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Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
We have perfectly fine old toilet, which works fine and has no
mechanical problems. I care for my mom, who suffers from dementia, and when she uses the toilet during the night, more often than not, she forgets to flush. This leaves her urine to sit and deposit/stain until I wake next morning to make sure the commode is flushed. Over time, this has caused heavy brown deposits (lime?) in the bottom of our porcelain crapper. I've tried to keep up, but they jes keep adding up and now even scrubbing with the new fangled hi-tech brushes with disposable pads can't remove the most heavy stains. I tried some Lime-Away, which cleaned up the lighter deposits, but the heavy darker one's in the very bottom remain. Any suggestions on what might remove these stains? Would muriatic acid be too much? Obviously, I don't wanna destroy the smooth porcelain glaze. nb |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
"notbob" wrote in message ... We have perfectly fine old toilet, which works fine and has no mechanical problems. I care for my mom, who suffers from dementia, and when she uses the toilet during the night, more often than not, she forgets to flush. This leaves her urine to sit and deposit/stain until I wake next morning to make sure the commode is flushed. Over time, this has caused heavy brown deposits (lime?) in the bottom of our porcelain crapper. I've tried to keep up, but they jes keep adding up and now even scrubbing with the new fangled hi-tech brushes with disposable pads can't remove the most heavy stains. I tried some Lime-Away, which cleaned up the lighter deposits, but the heavy darker one's in the very bottom remain. Any suggestions on what might remove these stains? Would muriatic acid be too much? Obviously, I don't wanna destroy the smooth porcelain glaze. nb I had the same problem with staining and deposits. I bought some Polident Denture Cleaner fizzies. Put about 4 of them in the toilet at a time a few times and they are almost gone now. Only cost about $3 for 40 Tablets. Give it a try, pretty cheep test. R |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On 2013-04-08, Roanin wrote:
I had the same problem with staining and deposits. I bought some Polident Denture Cleaner fizzies. Put about 4 of them in the toilet at a time a few times and they are almost gone now. Only cost about $3 for 40 Tablets. Give it a try, pretty cheep test. I will! Mom, in her forgetfulness, has bought boxes of those things. I jes dropped in a bunch of 'em. Thanks, Roanin. ;) nb |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:56:50 +0000 notbob wrote:
Over time, this has caused heavy brown deposits (lime?) in the bottom of our porcelain crapper. I don't know much - so go by what others say ... but if it's brown rust, you might get away with phosphoric acid based solutions. By way of example, here's a picture of a brown-stained toilet at my sister's house that I put some naval jelly on this weekend: http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12641055.jpg I don't have a followup picture yet because I told her to let it soak for a while and then flush the toilet - so I will need to return to her house to see whether it worked or not. BTW, I don't know what the brown stains are, but they don't clean easily. The bleach did not work. My sister said she had scrubbed already, so I didn't even try to scrub them. I'm hoping the phosphoric acid, left on for an hour or two, will have done the trick by the time I return. |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:59:51 -0400 Roanin wrote:
I bought some Polident Denture Cleaner fizzies. Looking up what the chemical is from the MSDS: http://www.msds-gsk.com/consumer/12697006.pdf 20% Citric acid (CAS 77-92-9) 11% Sodium carbonate (CAS 497-19-18) 4.3% Potassium peroxy monosulfate (CAS 10058-23-8) 10% Sodium perborate monohydrate (CAS 10332-33-9) 54.7% Non hazardous stuff I'm not a chemist - but my quick initial assessment is that the peroxy compound is an oxidizer (like bleach) and the perborate is perhaps a water softener. I suspect the citric acid and sodium carbonate are so that the thing fizzes, which may aid in mechanical removal of deposits, since dentures are soft so you don't want to scrub them too hard. Googling for what the other stuff is, I find this FAQ: http://www.mypolicare.com/Polident_FAQ.aspx#faq28 28. How does Polident 3 Minute MicroClean Formula work? Polident® 3 Minute MicroClean is specially formulated to dissolve quickly so that the cleaning and freshening agents can get to work right away. Formula kills 99.9% of odor-causing bacteria Bleaching agents help restore dentures to their original whiteness Detergents help penetrate deposits and lift them away Peppermint and spearmint oils & menthol leave your dentures feeling fresh Formula kills other microorganisms when used for five minutes. In summary, I'd be surprised if it works on toilet bowls, where scrubbing won't even work - but please do try it and report back (with a picture!) so that I can figure out whether it will work for my application! http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/...0/12641055.jpg |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On 4/8/2013 11:56 AM, notbob wrote:
