How to Clean Lime Scale Quickly

Living in rural West Virginia can be tough sometimes. We have extremely hard water. One of the problems I have to face often is lime scale. It seems like every couple of months I have to drain my toilets and began the scrubbing ritual. In the past 12 years I have learned a few tips to help battle it. 

Lime Scale is a hard, off white, chalky deposit that is often found in: toilets, sinks, show heads, faucets, and hot water tanks. It can often clog pipes, and the outlet valves on toilets causing major headaches for home owners. 

Here are a few tips I have found to work well over the years:

1. Pumice Stone: 

That's right, this baby can sand away lime scale just a fast as the dead skin on your feet. I often use a pumice stone to keep lime scale at bay. Its great to remove small portions in the sink or on faucets. I have also used it in my toilets to help maintain the chaos. I buy mine from the Dollar Tree and can usually get 4 or more uses out of them depending on the amount of lime scale deposited. Please put this pumice stone with your cleaning supplies and keep it just for you lime scale battles. 

2. Vinegar: 

If you are in a pinch and can't make it to the store, grab some vinegar and a few paper towels. Place the paper towels over the lime scale and saturate with the vinegar. This will keep the vinegar right where you want it to be. Let sit for a few hours or even over night, if you have the time. Then take the pumice stone and give it a quick scrub, this should work pretty quickly. 

Now if using this in your toilet, you need to drain the water from the bowl. Then place the paper towels over the lime scale and apply the vinegar. Then just to be extra safe, I tape my toilet seat shut. That's right! You didn't read that wrong. Just one piece from side to side so the lid will not open. Now don't worry the toilet is not gonna blow up, I just do this as a subtle reminder for my young daughter, so she will not forget I am cleaning the toilet and use it. This insures I will not have to unclog my toilet later. ;)

3. CRL:

For severely hard lime scale this is the fastest method I have tried and its simply just shelling out some cash. I got mine for around $6 at my local Dollar General. Simply apply to the area and wait 2 minutes, and then wipe it away. If applying to a small patch, I would use a paper towel again to keep the area saturated. 

When cleaning a very nasty toilet, drain the toilet and fill the bottom with CRL. Apply paper towels to spots and cover with CRL also. Wait 2 minutes and them scrub away the lime scale. It should come off very easily. 

4. For shower heads:

Fill a plastic container with CRL or Vinegar and place the shower head inside. For CRL wait 2 minutes. With Vinegar at least 2 hours. Then wipe clean and secure back to the shower pipe. 

I hope these tips help make battling lime scale a little easier. One more thing: Please never put Coca-Cola in your toilet. It is not going to give you the results you want and is just a waste of your time and money. *Yep people really suggest and try this*. Save it for a nice refreshing treat for a job well done.