Cleaning A Toilet

Joe Wood

Got an unglamorous question here guys. My low flow toilet has been clogging up lately, and I notice some dark rough deposits way up in the outlet, a little farther then I can reach. I turned off the water, flushed, and poured CLR in there, let it sit for couple hours, then scrubbed, but it didn't touch the roughness. What can I use to get that off and smooth again?

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Robie

Might try a pumice bar. They work well. Available at most hardware stores. Works best when kept wet.

Resta

Snake maybe?...

Crawdad

Pour a small bottle of Coca Cola in there, and let it sit overnight. In the morning, simply flush it, and it'll be clean.
I saw it on TV, so it must be true. (Let me know if it works, it sounds to dang easy to be true)

GregC

Do you mean the bowl is clogging up and not taking the waste down? Or that the water holes leading to the bowl are clogged?

If it is not taking waste down then there maybe something lodge up inside the trap area. Try a snake or sometimes just removing the toilet and doing a good cleaning and inspection is best. You would be surprised how and what things can be caught inside there.

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Joe Wood

Robbie, won't that pumice scratch the porcelain?

Greg, yes, the bowl is clogging up, usually only when there's TP being flushed, and I'm sure it's the rough deposits that are at the very bottom of the bowl.

We have very hard water in So Cal with lots of minerals and salts and I think that is what's causing the roughness. That's why I tried the CLR. This is one of those low flow toilets too.

Crawdad, I'll try that tonite!

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Robie

Nope...that's the intended purpose of the product. Works like magic. Don't try it on plastic or any other man-made material or yes, it will scratch the heck out of it.

GregC

Well, that is a possibility that the roughness is grabbing a hold of it, but it sure sounds like something maybe caught inside the trap inside the toilet, or even something caught and stuck on the closet flange. it wouldn't really hurt to pull the toilet and look inside it all. Over 30 yrs as a plumber, I have never seen rough scaling trap that much tp and clog a toilet. If the scaling is that bad and it ruined the porcelain that much, then you need to change the toilet.

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amcoplumbing

Coca cola huh?

Joe Wood

The coke overnight did loosen up a little more of the scale, then I took the pumice to it, but I couldn't really get up inside very well with the pumice bar.

But it is alot smoother, and so far no more clogging up :-)

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Crawdad

Yes, coca cola. Are you surprised to learn a plumbing trick from a lawn guy?
If you use it, re-bottle it, you can tell the customer it's a "secret formula"

With all the wondrous uses for coca cola, it is no wonder I wouldn't recommend drinking it, though I do admit to enjoying one or two a year.

Here's a list I found on this site...

http://www.wisebread.com/51-uses-for...-ultimate-list

1. Remove grease stains from clothing and fabric (I had to start there)
2. Remove rust; methods include using fabric dipped in Coke, a sponge or even aluminum foil.
3. Remove blood stains from clothing and fabric.
4. Make gooey Coke funnel cakes .
5. Clean oil stains from a garage floor; let the stain soak, hose off.
6. Loosen a rusty bolt; pour on some Coke and wait for the magic to happen.
7. Kill slugs and snails; a small bowl of Coke will attract them, the acid will kill them.
8. Help a lawn become lush and green (see my lawn tonic article here )
9. Prevent an asthma attack! Apparently, the caffeine in two 12oz cans can prevent the onset of an attack.
10. Defrost a frozen windshield. Apply liberally and wait (I’ll see if this works in winter)
11. Clean burnt pans; let the pan soak in the Coke, then rinse.
12. Descale a kettle using the same method in 11.
13. Neutralize a jellyfish sting.
14. Clean car battery terminals by pouring a small amount of Coke over each one.
15. Cure nausea; let a can of Coke go flat then take a teaspoon of Coke every hour.
16. Also, flat coke can help relieve an upset stomach (aka “the runs”)
17. Make a Mentos & Coke exploding fountain. This one takes a 2-liter bottle of Coke.

avguy

I was also told that some local Coca-Cola distributors use the syrup as engine cleaner.

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griz

Hey avguy, give us an intro

Heard it cleans asphalt & concrete also

Rio

For taking out hard water mineral deposits nothing beats Cal-C-Solve. It's some sort of nasty smelling, fry your nose acid. You have to be really careful when you use it but it will really work. I doubt if the hard water mineral deposits are causing your toilet to act up but in any case the Cal-C-Solve will take care of the unsightly deposits.

Rio

For taking out hard water mineral deposits nothing beats Cal-C-Solve. It's some sort of nasty smelling, fry your nose acid. You have to be really careful when you use it but it will really work. I doubt if the hard water mineral deposits are causing your toilet to act up but in any case the Cal-C-Solve will take care of the unsightly deposits.

I noticed you're in San Diego. You used to be able to get it at Mission Hills Plumbing and I'm sure it's available in a lot of other plumbing stores.

dickiedoo

If your getting a build up from the water in the trap of your toilet can you imagine what the discharge holes for your flush may look like. try getting a small allen key and reem out the little holes aroun the rim of your bowl. SOmetimes buildup will lower the water pressure and in turn cause a weak flush thus not pushing the waste through.

Joe Wood

No problems with the flush now after that limited cleaning I did, but I'll checkout those discharge holes Dicki!

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