We have perfectly fine old toilet, which works fine and has no mechanical problems. I care for my mom, who suffers from dementia, and when she uses the toilet during the night, more often than not, she forgets to flush. This leaves her urine to sit and deposit/stain until I wake next morning to make sure the commode is flushed. Over time, this has caused heavy brown deposits (lime?) in the bottom of our porcelain crapper. I've tried to keep up, but they jes keep adding up and now even scrubbing with the new fangled hi-tech brushes with disposable pads can't remove the most heavy stains. I tried some Lime-Away, which cleaned up the lighter deposits, but the heavy darker one's in the very bottom remain. Any suggestions on what might remove these stains? Would muriatic acid be too much? Obviously, I don't wanna destroy the smooth porcelain glaze. nb If you can't wash it off without scrubbing with a Brillo pad or the like the glaze is probably already deteriorated. I would just replace the toilet if the stains bothered me that much. John |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On 2013-04-08, Danny D. wrote:
On Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:56:50 +0000 notbob wrote: Over time, this has caused heavy brown deposits (lime?) in the bottom of our porcelain crapper. I'm pretty sure it's a calcium deposit, like lime. It's rough and porous, where rust stains are usually only color stains. The bleach did not work. Hmmm.... I've found bleach will do well in eliminating the color and leave the porcelain white, but not remove the porous deposits. My sister said she had scrubbed already, so I didn't even try to scrub them. I'm hoping the phosphoric acid, left on for an hour or two, will have done the trick by the time I return. Let me know how it works. I've got some Polident doing its thing, now. nb |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On 2013-04-08, John wrote:
the glaze is probably already deteriorated. That would account for the rough porous feel to the glaze. I hope that's not the case. nb |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
Danny D. wrote:
On Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:59:51 -0400 Roanin wrote: I bought some Polident Denture Cleaner fizzies. Looking up what the chemical is from the MSDS: http://www.msds-gsk.com/consumer/12697006.pdf 20% Citric acid (CAS 77-92-9) 11% Sodium carbonate (CAS 497-19-18) 4.3% Potassium peroxy monosulfate (CAS 10058-23-8) 10% Sodium perborate monohydrate (CAS 10332-33-9) 54.7% Non hazardous stuff I'm not a chemist - but my quick initial assessment is that the peroxy compound is an oxidizer (like bleach) and the perborate is perhaps a water softener. I suspect the citric acid and sodium carbonate are so that the thing fizzes, which may aid in mechanical removal of deposits, since dentures are soft so you don't want to scrub them too hard. Citric acid is useful for reduction of iron oxide (rust) to a soluble form; sodium carbonate is used in descaling (lime removal) but I have no idea what it does here. -- dadiOH ____________________________ Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race? Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change? Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
notbob wrote:
On 2013-04-08, John wrote: the glaze is probably already deteriorated. That would account for the rough porous feel to the glaze. I hope that's not the case. The roughness is from lime deposits which may be further stained by iron. Citric, phosphoric or any other acid will remove both but you are better off using the milder citric or phosphoric as opposed to hydrochloric (muriatic). For the bottom of the bowl, shut off the water supply to it and flush so that there is minimal water left; then add the acid and let sit for several hours. If it (deposit) is all gone, turn on water and flush; if it is not, repeat the acid. The stains under and down from the rim are harder as they need to be kept wet with the acidic soultion; one way is to saturate paper towels with the solution and pat them in place. Close the seat and wait, repeat as necessary. Your long term solution is to soften the water. That will solve the lime problem and may solve the rust depending on how much iron is in the water. If the softened water still results in iron stains, your solutions are to also get an iron removal system (not cheap) or periodically clean with acid. -- dadiOH ____________________________ Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race? Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change? Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On 2013-04-08, dadiOH wrote:
