Hah I did exactly the same for a really thick chunk of limescale. I was amazed that almost all of it came off with alot of vinegar and 3 days to sit. The last bit was loosened up enough to pop off with a butter knife.
@@CVRCI You can use it to clean fromtime to time, maybe leave it in there a few hours then scrub out and rinse really well. I've seen some "hacks" where you leave it in there long term (weeks) and that is not a good idea because the acetic acid in the vinegar will end up eating the rubber or plastic joints and gaskets and such in the tank....
My toilet's plastic apparatus that floats up when the water rises in the tank keeps sticking. Hard water crystals formed all over it. We just replaced it about 2 months ago. Can I clean it with vinegar? Is there another type of toilet kit i can buy that hard water doesn't cling to as easily, or something i can put in the tank. I don't want to have to replace it every 2 months. We have a septic system. Thank you in advance.
What dissolves scale is actually the acid. This is why Vinegar works though its a weak acid so only really works if the amount of scale (its thickness) to dissolve is small. Using baking soda makes no sense however since its the opposite of an acid (alkaline) ! Baking soda is good for dissolving organic material, which its why it is often used for uncloging toilet and should not be confused with that purpose. Mixing soda and vinegar is actually the ultimate absurdity since they neutralize one-an-other !
Exactly! Thanks for the comment it is spot on. I learned allbof this and more from so many wonderful and thoughtful comments, I just haven't gotten around to making a better video yet....
@@avavictoriasongbird The most scale effective acid out there (because it has a secondary effect) is hydrochloric acid (HCl). It is readily available too, so I would use that. Just be careful and protect yourself with glasses, rubber gloves and good ventilation. Difficult to say how much to pour as it depends on the concentration you can get from your local store. As an indication at a pH 1 concentration or less it will smoke a bit as you open the bottle (avoid inhaling), but at that level a couple of glasses straight in the bowl water should be fine. If there is still scale after 15-20mns, then its a thick layer so just add more...
1. Before going to bed, turn off the tap that refills the toilet. Flush until no more water would refill the bowl (in case you use the toilet during the night). 2. Empty all water from the base of the bowl. Then replace this water with (undiluted) vinegar. 3. Soak toilet paper pieces with vinegar and place on any limescal spots around the top rim of the toilet bowl. 4. Leave overnight, turn tap back on, brush clean and flush in the morning. Works brilliantly, cheaply, simply.
I have to clean an apartment today with a calcification on the center of the toilet. I’ll Let you know how your tip works for this try.!! Thank you for posting this. Is very helpful for people who works cleaning places
Good luck! Depenfing pn how bad the stain is you may have to let the vinegar sit several hours. Don't bother with the baking soda it's useless and don't use hot water it can crack the toilet bowl!
Honestly, this use of baking soda extends even beyond toilets. We have a very old thermos flask in which we used to store coffee. After using it for so many years, coffee and milk protein particles became a stain inside the container. The opening was too narrow so it was hard to clean and coffee would always spoil due to the contaminants in it. We tried drain cleaners, bleach and detergent. But the only chemical that did the trick was baking soda with soda water. It was astonishingly simple to remove so much of the stains with simple baking soda where the more powerful corrosive chemicals failed.
I just did this two days ago! My son unearthed an old cantine that I'd used for coffee years ago and it still stunk of it. Good old soda strip and it's back to just tasting of metal. My son says it tastes like beatles!
Thanks for that tip -- I was trying to solve almost the same problem today: when we boil the kettle, we fill it and store the remainder in a flask so we can make more tea/coffee for a few hours instead of constantly reboiling the kettle. After a few years the bottom is caked with limescale, and the opening is too narrow to scrub. Will try baking soda now, although I don't know about mixing it with vinegar -- surely they mostly neutralise each other since vinegar is acidic and baking soda is alkaline.
I have tried this, but you have made it clearer. and like idea of keeping vinegar near by. I have 4 toilets in this new home i got about a year ago and Japanese style, (though am not Japanese) clean them all daily (its easier than letting it build up) and now I can finally tackle hard water stains on a couple of them. Thanks so much
Glad it helps. Yeah I do pretty much daily cleaning too. I'll squirt in a few tablespoons of vinegar from the bottle then leave the bottle on the seat, that way I know to give it a quick scrub the next time I go in there.
i am laughing ! Yes!!! this method works perfectly, Used it for years, especilly as I live in a 'hard' water area. ...Unfortunately, now i am old I am also incontinent and leaving any cleansing solution in the bowl for even half an hour is impossible ! Have you a remedy for incontinence, first?
You ARE genius! Why didn't I think of that??! I have been fighting a stain like this for a year. Dumping a whole bottle of vinegar in the toilet makes so much sense. Also, letting it sit overnight which I didn't do also makes sense. Thank you so much. I'm going to be so happy when I don't have to look at that I'll be staying anymore!
Thanks, glad I could help! Once the stain is gone leave some vinegar in the bathroom and squirt some in after the flush if it starts to come back. That will soften the water and keep the stain from coming back.
Thank you. That is EXACTLY what I ser out to do with this channel. I'm still really new at this so I don't always nail it, but that's been the idea from day one.
It should, I've taken out some gnarly stains. If a thick crust just won't budge there's a good chance the vinegar loosened it up all the same. If you need to scrape it off don't use metal like a butter knife, try the square edge of a scrap of wood. Good Luck
Thanks! Just bought a house with septic and I'm glad I saw your vid as I did watch the one with Brick Acid so now I have the knowledge you shared. BTW Here is a meme for you......." Knowledge Dispensed on each video, Please bring your own container " Cheers!
