Limescale Build-Up in the Toilet: How to Prevent It?

Undoubtedly, one of the most frustrating things about being a homeowner is having to deal with limescale. Limescale is a result of evaporating water rich in calcium and magnesium and can be an enormous problem in your toilet or any other room.

Homeowners fear limescale because it can increase maintenance costs, decrease heating efficiency, and impair the heating or plumbing components. That’s why homeowners devise a million plans on how to prevent limestone in toilet.

In this article, we’ll elaborate on what causes limescale in toilet and how to prevent limescale buildup in toilet cistern and bowls.

Let’s jump in!

What Causes Limescale in Toilet?

Limescale toilet buildup is a result of hard water flowing through the pipes and leaving behind deposits of magnesium and calcium that gradually build up into stains and scaling. You can spot these stains and scaling almost anywhere the hard water flows: around taps, pipes, and toilet bowls.

This substance can also harm your health and the health of your loved ones. Limescale – a base – is known as a neutralizer of stomach acids and a cause of indigestion. If the buildup is continuous, and excessive amounts of this calcium carbonate pile up in your toilet, it can act as a laxative, causing you diarrhea.

Homeowners use hundreds of bleachers or cleaners to remove limescale in their toilets. However, not all are equally effective in the battle against this unfriendly calcium carbonate. So, if you want to eliminate all the limescale and have everything looking squeaky clean, you’ll have to put your gloves on and get down to work!

Note: You can easily recognize limescale by the brownish, orange, or pinkish stains.

How to Prevent Limescale in Toilet?

The how to prevent limescale buildup in toilet dilemma should be the least of your worries! Nowadays, you’re free to choose between more traditional solutions and modern products to eliminate and prevent limescale buildup in your toilet. There’s no once-and-for-all solution to your problems.

Nonetheless, you can apply different products and tools to tackle limescale daily. For example, you can buy water softeners and descalers or clean the appliances more frequently.

Furthermore, you can choose what to do depending on the severity and area of the build-up. For instance, pouring vinegar into the tank or inside other components may be one solution. While in other cases, you’d have to consult with experts and higher professional services to handle your limescale problem.

Note: The prevention techniques and methods can vary between different components. For example, preventing and cleaning limescale in toilet cisterns is slightly different than in toilet bowls.

How to Prevent Limescale Build Up in Toilet Cistern?

The toilet cistern is one of the most sensitive components to calcium carbonate build-ups. This comes naturally because the toilet cistern is always full of hard water circulating through. Homeowners have found many methods to dissolve and prevent limescale in the toilet cistern. Nevertheless, nothing’s ever been more effective than white vinegar!

White Vinegar Solution

So, how to prevent limescale in toilet using this condiment? To prevent calcium carbonate from piling up into your cistern, pour a single cup of white vinegar into it. The mixture should be three parts white vinegar to one water. After you pour it into the cistern, mix it slowly and carefully until it’s evenly distributed. This way, you’ll be sure that the white vinegar covers all the areas affected by the limescale.

To ensure maximum effects, repeat this process each month by leaving the mixture of water and white vinegar for 30 minutes before flushing it out. An alternative to the vinegar solution is lemon juice. It works on the same principle, and it’s equal parts effective.

Acidic Cleaners

Another solution for preventing the calcium carbonate from building up is acidic cleaners. You can order and purchase them online or at your local shop.

However, you should be very careful when using acidic cleaners. Higher concentrations of acids may sometimes damage the cistern materials and cause unpleasant vapors. That’s why you should first learn the materials your cistern is composed of and how they’d react to different acidic cleaners before you buy and apply one.

Water Softeners

Water softeners are great products in the fight against limescale build-up. Water softeners can significantly improve the water quality and decrease the concentration of minerals like calcium and magnesium.

On the market, there are several types of water softeners. One of the most popular water softeners is the ion-exchange system. This product can improve the quality of your toilet water by using charged beads to remove minerals from your cistern.

