How to remove limescale from a toilet, including under the rim and in the bowl

What you need

• Rubber gloves
• Safety glasses
• Nylon brush (not metal)
• Curved rim brush for the holes
• Cup or small container to empty the pan
• Small mirror and torch
• White vinegar (Mercadona, Dia, Carrefour)
• Citric acid powder
• Acid-based toilet descaler, such as Harpic Limescale Remover or Pato WC
• Synthetic pumice stone for sanitaryware, only for very hard rings
• Toilet paper to hold the product on the rim
• Microfibre cloth

Step by step

1. 1

   Ventilate and protect yourself

   Open the window and put on gloves and glasses. Take any bleach product out of the bathroom: it must never be mixed with an acid. If you have used bleach beforehand, flush several times and wait a few hours so no traces remain.

2. 2

   Lower the water level

   Close the angle valve (stopcock) and flush. With a cup or the brush, scoop out the water left in the bottom, or push it down the waste pipe. That way the product touches the ceramic instead of being diluted in the water.

3. 3

   Apply the product to the limescale

   Pour on warm vinegar (40-50 °C, never boiling, because the ceramic can crack with thermal shock) or a solution of four tablespoons of citric acid in half a litre of water. Wet the ring at the bottom and the sides well.

4. 4

   Keep the product on the vertical surfaces

   For limescale under the rim and on the sides, lay strips of toilet paper soaked in the solution. They stay stuck and keep the acid in contact with the limescale instead of running down to the bottom.

5. 5

   Leave it to work

   With vinegar, an hour is enough for light limescale. For thick rings, leave it overnight with the lid down. Citric acid works in 30-60 minutes. If you use a commercial descaler, follow the time on the label.

6. 6

   Scrub with the brush

   With the nylon brush, scrub the ring in circles and from top to bottom. If very stubborn limescale remains, wet a pumice stone made for sanitaryware and use it with minimal pressure. Try it first on an out-of-sight area: it can scratch the glaze.

7. 7

   Clean the holes under the rim

   Under the edge there are small holes where the flush water comes out. With the mirror and the torch, find the blocked ones and run the curved brush or a thin wire through them. If they are badly clogged, the flush is weak and wets only one side.

8. 8

   Rinse and repeat if needed

   Open the angle valve, flush three or four times and check the result. If limescale remains, repeat the process for a second cycle. Very old stains can need two or three applications.

9. 9

   Disinfect only at the end

   If you want to use diluted bleach to disinfect, do it the next day, after several flushes, with the bathroom ventilated. Apply, leave for ten minutes and rinse. Never bring bleach together with vinegar, citric acid or descaler.

What toilet limescale is and how to tell it from other stains

Limescale is calcium carbonate that hard water leaves behind as it evaporates. It forms right at the waterline and at the bottom, where the water is stillest, and shows as a white, cream or greyish ring. Over time it turns hard and rough and traps dirt, and the toilet smells even after you clean it.

But not every stain is limescale. A brown or orange ring is usually iron from the pipes, and a pink or black edge is mould or bacteria. Each case needs a different product, and it pays to get it right before you scrub.

How to clean the bottom of a toilet when the limescale is hard

If the limescale has been there for months or years, vinegar alone is not enough. The strategy is from mild to strong. First, warm vinegar overnight with soaked toilet paper. Second, a citric acid solution, which is stronger. Third, an acid-based toilet descaler (Harpic Limescale Remover, Pato WC or the ones Leroy Merlin sells), with gloves and ventilation. And only at the end, a wet pumice stone for sanitaryware, with very little pressure.

The professionals' trick is to lower the water so the product acts on the limescale and not on the water. Without that, the ring at the bottom does not get cleaned because it is submerged. With this step, any residue left in the trap dissolves with the next flushes.

If after a thorough clean the ring comes back within a few weeks, it is not just limescale: the cistern is probably leaking into the pan or the water level is low. See toilet cistern keeps running to rule out a leak.

Common mistakes when removing limescale

• Mixing bleach and acid. Chlorine gas is released, which is very irritating to the eyes and lungs. It is the most dangerous mistake and the most frequent.
• Using boiling water. Thermal shock can crack the ceramic and the glaze. Lukewarm or warm water, never boiling.
• Metal brush or green scouring pad. They scratch the glaze and limescale sticks better to a scratched surface.
• Leaving acid products on the rubber seals or in the cistern. They dry out the rubbers of the mechanism. Do not pour descaler into the cistern or use tablets hung in the tank.
• Scrubbing without lowering the water. The product is diluted and does not reach the limescale at the bottom.
• Forgetting the holes under the rim. If they are blocked, the flush cleans badly and the limescale comes straight back.

When to call a professional

If the limescale will not come off after three cycles, or the ceramic is rough and permanently stained, the glaze is already damaged and cannot be restored. In that case, the sensible thing is to replace the toilet. If the water in the toilet goes down slowly or the cistern does not empty properly, the problem may be in the trap or the waste pipe, and it is solved with unblocking, not cleaning.

At Manitas Costa, replacing a toilet costs €90-150 labour, without the toilet; replacing a cistern mechanism €60-110 and fixing a small leak €40-70. We arrive in 20-45 minutes in Valencia, Alicante, Torrevieja and Benidorm. We give a fixed price before starting and an invoice including IVA (VAT).

You can see the details in plumber in Valencia and Alicante and plumber prices. For your area, a plumber in Torrevieja and a plumber in Alicante. For related blockages, there is how to unblock a toilet. And if you have already decided to renew, how to install a toilet on the floor explains the swap.

Hard water on the coast: how to stop the limescale coming back

In Alicante, Torrevieja, Orihuela Costa and Elche the water is among the hardest in Spain, and the toilet shows it within weeks. A ten-minute routine once a month prevents it: a glass of vinegar in the bottom with the level lowered, a wait and a brush. In the hardest areas, a water softener at the entry to the property reduces the problem in the whole bathroom.

In second homes, the water stands and limescale sets on the rim. When you leave, flush, close the stopcock and leave the lid down. And if your bathroom has more traces of limescale elsewhere, see how to descale taps and how to clean limescale off a shower screen.