Dangit I've been doing this for 16 months, every week pretty much, a quarter of a million views and that's the first time I've gotten what I think is called a Super like. Thank you very much sir it is very much appreciated. Here's what I've learned (mostly from comments) since posting that video : DO NOT pour hot water in your toilet bowl it can crack it from thermal shock. DO NOT mix baking soda and vinegar because the base (the soda) pretty much neutralizes the acid (vinegar). The vinegar does all the heavy lifting in my house. I let it soak several hours if the stain is really bad but once I started claning regularly with vinegar I don't have limescale anymore. If you get major limescale build-up, soak it overnight in alot of vinegar and if you have to get in there and scrape the stuff off it should be much easier to scrape off after the vinegar loosens it up and be sure tu use a piece of wood to scape (not a kitchen knife like I have in the past) as it won't scratch the enamel. That should do it, let me know how it works for you. PS. Looks like you're up in Alaska. I grew up in Vermont but I did the Resurection pass trail between Anchorage and Seward years ago in the spring (snowshoes), great memory !
Great info, we had a visitor that plugged our toilet😢, took a whole day to clear it and deep clean my bathroom. Stained like you would not believe. Tried baking soda and vinegar. Thank you.
A friend of mine got a new toilet installed by a plumber. Apparently the plumber took a giant dump in it before my friend could break it in. He wasn't happy...
A really helpful video. Humorous too... some hilarious comments! I will give the vinegar a try. The scale problem in our bowl is very bad, years of neglect, I didn't understand the cause of the problem. Particularly appreciate your attention to septic tank issues and the piece of wood idea!
@@awkwardgenius Thanks!! Our vinegar here doesn't come with any strength % ratings... I have LOTS of Balsamic that I will NEVER use for it's intended purpose 🙂I hope it doesn't explode on contact...
You want to be really careful adding hot water to a toilet. You can absolutely crack the porcelain doing that...especially in winter when the water in the bowl is colder and if your hot water is really hot. I wouldn't go past warm...like maybe 120 degrees max. Otherwise, good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor!
Yeah that was bad advice. Sorry! I've tried to correct it in the comments but it's not good enough... I'd make another video but I don't really do yoilet cleaning how to videos anymore...
Wow, I'm impressed. I've watched a lot of toilet videos lately, since I've been procrastinating forever with cleaning my very nasty toilet bowl (I'm the only one using it, so I've just let it slide). This is by far the no-nuss-no-fuss method. You get a Royal Flush for this, my man. I've got 30% agricultural vinegar. I assume this won't damage the porcelain? Thanks.
That will be petfect and no problem for the porcelaine, just don't put that stuff in the tank in the back (some videos suggest this) cause it will destroy the gaskets and stuff back there...
So Happy to help! I made this video because I was in the same situation as you a few months ago and I found a good, natural solution I wanted to share!
Toilet looks properly bread. Do. Anyway install filter system in your inline home and house filter system. Not that big fancy thing. Just an inline whole house filter system. It's about $90 and grab the filters with his $40. You'll be good to go and do your daily routines twice a week, whatever three times a week
Glad to hear it worked so well! Careful with the cleaning strength stuff, only occassionally for nasty stains. Try to maintain it with normal kitchen vinegar
I have been using some brand name acid with minimal success. Will definitely try your vinegar + baking soda method, with a bonus of saving myself some hard earned $$$.
Lots of vinegar and leave it as long as possible, I'v gotten really bad (thick) limescale off with just that. I've heard that the baking soda (a base) can neutralize the vinegar (an acid) so I'd try just vinegar to start... Good Luck!
When you added the sodium carbonate, the toilet was already clean. It's a refined, manufactured product, not "natural" wood ash, and the wrong tool for the job. Sodium carbonate is for oil. Mixing it with vinegar, neutralizes it. Hydrochloric acid is more economical.
Only you could make cleaning a toilet interesting, Lol. I knew you wasn't from around here with the funny looking coffee pot, toaster, odd shaped toilet and plumbing. Strange that toilet holds very little water which makes most of the bowl bone dry between flushes. Is that an electrical plug above the toilet? Interesting how the rest of the world lives. You're in the beautiful Alps? I watch Bunny King Hogs on Y.T. tour that countyside. What Country was you raised in? Greetings from the farm... Battle Creek, Michigan.
Thank you, I started this channel to make how-to videos less boring 🙃 no reason good information can't be funny too. So you noticed the clues! I am indeed in the French Alpes! Born in Wisconsin and raised in Vermont...
@@awkwardgenius I picked up on thinking you might be in VT since your cooking ingredients are in French...close to Canada...but noticed your plugs and Euro toilet with the flush button on top too.
I appreciate seeing what simple and relatively safe ingredients can do to help clean a toilet. I always feel hesitant about using strong chemicals to do these things unless it's a last resort.
Totally agree. I cringe at all those warning labels ! With vinegar I don't have to call the poison center or go to the ER if it touches my skin or eyes or if I breathe near it....
You're not the first to say about baking soda/soda crystals for cleaning limescale from loos - it's all over the internet. But it makes no sense - quite how an alkaline solution of approximately the same strength as the solid (which is the limescale) is supposed to remove said solid is mind boggling. It's always struck me as ridiculous that nearly all toilet cleaners are alkaline - making them utterly useless for removing limescale, which should be one of their primary functions. I recently purchased a Harpic cleaner that is acid based just for this reason - one overnight use, problem solved. As you note, vinegar is fine if you have a large quantity of it.
Thanks for the comment. Scientifically I think you're right, the vinegar is doing all the work, maybe the undisolved soda crystals just work as an abrasive like salt. Vinegar is magic though. I had a much worse build-up on my guest room toilet but I didn't think vinegar would work so I didn't film it. 1 liter for three days and it came off in chunks.
Someone said put a tube of toothpaste in the cistern. Cut off corners of plastic end, prick the tube over with a pin, and remove lid. Apparently keeps it clean
I've heard the toothpaste thing before, still need to test it tho. Be careful putting stuff in the cistern long term. Anything corrisive will end up messing up your gaskets and joints...
