Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

The apartment I've just moved into is very nice, apart from the fact
that the toilet is encrusted with an appalling amount of limescale
around the rim etc.

I would be interested to know of your recommendations as to the best
stuff to use to banish it. What would be the best form of abrasive
for tackling this?

Thanks in advance.

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

On Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:00:42 -0800 (PST), The Weary Wizard
wrote:

The apartment I've just moved into is very nice, apart from the fact
that the toilet is encrusted with an appalling amount of limescale
around the rim etc.

I would be interested to know of your recommendations as to the best
stuff to use to banish it. What would be the best form of abrasive
for tackling this?

Thanks in advance.

I wouldn't use an abrasive at all. There are LOADS of products on the
supermarket shelves for removing limescale. I would think the gel type would be
best but it will probably need several applications.

Andy

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

"The Weary Wizard" wrote in message
...
The apartment I've just moved into is very nice, apart from the fact
that the toilet is encrusted with an appalling amount of limescale
around the rim etc.

I would be interested to know of your recommendations as to the best
stuff to use to banish it. What would be the best form of abrasive
for tackling this?

Thanks in advance.



A product that contains phosphuric acid.


mark

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

On Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:07:46 +0000, Andy Cap wrote:

I wouldn't use an abrasive at all.

Agreed the glaze will get damaged and make staining/sacle build up even
more of a problem.

There are LOADS of products on the supermarket shelves for removing
limescale. I would think the gel type would be best but it will probably
need several applications.

Yep, don't expect a one hit wonder result. Scale will dissolve in mild
acid without damaging the glaze.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

On 21 Jan, 20:00, The Weary Wizard
wrote:
The apartment I've just moved into is very nice, apart from the fact
that the toilet is encrusted with an appalling amount of limescale
around the rim etc.

I would be interested to know of your recommendations as to the best
stuff to use to banish it. *What would be the best form of abrasive
for tackling this?

Thanks in advance.

Harpic 100% Limescale Remover - does what it says on the bottle. Works
a treat.

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

The Weary Wizard wrote:
The apartment I've just moved into is very nice, apart from the fact
that the toilet is encrusted with an appalling amount of limescale
around the rim etc.

I would be interested to know of your recommendations as to the best
stuff to use to banish it. What would be the best form of abrasive
for tackling this?

Thanks in advance.

I had a similar situation.


We bough ****loads (apt, as it turned out) of gel descaler, and a quart
of brick acid.

Both ate through the scale slowly, and I ended up knocking off lumps
with a chisel.

Every night the bowl was filled with acid and left.

The rim wasnt too bad, but round the bend was evil. It was about half
the diameter it should have been and not JUST scale., Layers of scale ad
****. Years of scale and ****. Took about a week of acid, chipping, and
flushing for an hour after work each day, to clean it all up.

The good news is it all did clean up.

Thats when I decided to never be without brick acid and caustic soda
ever again. And the next house would have a softener..



Be VERY careful with gel cleaners on CHROME tho. It dulls the surface
permanentely. So does brick acid. I guess its chrome sulphate.

Abrasives are moderately useless. If a bog brush won't clear it, use a
chisel. Get a cheapo wood chisel with a sharp edge, and go gently.

What I found was thet the clingy gel stuff etched the edges UNDER the
scale, and chunks could be levered out..then more gel or overnight acid
would do the same again. Bit by bit the enemy was pushed back..and
mopped up.

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

The Weary Wizard wrote:
The apartment I've just moved into is very nice, apart from the fact
that the toilet is encrusted with an appalling amount of limescale
around the rim etc.

I would be interested to know of your recommendations as to the best
stuff to use to banish it. What would be the best form of abrasive
for tackling this?

Thanks in advance.

Lime Lite products from Henkel - excellent.

http://www.limeliteinfo.co.uk/Limelite/

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher writes:

The rim wasnt too bad, but round the bend was evil. It was about half
the diameter it should have been and not JUST scale., Layers of scale ad
****. Years of scale and ****. Took about a week of acid, chipping, and
flushing for an hour after work each day, to clean it all up.

Acid isn't too effective on the **** part. What you can do
in this case is to alternate it with another powerful cleaner,
such as washing machine or dishwasher detergent dissolved in
hot water and left in the trap over night, which are both good
at clearing the organic debris.

