Quite a mineral buildup in our toilet and drain. I have had our toilet off once before, and the lime or calcium deposits had blocked the actual drain hole in the floor by about 50%. What can I do to eliminate this blockage in an ongoing way, since the vinegar and baking soda, or chemicals in the toilet bowl itself will not reach that area? The snake will not work in the toilet - too sharp of a bend! New toilet? but then still will have the buildup
I learned this from a plumber. He uses an old fashioned wire clothes hanger. A larger one works better just for the reach. Grasp the hook end with one hand and the center of the long straight section with the other hand. Pull them apart to make a hook with a long handle. Straighten the hook end slightly and probe the rim holes with the hook. Flush the toilet as you are doing this helps wash out the holes at the same time. Also, use the same hook end and probe the one larger hole in the bottom of the bowl. This is the hole that the solid stream of water pushes the water down the toilet. The plumber said they clog from the lime, calcium, etc. in the water. He didn't have any preventative measure. It may just be that your water is high in these minerals. I would not recommend putting chemicals not designed for the porcelain. You can try the product SLR. I don't know how you would use it on a toilet though. I think the acronym stands for Salt, Lime, and Rust. I have seen the commercial on TV, but, haven't tried it. One last note!!! Be very careful not to chip or break the porcelain. It can chip quite easily!
I think that is CLR, calcium, lime, and rust and it works well, if you drain the toilet and let it sit right on the mineral build up for a few hours. Drain it by turning off the water shut off valve and flushing the toilet.
I use a Dremel Tool with a flexible extension and a small grinding rock to remove the deposits from the jet at the bottom of the bowl works great and lasts about 10 months flushes like new again, p.s. wear safety glasses.
To add to my previous post on how to clear a lime (calcium) blocked drain in a toilet, you can use the same method as for clearing the block. (As mentioned in my previous post.) Since it takes anywhere from a couple of months to a year to cause a total blockage, some preventative maintenance every other month will help to prevent these deposits from becoming a total blockage.
Instead of pumping out all of the water, and shutting the water to the toilet off completely you can just add a couple of bottles into the toilet on a day, or night when you won't be using the toilet for several hours. Toilets are designed so that you can't overfill the bowl so when you have too much in the bowl it will just allow the extra to seep-drain. By pouring in two bottles of the Works Thick cleaner it will seep down to the drain opening through the toilet internal trap, and then remain there long enough to keep the build-up from becoming a clog.
It depends upon how much lime you have in your water as to how often you would need to do this. For heavy amounts of lime/calcium in your water I would do it every month. For places that would take over a year to build into a full clog I would
If you have a lot of lime/calcium in your water it would be wise to invest in a water
softener for your home. That would remove all the minerals from the water itself.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Is there a system to place in the flush tank of the toilet to prevent mineral deposits below the water line. I keep scouring it away, but it always returns. How can it be prevented?
Toni Y.
Kaboom is about useless for some of these mineral deposits, and CLR, which I do use, sometimes won't touch them either. I do have good luck with vinegar and pumice stone, but was cleaning several times a week, and as Toni Y knows, they will just come back, seemingly overnight, so that was a lot of cleaning!
That being said, I recently bought a mineral magnet, out of Home Trends catalog, thinking what did I have to lose... and surprisingly, its been almost a month, and I have yet to see the return of the rings.
How do you stop mineral build up in toilets that are seldom used?
Natural uses you can use are: lemon juice, vinegar, baking soda, or white wine to remove mineral build up.
Reference: www.reddiplumbingwichita.com/
I use lysol toilette bowl cleaner it is a blue gel.Put in toilet leave sit 1 hour and wipe off.
I have a friend that had let her toilet had gotten a dark brown ring in it.We scrubbed for hours and could not get it clean! So, her husband told us he knew what would work.He put several tablets of denture cleaning tablets in the toilet let it set all night.Worked like a charm.The toilet looks brand new!It wont hurt the porcelain toilets since the cleaning tablets are made for dentures which get pretty stained sometimes.
I'v used the denture tablet method for years. It not only cleans the deposits away it leaves it smelling fresh & clean. 120 Polident tablets cost about $6.00.
How many tablets are you recommending to bu used for my toilet and how often do I go this method
Absolutely works; I've tried it with smoker's denture cleaner tabs and left overnight. Works well and keeps the bowl looking nice between a full cleaning.
When your toilet bowl becomes difficult to clean after using the brush and it looks like it needs something more, you should use a couple tablets overnight to prevent frequent flushing and give the tabs a chance to do its thing. I like the smoker's denture tabs the best. Then do it on a regular weekly basis between the toilet brushing. You may eventually cut back to one tab a couple times a week.