So not sodium bicarbonate ? In that case it's not interesting it is wrong and you are very polite. I will study up and try to improve upon my ignorance.
Why thank you very much. It's always nice to get nice feedback like that. I hope it works for you. Vinegar is the best bet. Normally you can skip the baking soda it's not as effective and makes the vinegar LESS effective actually... if you do the baking soda, be careful not to use very hot water, the thermal shock can crack your toilet !!
Nice. Seems to be safe for septic systems so it can't be too bad, and if you use the gel that must be handy on vertical areas... seems a bit expensive though.
Yes some people must hurry I guess. I say hurray for a long vinegar burn. Plus I'm afraid of brick acid. That sounds scary. Also I shan't put that in my septic system lest I wreck the whole thing.
I used scrubbing steel wool for dishes. And yes it has scratched the porcelain of the WC pan and left a light grey stain to all the area I cleaned. Won't try that again. Vinegar left overnight (15 hours or so) plus some scrubbing certainly removed the recent limescale stains. However the hard areas that have accumulated over many years are proving more stubborn to shift. WD40 was a waste of time. So too bleach, soda crystals and washing powder. Have ordered some acetic acid that I will dilute down to say 10% and use that periodically for overnight soaks and hopefully will be able to shift the stubborn stuff over time.
I did the full strength vinegar trick (before watching this video) and it cleaned it great at first, but then it etched my toilets and made fighting the hard water stains 10 times harder...
Hi I can't find definitive information on this. Most sites sat it's fine, a few speak of etching so I wonder if you're using high acidity vinegar, like 20% or more. I just use the cheap white vinegar from the super market at around 6% acidity and I haven't had any problems yet.....
@@awkwardgenius Hahaha you're close. I did use regular vinegar BUT I used too much. I poured over a gallon of vinegar in each toilet and let it sit overnight. And like I said, it was great at first but a few weeks later it was obvious this etched the porcelain. I do also have very hard water and a family who doesn't like flushing the toilet more than they have to because of the drought we were in, ALL recipes for hard water deposits to build up and be impossible to beat now. I can them but the deposits come back so fast...
For that kind of situation (tough and recurring stains) I keep a bottle of weak 6% vinegar on the toilet and i squirt a bit in after each flush just to soften the water. Definately helps, Hope it doesn't eat my toilet!
Hiya, yeah this is my new toilet it's a stranger model. I didn't try to film the older toilette in the guest bedroom because the stain was MUCH worse and I didn't think vinegar would work. But then I tried it and it worked great even on that. This stuff is like magic!
@@awkwardgenius Thanks for the reply. I don't think many out there have Your " new " version. Both of My toilets were changed out just a few years ago and both are stained bad inspire of My scrubbing all the time. The store only has the wide bowl types. Plain vinegar or wine ? hahaha - A must try - - --
@@DYNABIKE1 *ALL* of the toilets in Australia are like the one shown. We don't have the ones that half - or more - fill with water. So to me this is normal.
@@magickmysterytour Sad it doesn't show hundreds of millions of Us on the otherside of the Equator how its done - - This guy just said His guest bathroom is the other type - - huuuummmm
Not my video, but a pretty good short explanation for cleaning the tank with vinegar : th-cam.com/users/shorts0Ebo8en26aw?feature=share Hope this helps
White vinegar, it's ussually the cheapest. There is acidity level on the label ussualy 5 to 8 % Higher acidity is better but if you use ALOT like the whole bottle it's not that important.
Something like this : www.amazon.com/Amazon-Brand-Happy-Distilled-Vinegar/dp/B08P5569PX/ref=mp_s_a_1_31?crid=221L8XCD4DO23&keywords=vinegar+gallon&qid=1679539577&refresh=1&sprefix=vinegar%2Caps%2C1506&sr=8-31 But if you get it by the gallon only use about a quarter of the bottle
The basic and super cheap stuff i get in france is 8% Acidity, Heinz All-purpose vinegar in America is 6% and it's 15 bucks a gallon on Amazon, don't know how much in the store... If you're using the 5% or 6% stuff that's common in the states, just use more. If you're buying the super strong 45% stuff you can also find, dilute it down at least to one fifth (four parts water one part vinegar) so you end up around 9% which is safe and effective. Just using the 45% vinegar undiluted can actually start to damage your porcelain over time. Also,never leave vinegar in the back tank of your toilet because it will damage the gasgets and joints. You can use it to clean the tank but you have to rinse it out good after...
People suggest coke and toothpaste because it sounds interesting. I don't know what's in denture tablets but I know vinegar is septic safe, natural and effective. That's good enough for me.
You can get all differant strengths or "acidities" of vinegar, from 6% to around 30% or more. It will be marked on the bottle or jug. I don't know about the super strong stuff but 'normal' vinegar below 10% is totally safe for septic (one of the few things that is).
You're telling me that there are people out there that didn't already know this?! Well, I guess they're going to wet themselves when they hear what soap and hot water can do to their bodies once they chisel their clothing off.
Yeah, shocking that schools waste all those years on reading and writing, mathematics, art and music etc, when instead they should be telling the kids which chemicals you should use to clean a toilet bowl.
Try soaking toilet paper in vinegar ang packkng it into thar zone like putty, leave it for a few hours then remove and scrub. It's not perfect but it can help...
I'm in France, so that's an example of what you can get at the hardware store, "Leroy Merin" in this case. It is pretty standard except that it's a raised old person model because I'm 6'6" and will be extremely old soon. It does not speak French. Unfortunately.
Thank you. It was afflicted with what I consider a normal, run o' the mill hard water stain, what I get after about 1 month. While not very photogenic as stains go, and I have seen some doozies that get all clean with brick acid, I just figured I'd clean a normal stain and not leave my toilet to get all nasty for 6 months. Also, fun aside, I just made this video because I needed to clean my toilet and I thought I'd try vinegar. 120,000 views later and I'm like, what? So it was stained enough that I needed to clean it, but not enough so that you'd be like, damn that toilet is dank. Sorry.
