Bar Keepers Helper in the Powder not the liquid. It's very cheap. Best thing for well water rust stains I found so far. Lime Away and all like products have been no use to me. (07/08/2007)
By cleanfreak1
I tried every product I could think of for a hard water scale in my toilet and scrubbed forever.
Finally I drained it to about half a cup, poured in some CLR in the grey bottle and let it sit for a few hours. Finally--stain gone. (07/08/2007)
By Shera
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