Don't laugh at me but I need toilet cleaning advice.
No matter how much I scrub the bowl of the toilet it does not seem clean to me. I'm cleaning it exactly how I've always cleaned the toilets in apartments past and I've never had this problem before. There seems to be a constant ring and the very bottom of the bowl, where the water flushes, just looks dirty.
I use a toilet brush and soft scrub and I even bought those tabs you put in the toilet that turn the water blue. (I've heard they are not good for the pipes but hey I'm a renter and I got to do what I got to do.) Still it's not great and I'm embarrassed when I have people over because they probably think I'm just not cleaning it!
I am not sure what the ring is, but have a couple of thoughts.
I know you said you tried those tablets, but did they have bleach in them? You might need bleach.
Also if you have some type of hard water, you could have a mineral deposit build up around the ring. If that is the case, you will probably need to use a cleaner to remove it.
You could also try the toilet bowl cleaner that has teflon in it so things don't stick to the sides.
It sounds to me like you have been afflicted with the devil of hard water stains.
I would recommend using something like CLR or LimeAway; squirt it on and let it sit a good long while. If the stains are bad, you might consider turning the water off, flushing the toilet (so it empties but doesn't refill) and then applying the CLR, putting a rag or paper towel over the stains and squirting that, and letting it sit for awhile .Then, clean as usual.
After that, if you clean it with a TB cleaner designed for hard water areas, you shouldn't have a re-buildup.
Of course, if you are lying to us and the stains really are from lack of cleaning, then I doubt you'll follow this advice anyway
We have major issues with our toilets. We have insanely hard water, it's ridiculous.
The ONLY thing that helps ours is The Works toilet bowl cleaner, and as far as I know, it's only sold at Walmart (or at least, that's the only place I've ever seen it around here). (And on a side note, it's also the cheapest cleaner I've ever seen, which is how we ended up trying it, lol) We were the same way - never had issues until we moved here... I think its just the water quality.
-- Edited by Cuppycake on Monday 4th of October 2010 09:31:48 AM
We have major issues with our toilets. We have insanely hard water, it's ridiculous.
The ONLY thing that helps ours is The Works toilet bowl cleaner, and as far as I know, it's only sold at Walmart (or at least, that's the only place I've ever seen it around here). (And on a side note, it's also the cheapest cleaner I've ever seen, which is how we ended up trying it, lol) We were the same way - never had issues until we moved here... I think its just the water quality.
-- Edited by Cuppycake on Monday 4th of October 2010 09:31:48 AM
YESSSSSSSSSS!!! We have crazy hard water here too. We had the plumber here once to fix our shower and I made a joke about how we really do clean the toilets (because we had a ring we couldn't get rid of either) and he told me he tells everyone in our area to use The Works. Near us, they sell it in the Dollar Store. Definitely works. I actually ran out and tried using a lysol hard water version and we now have rings again.
Thanks for the reminder... running to the Dollar Store today LOL.
Good luck! It sucks when hard water makes it look like you never clean. Forget about my faucets by the kitchen sink. They get gunked up after a few days!
The Works didn't work for us. The only thing that helped was using a nail file - seriously! Obviously, use gloves, then I use a nail file or really fine sand paper and it comes right off. You have to be careful not to scratch the toilet but it was literally the only thing that worked. My mom had the same problem - we must have really hard water because she had that problem even with water softener.
Im actually kind of glad to see it might be hard water/calcium TX, I had assumed it was detergent residue and was going berserk trying to figure out why it wasnt rinsing after extra rinse cycles.
For those with hard water, you might want to find out about getting a water softener. I don't know how that would work in a rental, but you might call Calgon (or some local water guy) and see if they have suggestions.
Hard water SUCKS. It leaves a film on everything, especially dishwashed items. The best way to get that film off is to soak your items in vinegar.
We have had to use a water softener in our last two places; I can totally tell when we are getting low on salt by how my hands feel after I wash them.
We have major issues with our toilets. We have insanely hard water, it's ridiculous.
The ONLY thing that helps ours is The Works toilet bowl cleaner, and as far as I know, it's only sold at Walmart (or at least, that's the only place I've ever seen it around here). (And on a side note, it's also the cheapest cleaner I've ever seen, which is how we ended up trying it, lol) We were the same way - never had issues until we moved here... I think its just the water quality.
-- Edited by Cuppycake on Monday 4th of October 2010 09:31:48 AM
We have the same issue here. BIG TIME. It sucks. I am constantly rewashing glasses (or not rewashing and hoping "they" are right when they say mineral deposits are not harmful :bag:).
I tried something this morning and it looks like it worked!
I put a cup a little more than half full (~5oz) of white vinegar on the top shelf. I'm not going to say the glasses were spotless but no more white residue!
The biggest thing I noticed is that my utensils, that always come out white, are black like they should be! Very big difference.
I'm going to try soaking all my glasses in vinegar overnight, running the dishwasher empty a few times with vinegar and/or Lemishine (dishwasher cleaner for hard water deposits), and then continue doing the cup of vinegar.