You have to use alot of vinegar and let it sit a long time (12 hours min), then the scrubbing shouldn't be too bad. The toilet ring can be hard if it's above the wayer line because it's impossible to soak it. For this you can place vinegar soaked toilet paper on the ring but it's less effective. Otherwise you can raise the bobber in the tank to raise the water level but that's a pain...
I tried professional Dawn,. Had my bath back-up from my upstairs daughter using these new soaps esp that charcoal, Dawn dissolved the sticky mess, but it actually broke the soap scum into tiny bit. Did want to flush it so I used paper towels to attach the particles
Hello, shouldn't create much heat much mixing them is actually a last resort as the baking doda neutralises the acidic effect of the vinegar so mostly all you get is the mechanical action of the interaction... soooo, just try a bunch of vinegar to start, leave it at least 6 to 8 hours and scrub. If it mostly works but not completely try vinegar again. I've never had a stain that could resist that... good luck!
This method removed 90% of my 10 year old brown bowl stains. The last 10% scraped off using a old blunt kitchen knife. Works really well.
Hah I did exactly the same for a really thick chunk of limescale. I was amazed that almost all of it came off with alot of vinegar and 3 days to sit. The last bit was loosened up enough to pop off with a butter knife.
Just found a great teplacement for the dull kitchen knife... a peice of wood can work great with no risk of scratching the toilet!
@@awkwardgeniusCould vinegar be used inside the toilet tank? Thank you
@@CVRCI You can use it to clean fromtime to time, maybe leave it in there a few hours then scrub out and rinse really well. I've seen some "hacks" where you leave it in there long term (weeks) and that is not a good idea because the acetic acid in the vinegar will end up eating the rubber or plastic joints and gaskets and such in the tank....
My toilet's plastic apparatus that floats up when the water rises in the tank keeps sticking. Hard water crystals formed all over it. We just replaced it about 2 months ago. Can I clean it with vinegar? Is there another type of toilet kit i can buy that hard water doesn't cling to as easily, or something i can put in the tank. I don't want to have to replace it every 2 months. We have a septic system. Thank you in advance.
What dissolves scale is actually the acid. This is why Vinegar works though its a weak acid so only really works if the amount of scale (its thickness) to dissolve is small. Using baking soda makes no sense however since its the opposite of an acid (alkaline) ! Baking soda is good for dissolving organic material, which its why it is often used for uncloging toilet and should not be confused with that purpose. Mixing soda and vinegar is actually the ultimate absurdity since they neutralize one-an-other !
Exactly! Thanks for the comment it is spot on. I learned allbof this and more from so many wonderful and thoughtful comments, I just haven't gotten around to making a better video yet....
Since u r the Chem genius whats your suggestion
@@avavictoriasongbird The most scale effective acid out there (because it has a secondary effect) is hydrochloric acid (HCl). It is readily available too, so I would use that. Just be careful and protect yourself with glasses, rubber gloves and good ventilation. Difficult to say how much to pour as it depends on the concentration you can get from your local store. As an indication at a pH 1 concentration or less it will smoke a bit as you open the bottle (avoid inhaling), but at that level a couple of glasses straight in the bowl water should be fine. If there is still scale after 15-20mns, then its a thick layer so just add more...
Vinegar AND baking soda will provide a mechanical cleaning for stubborn stains. They are very useful together.
1. Before going to bed, turn off the tap that refills the toilet. Flush until no more water would refill the bowl (in case you use the toilet during the night).
2. Empty all water from the base of the bowl. Then replace this water with (undiluted) vinegar.
3. Soak toilet paper pieces with vinegar and place on any limescal spots around the top rim of the toilet bowl.
4. Leave overnight, turn tap back on, brush clean and flush in the morning. Works brilliantly, cheaply, simply.
I have to clean an apartment today with a calcification on the center of the toilet. I’ll
Let you know how your tip works for this try.!! Thank you for posting this. Is very helpful for people who works cleaning places
Good luck! Depenfing pn how bad the stain is you may have to let the vinegar sit several hours. Don't bother with the baking soda it's useless and don't use hot water it can crack the toilet bowl!
Managed to remove the toilet stains with two bottles of vinegar.
Thank you.
Great, glad it helped.
Once again, thank you.@@awkwardgenius
Honestly, this use of baking soda extends even beyond toilets. We have a very old thermos flask in which we used to store coffee. After using it for so many years, coffee and milk protein particles became a stain inside the container. The opening was too narrow so it was hard to clean and coffee would always spoil due to the contaminants in it. We tried drain cleaners, bleach and detergent. But the only chemical that did the trick was baking soda with soda water. It was astonishingly simple to remove so much of the stains with simple baking soda where the more powerful corrosive chemicals failed.
I just did this two days ago! My son unearthed an old cantine that I'd used for coffee years ago and it still stunk of it. Good old soda strip and it's back to just tasting of metal. My son says it tastes like beatles!
Thanks for that tip -- I was trying to solve almost the same problem today: when we boil the kettle, we fill it and store the remainder in a flask so we can make more tea/coffee for a few hours instead of constantly reboiling the kettle. After a few years the bottom is caked with limescale, and the opening is too narrow to scrub. Will try baking soda now, although I don't know about mixing it with vinegar -- surely they mostly neutralise each other since vinegar is acidic and baking soda is alkaline.
😂 just dump it in there don’t be shy. Never laughed so hard at a cleaning vid. You rock!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you!!
Also turning off my water and flushing once removed most of the water in the toilet. And then I just poured the vinegar in the bowl.
Great tip! Glad this helped
Vinegar is a miracle cleaner. I use a 50/50 vinegar and water solution to take rust and grime off of old cast iron. Entertaining videos!