The roughness is from lime deposits which may be further stained by iron. Definitely deposits. I got a lot removed with the Polident, but still two heavy deposits. As a goof, I tried lightly scraping with a screwdriver. Chunks of brown deposit broke free! I'll continue along this line, but will try something that won't scratch the porcelain glaze. For the bottom of the bowl, shut off the water supply to it and flush so that there is minimal water left; I discovered a neat trick to help further empty the bowl. After shutting off the water to tank and flushing, rapidly dump a gal jug of water into the bowl, all at once if possible, and from several feet above the bowl. Inertia of the falling jug water will remove even more water, right down to jes above the water seal level, in my case. Your long term solution is to soften the water. That will solve the lime problem..... CO water is notoriously soft. Our's is a little less soft than most of the state, but still fairly soft water. I haven't bought bottled water since I moved here. I think the deposits are calcium deposits from human urine, the stain from the yellow in urine. nb |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On Monday, April 8, 2013 11:44:11 AM UTC-6, notbob wrote:
On 2013-04-08, dadiOH wrote: The roughness is from lime deposits which may be further stained by iron. Definitely deposits. I got a lot removed with the Polident, but still two heavy deposits. As a goof, I tried lightly scraping with a screwdriver. Chunks of brown deposit broke free! I'll continue along this line, but will try something that won't scratch the porcelain glaze. For the bottom of the bowl, shut off the water supply to it and flush so that there is minimal water left; I discovered a neat trick to help further empty the bowl. After shutting off the water to tank and flushing, rapidly dump a gal jug of water into the bowl, all at once if possible, and from several feet above the bowl. Inertia of the falling jug water will remove even more water, right down to jes above the water seal level, in my case. Your long term solution is to soften the water. That will solve the lime problem..... CO water is notoriously soft. Our's is a little less soft than most of the state, but still fairly soft water. I haven't bought bottled water since I moved here. I think the deposits are calcium deposits from human urine, the stain from the yellow in urine. nb Iron-Out works really well. I use it all the time. |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On 8 Apr 2013 15:56:50 GMT, notbob wrote:
We have perfectly fine old toilet, which works fine and has no mechanical problems. I care for my mom, who suffers from dementia, and when she uses the toilet during the night, more often than not, she forgets to flush. This leaves her urine to sit and deposit/stain until I wake next morning to make sure the commode is flushed. Over time, this has caused heavy brown deposits (lime?) in the bottom of our porcelain crapper. I've tried to keep up, but they jes keep adding up and now even scrubbing with the new fangled hi-tech brushes with disposable pads can't remove the most heavy stains. I tried some Lime-Away, which cleaned up the lighter deposits, but the heavy darker one's in the very bottom remain. Any suggestions on what might remove these stains? Would muriatic acid be too much? Obviously, I don't wanna destroy the smooth porcelain glaze. nb You may want to consider using one of the tablet treatments to prevent it from occurring one you get it clean. We have some made by Clorox that work very well. |
I would use a hydrochloric acid based toilet bowl cleaner available at any place listed under "Janitorial Equipment & Supplies" in your yellow pages phone book.
For maintaining a clean appearance, then a weaker phosphoric acid toilet bowl cleaner would be all you'd need. Neither phosphoric acid nor hydrochloric acid will harm glass or porcelain, even at higher concentrations, so if you have muriatic acid, you could try applying it with a Q-trip or nylon bristle paint brush to see how effective it would be. If it works, then use a gelled hydrochloric acid toilet bowl cleaner which will be about 14% hydrochloric acid instead of 26 percent. |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
Heavy plastic spoon for scraper? Used, then labelled with magic marker and
stored in the shop. .. Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus www.lds.org .. .. "notbob" wrote in message ... Definitely deposits. I got a lot removed with the Polident, but still two heavy deposits. As a goof, I tried lightly scraping with a screwdriver. Chunks of brown deposit broke free! I'll continue along this line, but will try something that won't scratch the porcelain glaze. nb |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
"notbob" wrote in message ... We have perfectly fine old toilet, which works fine and has no mechanical problems. I care for my mom, who suffers from dementia, and when she uses the toilet during the night, more often than not, she forgets to flush. This leaves her urine to sit and deposit/stain until I wake next morning to make sure the commode is flushed. Over time, this has caused heavy brown deposits (lime?) in the bottom of our porcelain crapper. I've tried to keep up, but they jes keep adding up and now even scrubbing with the new fangled hi-tech brushes with disposable pads can't remove the most heavy stains. I tried some Lime-Away, which cleaned up the lighter deposits, but the heavy darker one's in the very bottom remain. Any suggestions on what might remove these stains? Would muriatic acid be too much? Obviously, I don't wanna destroy the smooth porcelain glaze. nb Had this problem with my grown son who didn't bother to flush nor clean. Nothing would remove it, so after draining as much water as possible, I poured in about a cup or so of acid pipe cleaner from Home Depot that I had sitting around. When it was poured in it foamed up, got hot, and then I ran an all-plastic scrub brush around in the bowl. The liquid turned dark brown and when I flushed it down it left a clean, stain free toilet. |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