When switching cleaning agents, flush the previous one well
away first, enough times to clear the sewage pipework too.
Mixing of different cleaners can cause violent chemical
reactions and production of toxic fumes.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

"The Weary Wizard" wrote in message
...
The apartment I've just moved into is very nice, apart from the fact
that the toilet is encrusted with an appalling amount of limescale
around the rim etc.

I would be interested to know of your recommendations as to the best
stuff to use to banish it. What would be the best form of abrasive
for tackling this?

Thanks in advance.


Angle grinder

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

RW wrote:
"The Weary Wizard" wrote in message
...
The apartment I've just moved into is very nice, apart from the fact
that the toilet is encrusted with an appalling amount of limescale
around the rim etc.

I would be interested to know of your recommendations as to the best
stuff to use to banish it. What would be the best form of abrasive
for tackling this?

Thanks in advance.


Angle grinder



If you block the thing up with a rag, fill to the brim, and leave
overnight, even weak acid like citric will do it. Sulphamic (Fernox
descaler) is better (and easy to use) but I don't like the fumes from
hydrochloric (brick acid) indoors

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
The Natural Philosopher writes:
The rim wasnt too bad, but round the bend was evil. It was about half
the diameter it should have been and not JUST scale., Layers of scale ad
****. Years of scale and ****. Took about a week of acid, chipping, and
flushing for an hour after work each day, to clean it all up.

Acid isn't too effective on the **** part. What you can do
in this case is to alternate it with another powerful cleaner,
such as washing machine or dishwasher detergent dissolved in
hot water and left in the trap over night, which are both good
at clearing the organic debris.


We did use a bit of caustic to reduce the smell, but in reality the
stuff was a matrix. Disslve the carbonate, and the evil stiff went with it.

When switching cleaning agents, flush the previous one well
away first, enough times to clear the sewage pipework too.
Mixing of different cleaners can cause violent chemical
reactions and production of toxic fumes.

Yes. Its great fun doing big sperriments in your loo bowl innit? With
the whole bathroom as a giant fan extracted fume cupboard.

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

Stuart Noble wrote:
RW wrote:
"The Weary Wizard" wrote in message
...
The apartment I've just moved into is very nice, apart from the fact
that the toilet is encrusted with an appalling amount of limescale
around the rim etc.

I would be interested to know of your recommendations as to the best
stuff to use to banish it. What would be the best form of abrasive
for tackling this?

Thanks in advance.


Angle grinder


If you block the thing up with a rag, fill to the brim, and leave
overnight, even weak acid like citric will do it. Sulphamic (Fernox
descaler) is better (and easy to use) but I don't like the fumes from
hydrochloric (brick acid) indoors
Then you have to get the rag OUT again..

works for stuff you can SEE, but not stuff 'round the bend'..

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

On Jan 21, 8:57 pm, Lino expert wrote:


Harpic 100% Limescale Remover - does what it says on the bottle. Works
a treat.

Sadly I used that - it hardly knocked a dent in it I'm afraid! :(

As for the other acid-based products mentioned in this thread, are
they things readily available in B & Q etc.?

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

On 22 Jan, 17:21, The Weary Wizard
wrote:
On Jan 21, 8:57 pm, Lino expert wrote:



Harpic 100% Limescale Remover - does what it says on the bottle. Works
a treat.

Sadly I used that - it hardly knocked a dent in it I'm afraid! :(

As for the other acid-based products mentioned in this thread, are
they things readily available in B & Q etc.?

Arsebiscuits! Must be heavy-duty scale - good luck anyway.

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

The Weary Wizard wrote:
On Jan 21, 8:57 pm, Lino expert wrote:

Harpic 100% Limescale Remover - does what it says on the bottle. Works
a treat.

Sadly I used that - it hardly knocked a dent in it I'm afraid! :(

As for the other acid-based products mentioned in this thread, are
they things readily available in B & Q etc.?

Builders mercahnts for brick acid, or a good hardware shop.

Don't expect it all to go instantly.It takes time to dissolve decades of
urine, limescale and ****.

Someone mentioned phosphoric acid. I think thats 'jenolite' rust
remover. Brick acid is about 30% hydrochloric. Most descalers are
sulphamic, but any acid will ultimately crap all over carbonates, apart
from carbonic acid!

Other acids you can get are formic - I think Kilroc uses that..and
sulphuric. That's generally for specialised sanitary cleaning type
operations. Or car batteries of course.

Even vinegar (acetic acid) or rhubarb juice (oxalic acid) will do a bit
to scale.


The one poster who mentioned blocking the loo and filling it up with
acid had a good idea if its rim based stuff.

