Rust buildup can ruin the cleanliness and look of your toilet. You may find it difficult to remove just by using a toilet brush or cloth while cleaning your toilet. Rather than ignore this buildup, you can use these six tips to remove rust stains from your toilet.
1. Use a Pumice Stone
If the rust buildup is relatively minor and relegated to just a small area inside of the toilet, you could try using a pumice stone to remove it. Lava and water mixed together create pumice stones. They have abrasive surfaces that make them ideal for scouring away everything from calluses on your feet to rust inside your toilet.
When you use a pumice stone, make sure to wear protection for your eyes and mouth to avoid breathing in rust particles as you loosen them. You may also find it helpful to wear gloves to avoid chafing or scrapes on your hands.
You should also flush the toilet and empty the water from the bowl before scouring with the pumice stone. It may take you several attempts to get rid of all the rust. A pumice stone typically will not scratch and mar the smoothness of your toilet’s ceramic.
2. Try White Vinegar
You may also try using distilled white vinegar to get rid of rust stains inside of your toilet. Vinegar has a sufficient acid level to make it ideal for using as a household cleanser. It not only kills bacteria and viruses but also eats away at substances like rust and makes them easier to scrub away from ceramic surfaces like your toilet.
To use this method, first fill up a spray bottle with white vinegar. Then flush and empty the toilet bowl, and spray the white vinegar on the rust in your toilet.
Allow the vinegar to sit for several minutes before using a toilet brush or sponge to scrub away the rust. You may need to use several applications of white vinegar to get rid of all the rust in your toilet.
White vinegar also has a pungent smell and can burn if you splash it in your eyes or nose. To protect yourself while using it to clean rust inside your toilet, wear rubber gloves, mask and goggles. It is also wise to run your ventilation fan or open a window to avoid breathing in vinegar fumes.
3. Make a Paste With Baking Soda
Baking soda is another common household product that you could use to remove rust stains from inside your toilet bowl. It’s abrasive enough to loosen and scrub away minor accumulations of rust with relative ease.
To make a baking soda paste, add a few tablespoons of water to a quarter or half cup of baking soda. Add just enough water to create a paste that will be thick enough to stick to the rust stains inside your toilet.
Before applying the paste, flush and empty the water from the toilet bowl. As the water refills, apply the paste thickly enough to cling to the rust stains. Then use a toilet brush, pumice stone or abrasive scouring pad to scrape away and loosen the rust.
As with using white vinegar, you may have to use several applications of baking soda paste to get rid of all the rust, depending on how extensive the stains from it are. You can combine this paste with detergent like dish soap to help remove rust.
4. Combine Lemon Juice With Dish Soap
You can also combine dish soap with undistilled lemon juice to remove toilet rust stains. Lemon juice has a high acidity level, just like white vinegar, and can penetrate and remove stains from thick rust buildup. Also, lemons and bottled lemon juice are relatively inexpensive, making both of these affordable options for removing rust stains from inside your toilet.
To use lemon juice for a rust stain cleaner, you should fill a spray bottle with it. You should then flush the toilet, spray the juice, and let it sit for a few minutes. You can then try to remove the rust stains with a sponge, Brillo pad or toilet brush.
Lemon juice has a high enough acid level that it can cause burns if you get it in your eyes or nose. To protect yourself from eye and nose irritation while using it, it’s advisable to wear a mask and goggles. You may also find it helpful to run the vent fan or open a window in the bathroom to avoid breathing in fumes from the lemon juice.
5. Use Denture Cleaning Tablets
Denture cleaning tablets have shown promise in removing toilet rust stains. To use them for this purpose, add them to the tank of your toilet. Flush the toilet first, lift the tank lid, and then place several tablets inside the tank.
Next, allow the water to refill and sit in the tank for several minutes before flushing the toilet again. As the tablets dissolve, the chemicals from them will get into the bowl each time you flush the toilet. After several flushes, you can start scrubbing away at the rust stains.
You may need to flush and scrub several times to get all the rust stains out. You may also have to use several denture tablets to get the desired results.
6. Use Bleach Tablets
Finally, you can use bleach tablets to get rid of rust stains in the toilet. You can find bleach tablets designed just for use in toilets at your local big box or grocery store. They, like baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice, are relatively inexpensive and simple to use.
To use this tip, you can place the bleach tablets in the tank of your toilet. Allow the tablets to sit for several minutes before flushing the toilet. Each flush releases bleach into the bowl, which can help loosen and get rid of rust stains. You may find the stains easier to scrub away after you flush the toilet and allow the bleach water to swirl around the toilet bowl.
Contact Us for Rust Stain Removal
When your best attempts to remove tough rust stains in your toilet fail, give us a call at Bumble Bee Plumbing. Our plumbers have the professional training and licensing to determine the extent of the rust stains in your toilet and then come up with an effective plan to get rid of them.
We have close to 20 years’ worth of experience with removing toilet rust stains, and we use professional-grade chemicals and tools for the job. Our plumbers provide fast response times and can tell you exactly what it will take to get rid of the rust stains and give you a free estimate of what it will cost.
We also do plumbing repairs for bathrooms and kitchens, install and repair faucets, detect leaks and do repiping and water main repair. If you need water treatment, we offer water filtration, water softeners and reverse osmosis. We install and repair various types of water heaters, install and maintain sewer lines, perform hydro jetting and do drain cleaning, inspections and cabling, too.
To get information about toilet rust removal services and pricing in Glendale and Phoenix, AZ and the surrounding areas, use the contact form on our Bumble Bee Plumbing website.