"notbob" wrote in message ... On 2013-04-08, dadiOH wrote: The roughness is from lime deposits which may be further stained by iron. Definitely deposits. I got a lot removed with the Polident, but still two heavy deposits. As a goof, I tried lightly scraping with a screwdriver. Chunks of brown deposit broke free! I'll continue along this line, but will try something that won't scratch the porcelain glaze. For the bottom of the bowl, shut off the water supply to it and flush so that there is minimal water left; I discovered a neat trick to help further empty the bowl. After shutting off the water to tank and flushing, rapidly dump a gal jug of water into the bowl, all at once if possible, and from several feet above the bowl. Inertia of the falling jug water will remove even more water, right down to jes above the water seal level, in my case. Your long term solution is to soften the water. That will solve the lime problem..... CO water is notoriously soft. Our's is a little less soft than most of the state, but still fairly soft water. I haven't bought bottled water since I moved here. I think the deposits are calcium deposits from human urine, the stain from the yellow in urine. nb Glad it is working a little bit for you. In my case we have really hard water with a lot of iron in it. When they changed my well pump, it looked the color of a Home Depot sign. This being said, my stain is in the bottom of the toilet bowl and there still is a little bit there. It accumulated over time. I did not want to put in a real harsh chemical other than the bleach because It is a Kohler toilet that matches the sink and I did not want to mess up the bowl. Lots of good suggestions here. R |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On 2013-04-09, EXT wrote:
Had this problem with my grown son who didn't bother to flush nor clean. Nothing would remove it, so after draining as much water as possible, I poured in about a cup or so of acid pipe cleaner from Home Depot that I had sitting around. When it was poured in it foamed up, got hot, and then I ran an all-plastic scrub brush around in the bowl. The liquid turned dark brown and when I flushed it down it left a clean, stain free toilet. I have some sulfuric acid drain cleaner. Would that harm porcelain? I called the company that makes it and asked them if it would hurt plastic tub drain piping. They would commit/deny/agree with absolutely nothing. Kinda like, "Hey, we jes make it and ain't 'fessin' to diddly. Use at yer own risk". Real encouraging. ;) nb |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On Monday, April 8, 2013 8:51:36 PM UTC-6, notbob wrote:
On 2013-04-09, EXT wrote: Had this problem with my grown son who didn't bother to flush nor clean. Nothing would remove it, so after draining as much water as possible, I poured in about a cup or so of acid pipe cleaner from Home Depot that I had sitting around. When it was poured in it foamed up, got hot, and then I ran an all-plastic scrub brush around in the bowl. The liquid turned dark brown and when I flushed it down it left a clean, stain free toilet. I have some sulfuric acid drain cleaner. Would that harm porcelain? I called the company that makes it and asked them if it would hurt plastic tub drain piping. They would commit/deny/agree with absolutely nothing. Kinda like, "Hey, we jes make it and ain't 'fessin' to diddly. Use at yer own risk". Real encouraging. ;) nb IRON-OUT WILL WORK...TRY IT. |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On Mon, 8 Apr 2013 11:59:51 -0400, "Roanin"
wrote: "notbob" wrote in message ... We have perfectly fine old toilet, which works fine and has no mechanical problems. I care for my mom, who suffers from dementia, and when she uses the toilet during the night, more often than not, she forgets to flush. This leaves her urine to sit and deposit/stain until I wake next morning to make sure the commode is flushed. Over time, this has caused heavy brown deposits (lime?) in the bottom of our porcelain crapper. I've tried to keep up, but they jes keep adding up and now even scrubbing with the new fangled hi-tech brushes with disposable pads can't remove the most heavy stains. I tried some Lime-Away, which cleaned up the lighter deposits, but the heavy darker one's in the very bottom remain. Any suggestions on what might remove these stains? Would muriatic acid be too much? Obviously, I don't wanna destroy the smooth porcelain glaze. nb I had the same problem with staining and deposits. I bought some Polident Denture Cleaner fizzies. Put about 4 of them in the toilet at a time a few times and they are almost gone now. Only cost about $3 for 40 