Thanks! Yeah i use it for everything, haven't bought chemical cleaning products for years.
I have tried this, but you have made it clearer. and like idea of keeping vinegar near by. I have 4 toilets in this new home i got about a year ago and Japanese style, (though am not Japanese) clean them all daily (its easier than letting it build up) and now I can finally tackle hard water stains on a couple of them. Thanks so much
Glad it helps. Yeah I do pretty much daily cleaning too. I'll squirt in a few tablespoons of vinegar from the bottle then leave the bottle on the seat, that way I know to give it a quick scrub the next time I go in there.
That completely eliminates any hard water stains or build up...
Thank you so much for your tip with vinegar. It worked like magic, I am very grateful to you 🙏
My pleasure 😊
He must be single. The toilet paper roll is empty. 😅
Single indeed! You notice the details 😄
Love the empty toilet paper roll ! LOL
Yes. It's all about the details! You get everything ready and then you notice in editing...... 😬
Used it all to clean his cast iron. ;)
Exactly !
i am laughing ! Yes!!! this method works perfectly, Used it for years, especilly as I live in a 'hard' water area. ...Unfortunately, now i am old I am also incontinent and leaving any cleansing solution in the bowl for even half an hour is impossible !
Have you a remedy for incontinence, first?
Aw shucks, I ain't got anything for that. Maybe when you go out of the house for a bit, shopping or visiting...
Wear an incontinence pad whenever you go out.
Who knew cleaning the toilet could be so interesting? I will never think of poo in the same way. 😀❤️
Yes, that was always the goal of this video
For real hard hard stains sometimes you have to do multiple attempts, but eventually it does work! I have never had success with the name brands!
You ARE genius! Why didn't I think of that??! I have been fighting a stain like this for a year. Dumping a whole bottle of vinegar in the toilet makes so much sense. Also, letting it sit overnight which I didn't do also makes sense. Thank you so much. I'm going to be so happy when I don't have to look at that I'll be staying anymore!
Thanks, glad I could help! Once the stain is gone leave some vinegar in the bathroom and squirt some in after the flush if it starts to come back. That will soften the water and keep the stain from coming back.
A pumice stone worked for me. Heavy kitchen gloves and a pumice stone.
Great tip! Try the vinagar though it loosens up the worst of it
Keeping vinegar on the back of the toile is a great idea.
Thanks, hope this helps
Thank you. I had to clean a bathroom for an elder family member. Now it's gleaming white and bright.
Great tips but more importantly funny as heck. Well done and keep up the good work
Thank you. That is EXACTLY what I ser out to do with this channel. I'm still really new at this so I don't always nail it, but that's been the idea from day one.
Not often I get a laugh at the same time as learning about vinegar/baking soda working to clean my toilet!! Many thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for stopping by
Love the idea of a septic-safe cleaning system that actually works. Let' see if it will get out my long standing stain.
It should, I've taken out some gnarly stains. If a thick crust just won't budge there's a good chance the vinegar loosened it up all the same. If you need to scrape it off don't use metal like a butter knife, try the square edge of a scrap of wood. Good Luck
@@awkwardgenius Excellent. Still working on it.
love how practical this is and the tips for the future! thanks
Glad I could help. Good luck!
Simple and plain. Perfect. Thanks.
Hope it helps !
Citric Acid will NOT hurt a septic system, however you can use it but it just needs to be no more than 5%.
Nice, thanks for the info. I've learned so much from comments I'm going to have to make a new video!
The shape of the bowl and the water level of that toilet looks to be great for making brown skid marks on the daily!
Yeah. Very little splashing though. And less limescale!
Thanks! Just bought a house with septic and I'm glad I saw your vid as I did watch the one with Brick Acid so now I have the knowledge you shared.
BTW Here is a meme for you......." Knowledge Dispensed on each video, Please bring your own container " Cheers!
Dangit I've been doing this for 16 months, every week pretty much, a quarter of a million views and that's the first time I've gotten what I think is called a Super like. Thank you very much sir it is very much appreciated.
Here's what I've learned (mostly from comments) since posting that video :
DO NOT pour hot water in your toilet bowl it can crack it from thermal shock.
DO NOT mix baking soda and vinegar because the base (the soda) pretty much neutralizes the acid (vinegar).
The vinegar does all the heavy lifting in my house. I let it soak several hours if the stain is really bad but once I started claning regularly with vinegar I don't have limescale anymore.
If you get major limescale build-up, soak it overnight in alot of vinegar and if you have to get in there and scrape the stuff off it should be much easier to scrape off after the vinegar loosens it up and be sure tu use a piece of wood to scape (not a kitchen knife like I have in the past) as it won't scratch the enamel. That should do it, let me know how it works for you.
PS. Looks like you're up in Alaska. I grew up in Vermont but I did the Resurection pass trail between Anchorage and Seward years ago in the spring (snowshoes), great memory !
Your method worked for me... Thx so much for sharing!
Glad it helped!
Great info, we had a visitor that plugged our toilet😢, took a whole day to clear it and deep clean my bathroom. Stained like you would not believe. Tried baking soda and vinegar. Thank you.
Yikes! Hope this works, good luck!
A friend of mine got a new toilet installed by a plumber. Apparently the plumber took a giant dump in it before my friend could break it in. He wasn't happy...
A really helpful video. Humorous too... some hilarious comments! I will give the vinegar a try. The scale problem in our bowl is very bad, years of neglect, I didn't understand the cause of the problem. Particularly appreciate your attention to septic tank issues and the piece of wood idea!
Hi, I hope this works for you! Quick note, baking soda is useless, just use LOTS of vinegar and let it sit. Scrub, rinse, repaet... good luck!
@@awkwardgenius Thanks!! Our vinegar here doesn't come with any strength % ratings... I have LOTS of Balsamic that I will NEVER use for it's intended purpose 🙂I hope it doesn't explode on contact...