Another type of water softener is the reverse osmosis system. This product can help you prevent calcium carbonates and magnesium buildups by forcing the water through a semi-permeable membrane and leaving all the mineral deposits behind.

You can also use more natural water softeners with potassium chloride. These products use this substance instead of salt to naturally filter out calcium and magnesium and replace them with potassium chloride.

How to Prevent Limescale in Toilet Bowl?

How to prevent limescale in toilet bowl is one of the most frequent limescale-related questions homeowners ask themselves. The toilet bowls are the usual target for calcium and magnesium build-ups because of the constant water circulation.

The products and methods for preventing limescale deposits in the toilet bowl are almost the same as those used for toilet cisterns. You can choose between acidic cleaners, water softeners, descalers, and natural solutions. The reason for this is that the same water circulates in both the toilet cistern and bowl.

Descalers

You can use de-scalers to prevent minerals from piling up in your cistern or toilet bowl. In particular, an electronic water descaler is a product that can do miracles in the battle against limescale.

Electronic water de-scalers work on the principle of sending electronic pulses through the plumbing system. These pulses disrupt the calcium and magnesium and prevent them from turning into limescale. Electronic descalers are environmentally friendly because they don’t use chemicals or salt.

Also, the descalers are easy to install and maintain. There are some simple electronic descalers you can use by plugging them into an outlet and letting them do their job. They’re a natural and affordable way to protect your bowl from limescale build-ups.

Lemon Juice & Citric Acids

Similarly to the toilet cistern, you can use white vinegar or lemon juice to prevent minerals from building up in your toilet bowl. Nonetheless, lemon juice won’t only dissolve the minerals – it will also freshen up the water in your toilet bowl!

Do this monthly or weekly – whenever you like. Lemon juice will liven up your toilet and make you forget about the limescale.

On the other hand, if you want a more time-effective solution, you can always use citric acids to get rid of your limescale. The process is straightforward – dilute one to two tablespoons of citric acid in a liter of cold water, mix it evenly, and put it in your toilet bowl.

The citric acids have antibacterial, antifungal, and degreasing characteristics. What’s more, citric acid is a proven whitening substance. Do this every month, and you’ll prevent any mineral buildup within your toilet bowl while livening and freshening your toilet up!

Have Your Water Tested

Test your water – one of the best pieces of advice professionals can give you to prevent limescale problems. You can hire services to determine the hardness level of your toilet water and instruct you on what kind of products you should use to stop it.

You can also do this by yourself. On the market, there are test strips for determining the hardness of toilet water. Simply lower one into your cistern or bowl of water and leave it for a few seconds. Then, remove it and watch how it changes color depending on the different levels of water hardness. This way, you’ll know the severity and what kind of product to use.

Dealing with a Limescale-ridden Toilet

Dealing with a limescale-ridden toilet can be very challenging and exhausting. Still, the same products, tools, and techniques apply to almost all appliances and toilet elements. You can use water softeners, descalers, vinegar, lemon juice, acidic cleaners, and much more.

However, if you have major problems with mineral buildups, don’t hesitate to call us at Cummings Plumbing! We’ll get rid of all the limescale for you and provide you with the nitty gritty on how to prevent it in the future.

FAQ

Why does my toilet keep getting limescale?

Your toilet keeps getting limescale because of the so-called “hard water” rich in minerals like calcium and magnesium.

What dissolves toilet limescale?

Many products and tools can dissolve toilet mineral build-ups. For example, you can use water softeners, acidic cleaners, electronic water descalers, vinegar, lemon juice, citric acids, etc. Each product works differently, and you can combine them into a single prevention solution.

Is it OK to put vinegar in the toilet tank?

Yes, feel free to put vinegar in your toilet tank. Vinegar is a natural and chemical-free cleaning solution. You can leave it in the tank between 1 and 12 hours depending on the severity of the mineral buildups.