Tablets. Give it a try, pretty cheep test. R I may try that myself. Right now I used to use Lime-Away I think it was acidic toilet bowl cleaner, but I don't see that for sale anymore. I used to get it at Lowes and they had nothing similar at HD. So I use The Works, which is also called acidic on the label. follow the instructions on the label. I think they have that at Lowes. I was afraid it would damage the porcelain, but after a few uses I rubbed one of the formerly dirty areas with a finger and it seemed just as smooth as the outside which has never been cleaned with anything but water. . I had this problem when my prostate started making me pee a smaller amount but many times a day. Even though I'm charged a flat rate for water, I couldn't bare to flush the toilet all the time for a little bit. Guess what? The same thing happened in my bladder. Because I didn't flush it completely, only expelled a little, and left the rest in there, I got depostits and a bladder stone almost as big as a golf ball. Thank gosh for fancy doctors and lasers. I would hate to have had the stone taken out the way they did 2400 or 60 years ago. I hope your mother doesn't. get worse. I wonder if there is some sort of automatically flushing toilet out there. I haven't heard of one, but maybe go to a real plumbing supply store. |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
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Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On Mon, 8 Apr 2013 20:02:10 -0400, "EXT"
wrote: "notbob" wrote in message ... We have perfectly fine old toilet, which works fine and has no mechanical problems. I care for my mom, who suffers from dementia, and when she uses the toilet during the night, more often than not, she forgets to flush. This leaves her urine to sit and deposit/stain until I wake next morning to make sure the commode is flushed. Over time, this has caused heavy brown deposits (lime?) in the bottom of our porcelain crapper. I've tried to keep up, but they jes keep adding up and now even scrubbing with the new fangled hi-tech brushes with disposable pads can't remove the most heavy stains. I tried some Lime-Away, which cleaned up the lighter deposits, but the heavy darker one's in the very bottom remain. Any suggestions on what might remove these stains? Would muriatic acid be too much? Obviously, I don't wanna destroy the smooth porcelain glaze. nb Had this problem with my grown son who didn't bother to flush nor clean. Nothing would remove it, so after draining as much water as possible, I poured in about a cup or so of acid pipe cleaner from Home Depot that I had sitting around. When it was poured in it foamed up, got hot, and then I ran an all-plastic scrub brush around in the bowl. The liquid turned dark brown and when I flushed it down it left a clean, stain free toilet. I've used swimming pool acid to clean out badly stained toilets. Creates a lot of fumes. Don't stay in the room after you put it in. Then get in and out fast when you swish it around and flush. Run the exhaust fan. |
Quote:
A toilet bowl is nothing more than a glorified syphon. You get a siphon hose going by sucking on the end of the hose to fill it with liquid. Once full, the laws of syphon physics take over and the syphon will flow by itself as long as the downstream end of the siphon hose is below the elevation of the liquid you're syphoning. A toilet bowl works exactly the same way. The toilet tank's job is to pour enough water into the bowl fast enough so that the water flowing over the weir completely fills the winding discharge channel that ends at the wax seal. Once that winding discharge channel is full of water, the same laws of syphon physics take over, and that winding discharge channel becomes a 2 1/2 inch diameter syphon hose that sucks the toilet bowl dry. If you ever hear anyone telling you that that discharge channel twists and turns because it somehow performs the same function as the P-trap under a sink, tell them they don't know what they're talking about. The discharge channel twists and turns so as to slow down the rate water can flow through it. Since water can only overflow the weir at a certain rate (depending on the tank and the bowl) the slower the water can flow THROUGH the discharge channel relative to how quickly it comes into the discharge channel, the greater the liklihood of filling that discharge channel completely with water, and thereby creating a powerful syphoning action. Pouring that additional gallon of water into the bowl quickly simply starts another syphon going. That is, another flush, to remove a bit more water from the bowl. The inertia of the falling water doesn't have anything to do with it. You'd do better to put your hand into the bottom of the toilet bowl as the toilet is flushing to displace some water so that after the flush is complete, when you remove your hand, there will be one hand's worth of water volume less in the bottom of the bowl than there normally would be. |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
notbob wrote:
I have some sulfuric acid drain cleaner. Would that harm porcelain? The porcelain is glass. The only acid that will attack glass is hydrofluoric and it is highly unlikely that you will ever encounter it. -- dadiOH ____________________________ Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race? Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change? Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On 2013-04-09, dadiOH wrote:
The porcelain is glass. The only acid that will attack glass is hydrofluoric and it is highly unlikely that you will ever encounter it. I once hadda work above a large open vessel of it. Hi-tech chip mfg, and all that. To say I was extremely careful for that 1 hr is putting it mildly. Anyway, thanks for the info. nb |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
We have perfectly fine old toilet, which works fine and has no
mechanical problems. I care for my mom, who suffers from dementia, and when she uses the toilet during the night, more often than not, she forgets to flush. This leaves her urine to sit and deposit/stain until I wake next morning to make sure the commode is flushed. Over time, this has caused heavy brown deposits (lime?) in the bottom of our porcelain crapper. I've tried to keep up, but they jes keep adding up and now even scrubbing with the new fangled hi-tech brushes with disposable pads can't remove the most heavy stains. I tried some Lime-Away, which cleaned up the lighter deposits, but the heavy darker one's in the very bottom remain. Any suggestions on what might remove these stains? Would muriatic acid be too much? Obviously, I don't wanna destroy the smooth porcelain glaze. If you are on a septic system, I would try other alternatives before dumping acids or other caustic chemicals down your toilet. You wouldn't want to cause problems with your septic system just to remove a stain. Dark stains are usually a build up of rust or minerals. I have removed heavy stains like that using a mild abrasive like Comet or Ajax and one of those green nylon scrubbing pads. Yes, you have to stick your hands in the toilet and do some scrubbing, but it has always worked for me. There's enough abrasive to remove the stain, but not enough to damage the finish on the toilet. It helps to turn off the water to the toilet and flush as much water as you can from the bowl. Scoop out as much of the remaining water as you can before scrubbing. I have also had good results with a product called CLR (Calcium/Lime/Rust). It's fairly harmless, but it can damage some surfaces like laminate counter tops. I once left a permanent ring on our old countertop when a little was on the bottom of the dish I was using to hold it while cleaning. Anthony Watson Mountain Software www.mountain-software.com/about.htm |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On Tue, 9 Apr 2013 14:12:06 +0000 (UTC), HerHusband
wrote: If you are on a septic system, I would try other alternatives before dumping acids or other caustic chemicals down your toilet. You wouldn't want to cause problems with your septic system just to remove a stain. If muriatic acid ( what I use for calcium crud) is used on a septic system, simply neutralize it with baking soda before the flush. It will not harm the septic system. I'm on city sewer with PVC pipe. If metal pipes, also use the baking soda before you flush. |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On Tue, 09 Apr 2013 07:54:14 -0400 dadiOH wrote:
The porcelain is glass. The only acid that will attack glass is hydrofluoric Is that really true? Do others concur? If so, that good news opens a whole realm of chemicals we can use to clean the brown stains off the toilet. |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
"Danny D." writes:
On Tue, 09 Apr 2013 07:54:14 -0400 dadiOH wrote: The porcelain is glass. The only acid that will attack glass is hydrofluoric Is that really true? Do others concur? If so, that good news opens a whole realm of chemicals we can use to clean the brown stains off the toilet. Porcelain is mostly glass, but more important, the glaze applied to porcelain is also mostly glass: Ceramic glaze raw materials generally include silica, which will be the main glass former. Various metal oxides, such as sodium, potassium and calcium, act as a flux to lower the melting temperature. Alumina, often derived from clay, stiffens the molten glaze to prevent it from running off the piece. Colorants, such as iron oxide, copper carbonate or cobalt carbonate, and sometimes opacifiers such as tin oxide or zirconium oxide, are used to modify the visual appearance of the fired glaze. My experience with brown stains, is that regular toilet cleaners and some scrubbing do the job. It took more than one session, but no heroic actions were required. Oh, also, yes, etching glass is done with hydrofluoric acid. -- Dan Espen |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:44:02 -0400 Dan Espen wrote:
Porcelain is mostly glass, but more important, the glaze applied to porcelain is also mostly glass: Well, if nothing is going to harm the porcelain, then I can now experiment more easily with acids of phosphate and hydrochloric. For example, I have muriatic acid (for the pool), so, I will try that to remove my brown stains on the toilet and report back. I'll probably post results separately as this thread was opened by someone else so I don't wish to hijack it for my experiments. |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:00:12 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote: For example, I have muriatic acid (for the pool), so, I will try that to remove my brown stains on the toilet and report back. Danny, This link is for a "slow flush toilet". Every toilet I have "cleaned" using muriatic acid has also cleaned stains, etc. Skip down to: _Muriatic Acid Method_ This will clean any calcium / slim from inside the bowl rim and the flow jets. Cleaner toilet with a better flush. If on a septic system / metal sewer pipes, use baking soda to neutralize the acid before you flush. http://www.wikihow.com/Fix-a-Slow-Toilet You have the pool acid - try it. Works for me... |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
"Danny D." wrote in message ... On Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:44:02 -0400 Dan Espen wrote: Porcelain is mostly glass, but more important, the glaze applied to porcelain is also mostly glass: Well, if nothing is going to harm the porcelain, then I can now experiment more easily with acids of phosphate and hydrochloric. For example, I have muriatic acid (for the pool), so, I will try that to remove my brown stains on the toilet and report back. I'll probably post results separately as this thread was opened by someone else so I don't wish to hijack it for my experiments. Be VERY careful with muriatic acid in enclosed spaces. |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:30:25 -0500 NotMe wrote:
I'll probably post results separately as this thread was opened by someone else so I don't wish to hijack it for my experiments. Be VERY careful with muriatic acid in enclosed spaces. See followup he https://groups.google.com/forum/?fro...ir/lIRJ6jTOkSI Summary montage he http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12671632.png |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
Brown Stains Bottom of Toilet
Had brownish stains in the bottom of two of our toilets, thought it was the porcelain eaten away due to color and texture and what appeared to be the raw ceramic/clay showing though. After reading everything in this blog, simply turned off water to toilet, flushed, soaked up remaining water with rags and filled with CLR (since found out ZEP has same product for about 20% less). Let it sit, took small flat screw driver and gently scraped under edge of the brown stuff, it popped right off in flakes. Continued to do same with larger, easily accessed areas then followed up with small, hard bristle, non-abrasive brush. Turned water back on and flushed- eureka, just like new. Based on what I've read and not having hard, iron saturated water, my guess is that a combination of what little iron there is in the water, combined with my children not flushing their urine consistently, a calcium/lime/rust build up occurred. Unfortunately I didn't take before and after photos to post, but fortunately it worked. Thanks for all postings, FRO |
Quote:
Toilet bowl cleaners come in two flavours; phosphoric acid and hydrochloric acid. Any place listed under Janitorial Equipment & Supplies will sell both types. Generally, it's better to use the phosphoric acid if you can because it's easier on the environment, but the hydrochloric acid at the 10 to 15 percent concentration typically found in toilet bowl cleaners WILL NOT harm porcelain. I looked at the picture of your toilet, and I don't see anything there that either kind of cleaner wouldn't dissolve. Hydrochloric acid based toilet bowl cleaners are very much stronger than phosphoric acid toilet bowl cleaners, so you might want to remove most of that brown stain with phosphoric acid, and then clean up the more difficult stuff with hydrochloric acid. If you have muriatic acid, I'd use it. I use hydrochloric acid toilet bowl cleaners all the time on porcelain because I often clean my aluminum window screens in bathtubs, and the aluminum leaves marks on the ceramic tiling. Hydrochloric acid is the only thing I know of that will remove those marks. And, of course, I use hydrochloric acid to clean toilets as well. |
Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
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Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
I tried the denture cleaner technique and it worked!
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Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
But it can hurt the pipe, read directions didn't it say not to use on toilets? I had clog in sink PVC pipe and used the acid but said not to use in toilet!??? The pipe is old metal so????
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Remove brown toilet stains/deposits
On Wed, 2 Nov 2016 12:28:24 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
But it can hurt the pipe, read directions didn't it say not to use on toilets? I had clog in sink PVC pipe and used the acid but said not to use in toilet!??? The pipe is old metal so???? You typing to me or are you typing to Danny D? Or you picked a thread several years old and jumped in part way? |
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