@@ChrisBishop-o5o yes! Tell me how it works with balsamic I'd be curious to know
Haha😂 loved the presentation, I’ll be trying the ideas today! Thanks 😊
Thank you. Even boring things don't have to be boring! Good luck the toilet !
You have one of those toilets with the tiny pit in the middle ? - Lucky I guess. Not your Normal toilet.
You want to be really careful adding hot water to a toilet. You can absolutely crack the porcelain doing that...especially in winter when the water in the bowl is colder and if your hot water is really hot. I wouldn't go past warm...like maybe 120 degrees max. Otherwise, good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor!
Absolutely, in fact Baking soda is kind of useless anyway. Better to just try the vinegar technique it works like magic...
Hot water in your toilet can crack it and or melt the wax ring between the toilet and the floor. Been there done that!
Yeah that was bad advice. Sorry! I've tried to correct it in the comments but it's not good enough... I'd make another video but I don't really do yoilet cleaning how to videos anymore...
Very useful and super easy. Thanks!
@@lumaraephotography3737 you betcha!
Brilliant, I will see how it goes!
Good luck to you sir, let me know how it goes.
you are an interesting fellow, kind of remind me of the Red Green show out of Canada. How did you ever end up in France?
I love Red Green! What a name. I've been here for 20 years, nestled in the Alpes. Came for the cheese, stayed for the wine.
Wow, I'm impressed. I've watched a lot of toilet videos lately, since I've been procrastinating forever with cleaning my very nasty toilet bowl (I'm the only one using it, so I've just let it slide). This is by far the no-nuss-no-fuss method. You get a Royal Flush for this, my man. I've got 30% agricultural vinegar. I assume this won't damage the porcelain? Thanks.
That will be petfect and no problem for the porcelaine, just don't put that stuff in the tank in the back (some videos suggest this) cause it will destroy the gaskets and stuff back there...
@@awkwardgenius Okay; thanks
Where did you find 30% vinegar? what store?
You can clean anything with baking soda and vinegar or citric acid. Non Toxic!
Just what i need it !!! Thank youuuu doing it right now !!!
So Happy to help! I made this video because I was in the same situation as you a few months ago and I found a good, natural solution I wanted to share!
Toilet looks properly bread. Do. Anyway install filter system in your inline home and house filter system. Not that big fancy thing. Just an inline whole house filter system. It's about $90 and grab the filters with his $40. You'll be good to go and do your daily routines twice a week, whatever three times a week
Are you a robot?
Great tips. Thank you 🙏
Glad it helped!
Thanks! I’m going to try it today.
Good Luck, let me know how it works for you.
@@awkwardgenius Wow! I used cleaning strength vinegar. Only 3 hours cuz I really had to go. 😬
Zero stains! Zero! Fantastic video!
Glad to hear it worked so well! Careful with the cleaning strength stuff, only occassionally for nasty stains. Try to maintain it with normal kitchen vinegar
I used brick acid cleaner and removed stains in five minutes. Vinegar just not strong enough if it’s bad.
With enough of it I've always gotten the job done but that's because I can't use anything else in my septic....
I've heard that the vinegar and the baking soda neutralize each other. Supposedly do one first. And then the other separately.
@@user-rc7ld1db8v Yes, this is true. Other than the neat bubbly thing mixing them is useless. I'm an idiot.
Fantastic video. Ur so helpful
Thanks
I have been using some brand name acid with minimal success. Will definitely try your vinegar + baking soda method, with a bonus of saving myself some hard earned $$$.
Lots of vinegar and leave it as long as possible, I'v gotten really bad (thick) limescale off with just that. I've heard that the baking soda (a base) can neutralize the vinegar (an acid) so I'd try just vinegar to start... Good Luck!
Thank you Sir Genius. Can't wait to try this. God bless.
Thank you kindly ma'am. Vinegar sure beat industrial acids and chemicals. Cheaper too!
When you added the sodium carbonate, the toilet was already clean. It's a refined, manufactured product, not "natural" wood ash, and the wrong tool for the job. Sodium carbonate is for oil. Mixing it with vinegar, neutralizes it. Hydrochloric acid is more economical.
Only you could make cleaning a toilet interesting, Lol. I knew you wasn't from around here with the funny looking coffee pot, toaster, odd shaped toilet and plumbing. Strange that toilet holds very little water which makes most of the bowl bone dry between flushes. Is that an electrical plug above the toilet? Interesting how the rest of the world lives. You're in the beautiful Alps? I watch Bunny King Hogs on Y.T. tour that countyside. What Country was you raised in? Greetings from the farm... Battle Creek, Michigan.
Thank you, I started this channel to make how-to videos less boring 🙃 no reason good information can't be funny too. So you noticed the clues! I am indeed in the French Alpes! Born in Wisconsin and raised in Vermont...
@@awkwardgenius I picked up on thinking you might be in VT since your cooking ingredients are in French...close to Canada...but noticed your plugs and Euro toilet with the flush button on top too.
Genius
Yesssssss, but awkward.
I appreciate seeing what simple and relatively safe ingredients can do to help clean a toilet. I always feel hesitant about using strong chemicals to do these things unless it's a last resort.
Totally agree. I cringe at all those warning labels ! With vinegar I don't have to call the poison center or go to the ER if it touches my skin or eyes or if I breathe near it....
@@awkwardgenius exactly!
You're not the first to say about baking soda/soda crystals for cleaning limescale from loos - it's all over the internet. But it makes no sense - quite how an alkaline solution of approximately the same strength as the solid (which is the limescale) is supposed to remove said solid is mind boggling. It's always struck me as ridiculous that nearly all toilet cleaners are alkaline - making them utterly useless for removing limescale, which should be one of their primary functions. I recently purchased a Harpic cleaner that is acid based just for this reason - one overnight use, problem solved. As you note, vinegar is fine if you have a large quantity of it.
