Is your toilet stained with rust? Make them disappear using simple home methods

March 28, 2022

Nobody ever wants to see streaks or stains in or around the toilet bowl: in addition to organic residue, however, even the water itself can leave marks in the toilet bowl. In fact, even limescale or rust spots can form on the surfaces of the toilet. The latter is due to the reaction of oxygen with iron, a metal that is often carried by the water when it passes through old pipes or boilers, or even rusty bits in the tank of the toilet itself.

If the water is hard (i.e. has a high calcium content), the combination of iron-oxidizing bacteria and minerals present in the water will cause the rust particles to adhere to the ceramic surface of the sanitary ware, and if no action is taken upstream to soften the water, these stains will form periodically and they can be difficult to remove. So, how can we eliminate them during a routine cleaning? Read on to discover some useful methods:

With citric acid: mix a couple of tablespoons with enough water to form a paste and rub it on with an old brush or toothbrush over the stains, until they are erased. If the stain is more persistent, you can replace the water with lemon juice.
With white vinegar: pour this into a spray bottle and spray it, without diluting it, directly onto the stains, then scrub the vinegar off with a stiff bristle brush.
You can also use alcohol in routine cleaning, pouring it on the sides of the toilet bowl and scrubbing the surfaces with the toilet brush.
If, on the other hand, there are older stains, then empty the toilet of all the water, fill it with vinegar until the stains are submerged and then let it act for a minimum of two hours (or even leave it overnight), then empty the toilet and scrub with a brush and rinse.
With cream of tartar: this too must be mixed with a little water to transform it into a paste to be used like citric acid method describe above.
With a pumice stone or medium-fine sandpaper: After washing the bowl, empty it of water and use one of these abrasive tools to erase the streaks. This is a more aggressive method to use as a last resort, as it will then affect the glazed finish of the ceramic, making it permanently rougher and less shiny.