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
The Weary Wizard wrote:
On Jan 21, 8:57 pm, Lino expert wrote:

Harpic 100% Limescale Remover - does what it says on the bottle.
Works a treat.

Sadly I used that - it hardly knocked a dent in it I'm afraid! :(

As for the other acid-based products mentioned in this thread, are
they things readily available in B & Q etc.?

Builders mercahnts for brick acid, or a good hardware shop.

Don't expect it all to go instantly.It takes time to dissolve decades
of urine, limescale and ****.

Someone mentioned phosphoric acid. I think thats 'jenolite' rust
remover. Brick acid is about 30% hydrochloric. Most descalers are
sulphamic, but any acid will ultimately crap all over carbonates,
apart from carbonic acid!

Other acids you can get are formic - I think Kilroc uses that..and
sulphuric. That's generally for specialised sanitary cleaning type
operations. Or car batteries of course.

Sulphuric can attack the glsae on a WC pan.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

Lino expert wrote:
On 21 Jan, 20:00, The Weary Wizard
wrote:
The apartment I've just moved into is very nice, apart from the fact
that the toilet is encrusted with an appalling amount of limescale
around the rim etc.

I would be interested to know of your recommendations as to the best
stuff to use to banish it. What would be the best form of abrasive
for tackling this?

Thanks in advance.

Harpic 100% Limescale Remover - does what it says on the bottle. Works
a treat.

Or the Tesco, Morrisons own label. Look on the label for the words
'contains hydrochloric acid'. As others have said, might take many
applications.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

"The Weary Wizard" wrote in message
...
The apartment I've just moved into is very nice, apart from the fact
that the toilet is encrusted with an appalling amount of limescale
around the rim etc.

I would be interested to know of your recommendations as to the best
stuff to use to banish it. What would be the best form of abrasive
for tackling this?

Thanks in advance.


Dymashift is the product you want. About £10 for 5 litres. It has 25%
phosphuric acid and is used by commercial cleaning companies for cleaning
toilets for one.

mark

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

On 2008-01-23 00:33:22 +0000, "mark" said:


"The Weary Wizard" wrote in message
...
The apartment I've just moved into is very nice, apart from the fact
that the toilet is encrusted with an appalling amount of limescale
around the rim etc.

I would be interested to know of your recommendations as to the best
stuff to use to banish it. What would be the best form of abrasive
for tackling this?

Thanks in advance.


Dymashift is the product you want. About £10 for 5 litres. It has 25%
phosphuric acid and is used by commercial cleaning companies for cleaning
toilets for one.

mark

I've never seen toilets for two. Do Doulton make them? ;-)

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

The Medway Handyman wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
The Weary Wizard wrote:
On Jan 21, 8:57 pm, Lino expert wrote:
Harpic 100% Limescale Remover - does what it says on the bottle.
Works a treat.
Sadly I used that - it hardly knocked a dent in it I'm afraid! :(

As for the other acid-based products mentioned in this thread, are
they things readily available in B & Q etc.?

Builders mercahnts for brick acid, or a good hardware shop.

Don't expect it all to go instantly.It takes time to dissolve decades
of urine, limescale and ****.

Someone mentioned phosphoric acid. I think thats 'jenolite' rust
remover. Brick acid is about 30% hydrochloric. Most descalers are
sulphamic, but any acid will ultimately crap all over carbonates,
apart from carbonic acid!

Other acids you can get are formic - I think Kilroc uses that..and
sulphuric. That's generally for specialised sanitary cleaning type
operations. Or car batteries of course.

Sulphuric can attack the glsae on a WC pan.


Last I heard only nitric/sulphuric mixed could do that..

Howevr, it pays to be careful.

Best way to remove heavy duty limescale
 

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2008-01-23 00:33:22 +0000, "mark"
said:


"The Weary Wizard" wrote in message
...
The apartment I've just moved into is very nice, apart from the fact
that the toilet is encrusted with an appalling amount of limescale
around the rim etc.

I would be interested to know of your recommendations as to the best
stuff to use to banish it. What would be the best form of abrasive
for tackling this?

Thanks in advance.


Dymashift is the product you want. About £10 for 5 litres. It has 25%
phosphuric acid and is used by commercial cleaning companies for cleaning
toilets for one.

mark

I've never seen toilets for two. Do Doulton make them? ;-)





The Romans had them. For a recent (work safe) piccy

http://static.flickr.com/32/55472471_824bf09a97.jpg

Andy