Thanks for the comment. Scientifically I think you're right, the vinegar is doing all the work, maybe the undisolved soda crystals just work as an abrasive like salt. Vinegar is magic though. I had a much worse build-up on my guest room toilet but I didn't think vinegar would work so I didn't film it. 1 liter for three days and it came off in chunks.
Someone said put a tube of toothpaste in the cistern. Cut off corners of plastic end, prick the tube over with a pin, and remove lid.
Apparently keeps it clean
I've heard the toothpaste thing before, still need to test it tho. Be careful putting stuff in the cistern long term. Anything corrisive will end up messing up your gaskets and joints...
You're hilarious! I love it. I'm trying it. 😂
Thank you! I just go with awkward and confused and strangely confident, sometimes even that can work !
that is interesting that you say baking soda and soda crystals are roughly the same, because they are different chemicals
So not sodium bicarbonate ? In that case it's not interesting it is wrong and you are very polite. I will study up and try to improve upon my ignorance.
Thanks.
Subscribed! Keep making videos.
Thank you! Will do!
I love ❤️ your cool video! I will do your hard water cure and pass this along to my friends 😊!
Why thank you very much. It's always nice to get nice feedback like that. I hope it works for you. Vinegar is the best bet. Normally you can skip the baking soda it's not as effective and makes the vinegar LESS effective actually... if you do the baking soda, be careful not to use very hot water, the thermal shock can crack your toilet !!
Need to do something,will give this a try,Thank-you!
Let me know if it works for you! Just do a bunch of vinegar and leave it overnight. Scrub it out and it should be ALOT better....
Definitely try this.
Hope it works for you, good luck!
Thank you. The awkward enhances the experience 😄
🚽🙃
Oh there is so much more awkward where that came from. Try the wooden spoon video, some of my best awkward😄
Great video. Thank you.
And you are an Awesome Genius.
Thank you kind sir. Hope it helps!
Thanks for sharing this information
Hope it works for you!
Very informative, n funny❤
Thanks! Hope it helped
I use Zep acidic toilet bowl cleaner. It's hard to find but Amazon sells it.
Nice. Seems to be safe for septic systems so it can't be too bad, and if you use the gel that must be handy on vertical areas... seems a bit expensive though.
God bless you always
Thank you
Thank you, hope this helps
Good Job. Will try
I do like this method but some people need methods that don’t take 15hrs
Yes some people must hurry I guess. I say hurray for a long vinegar burn. Plus I'm afraid of brick acid. That sounds scary. Also I shan't put that in my septic system lest I wreck the whole thing.
Good luck with your channel
Thanks! Just going to keep at it!
Just watched your video it is super clever with the wood. Great content and 50k, congrats!
Thanks. I'll come back after i try this
Hope it helps
I will definitely be trying this.
Hope it works for you. Good luck
Says he left it for 15 hours, but I don't know. That TP roll was empty.
I've been caught
@@awkwardgenius LOL - busted - Cheers!
Maybe he pissed in a can?....just sayin
Thank you
Glad you liked the video, hope it works for you!
great will do that now
Let us know how it works for you....
I just used scissors to scrape the stain away and it worked.
Careful with the scissors that can scratch your precious toilet. Try a peice of wood it's less scratchy.
I used scrubbing steel wool for dishes. And yes it has scratched the porcelain of the WC pan and left a light grey stain to all the area I cleaned. Won't try that again. Vinegar left overnight (15 hours or so) plus some scrubbing certainly removed the recent limescale stains. However the hard areas that have accumulated over many years are proving more stubborn to shift. WD40 was a waste of time. So too bleach, soda crystals and washing powder. Have ordered some acetic acid that I will dilute down to say 10% and use that periodically for overnight soaks and hopefully will be able to shift the stubborn stuff over time.
@@awkwardgenius: No sir--I used a green pad too hard and greyed the finish on the ceramic
Good job.
Thank you! Cheers!
I did the full strength vinegar trick (before watching this video) and it cleaned it great at first, but then it etched my toilets and made fighting the hard water stains 10 times harder...
Hi I can't find definitive information on this. Most sites sat it's fine, a few speak of etching so I wonder if you're using high acidity vinegar, like 20% or more. I just use the cheap white vinegar from the super market at around 6% acidity and I haven't had any problems yet.....
Thanks for the comment, this is important information to have.
@@awkwardgenius Hahaha you're close. I did use regular vinegar BUT I used too much. I poured over a gallon of vinegar in each toilet and let it sit overnight. And like I said, it was great at first but a few weeks later it was obvious this etched the porcelain. I do also have very hard water and a family who doesn't like flushing the toilet more than they have to because of the drought we were in, ALL recipes for hard water deposits to build up and be impossible to beat now. I can them but the deposits come back so fast...
For that kind of situation (tough and recurring stains) I keep a bottle of weak 6% vinegar on the toilet and i squirt a bit in after each flush just to soften the water. Definately helps, Hope it doesn't eat my toilet!
How about a demo on a toilet most of Us have. The big wide bowl with the Big wide stain ring. - -???
Hiya, yeah this is my new toilet it's a stranger model. I didn't try to film the older toilette in the guest bedroom because the stain was MUCH worse and I didn't think vinegar would work. But then I tried it and it worked great even on that. This stuff is like magic!
@@awkwardgenius Thanks for the reply. I don't think many out there have Your " new " version. Both of My toilets were changed out just a few years ago and both are stained bad inspire of My scrubbing all the time. The store only has the wide bowl types. Plain vinegar or wine ? hahaha - A must try - - --
@@DYNABIKE1 *ALL* of the toilets in Australia are like the one shown. We don't have the ones that half - or more - fill with water. So to me this is normal.
@@magickmysterytour Sad it doesn't show hundreds of millions of Us on the otherside of the Equator how its done - - This guy just said His guest bathroom is the other type - - huuuummmm
You made me laugh and thank you
So happy you enjoyed the video, thanks for reaching out!
How do you clean the tank on the toilet bowl where it holds water
Not my video, but a pretty good short explanation for cleaning the tank with vinegar : th-cam.com/users/shorts0Ebo8en26aw?feature=share
Hope this helps
Which vinegar supposed to be used 😊
White vinegar, it's ussually the cheapest. There is acidity level on the label ussualy 5 to 8 % Higher acidity is better but if you use ALOT like the whole bottle it's not that important.
Something like this :
www.amazon.com/Amazon-Brand-Happy-Distilled-Vinegar/dp/B08P5569PX/ref=mp_s_a_1_31?crid=221L8XCD4DO23&keywords=vinegar+gallon&qid=1679539577&refresh=1&sprefix=vinegar%2Caps%2C1506&sr=8-31
But if you get it by the gallon only use about a quarter of the bottle
@@awkwardgenius thanks for the reply I checked from amazon and its finnish from their shop at the moment
i'm gona try it, thanks
You got it, good luck.
What type of vinegar is used? How strong does it have to be for the best/safe result?
The basic and super cheap stuff i get in france is 8% Acidity, Heinz All-purpose vinegar in America is 6% and it's 15 bucks a gallon on Amazon, don't know how much in the store... If you're using the 5% or 6% stuff that's common in the states, just use more. If you're buying the super strong 45% stuff you can also find, dilute it down at least to one fifth (four parts water one part vinegar) so you end up around 9% which is safe and effective. Just using the 45% vinegar undiluted can actually start to damage your porcelain over time.
Also,never leave vinegar in the back tank of your toilet because it will damage the gasgets and joints. You can use it to clean the tank but you have to rinse it out good after...
@@awkwardgenius thank you so much!
Which vinegar is best? Is the spray one any use?
For this not so much, you just want a big jug of cheap vinegar ( you are literally going to be flushing it down the toilet!)
I've seen people suggest using denture cleaning tablets, thoughts?
People suggest coke and toothpaste because it sounds interesting. I don't know what's in denture tablets but I know vinegar is septic safe, natural and effective. That's good enough for me.
Vinegar is 4% acetic acid according to web. What does acetic acid do to septic?
You can get all differant strengths or "acidities" of vinegar, from 6% to around 30% or more. It will be marked on the bottle or jug. I don't know about the super strong stuff but 'normal' vinegar below 10% is totally safe for septic (one of the few things that is).
You're telling me that there are people out there that didn't already know this?!
Well, I guess they're going to wet themselves when they hear what soap and hot water can do to their bodies once they chisel their clothing off.
Alas I was one of those poor souls... you must tell me of this magical soap of which you speak !
😂🤣😂
Yeah, shocking that schools waste all those years on reading and writing, mathematics, art and music etc, when instead they should be telling the kids which chemicals you should use to clean a toilet bowl.
awesome
Thanks!
I can get the part in water clean but not where the water comes in under the rim 🤦♀️
Try soaking toilet paper in vinegar ang packkng it into thar zone like putty, leave it for a few hours then remove and scrub. It's not perfect but it can help...
I'll try this
Hope it works for you!
Where did you get that awesome flushing toilet?
I'm in France, so that's an example of what you can get at the hardware store, "Leroy Merin" in this case. It is pretty standard except that it's a raised old person model because I'm 6'6" and will be extremely old soon. It does not speak French. Unfortunately.
Can that be ordered and sent to the US?
www.leroymerlin.fr/produits/salle-de-bains/wc/wc-a-poser/pack-wc-a-poser-sortie-double-ouverte-emaillee-easy-sensea-81989263.html
Here's the link for the leroy merlin site, don't know about international shipping...
Your toilet was already clean. 🫥
Thank you. It was afflicted with what I consider a normal, run o' the mill hard water stain, what I get after about 1 month. While not very photogenic as stains go, and I have seen some doozies that get all clean with brick acid, I just figured I'd clean a normal stain and not leave my toilet to get all nasty for 6 months. Also, fun aside, I just made this video because I needed to clean my toilet and I thought I'd try vinegar. 120,000 views later and I'm like, what? So it was stained enough that I needed to clean it, but not enough so that you'd be like, damn that toilet is dank. Sorry.
What type of toilet is that (make & model)?
It's the raised option (for old people) from the Leroy Merlin hardware store here in France...
Lysol lime and rust..15 to 20 minutes....you're done
How to get rid of the ever present toilet ring? I've tried scrubbing with all sorts of things but nothing works!
You have to use alot of vinegar and let it sit a long time (12 hours min), then the scrubbing shouldn't be too bad. The toilet ring can be hard if it's above the wayer line because it's impossible to soak it. For this you can place vinegar soaked toilet paper on the ring but it's less effective. Otherwise you can raise the bobber in the tank to raise the water level but that's a pain...
Once it's gone leave a bottle of vinegar on the toilet and spray some in the bowl after flushing. This will soften the water and avoid the ring...
I tried professional Dawn,. Had my bath back-up from my upstairs daughter using these new soaps esp that charcoal, Dawn dissolved the sticky mess, but it actually broke the soap scum into tiny bit. Did want to flush it so I used paper towels to attach the particles
Played it once a week. You won't have that problem
Properly bread.
@@awkwardgenius 🤣
This did not work for me, Pumice is good, though.
❤
Thanks
Thanks
Will the baking soda plus vinegar produce it's own heat? Worried about potentially cracking the toilet with heat.
Hello, shouldn't create much heat much mixing them is actually a last resort as the baking doda neutralises the acidic effect of the vinegar so mostly all you get is the mechanical action of the interaction... soooo, just try a bunch of vinegar to start, leave it at least 6 to 8 hours and scrub. If it mostly works but not completely try vinegar again. I've never had a stain that could resist that... good luck!