Brown stains under the toilet rim are often caused by a combination of scale and urinary stone. There can also be a build-up of deposits deeper inside the toilet, where toilet water remains.
Soak paper towel or toilet paper in the strongest vinegar you can find (look for cleaning vinegar, 10% acid) and make blobs like paper mache that will stick on the porcelain. Close the lid to slow evaporation, and leave the vinegar on the stains for several hours. Remove the mache, and scrub with a stiff brush.
Over time, pipes and plumbing fixtures can corrode, causing rust to form inside them. As water flows through these rusty pipes and fixtures, it can pick up small rust particles, discoloring the water. When the water reaches your toilet bowl, that strange brown hue appears.
Add Vinegar: Pour about 2 cups of white vinegar into the toilet bowl and let it sit for 30 minutes. Add Baking Soda: Add 1 cup of baking soda and let it fizz for another 30 minutes. Scrub: Use a toilet brush to scrub the limescale stains. Flush: Turn the water back on and flush the toilet to rinse.
Added to this is the yellowish-brown urine scale: a chemical reaction occurs when urine comes into contact with limescale. The longer these deposits remain in your toilet, the thicker the layer of limescale and urine scale will be.
Insecticidal soaps or horticultural oils can control brown soft scale, but these will require multiple treatments to be effective.
Step-By-Step Vinegar Cleaning Method
Put on your gloves and remove the toilet tank's cover. Pour white vinegar into the empty tank, filling it to about an inch below the rim. Let the vinegar sit for 12 hours. Scrub the tank's interior with a plastic bristle brush.
Who knew that dishwasher tablets could help keep your toilet sparkling clean? Just drop a dishwasher tablet in toilet bowl and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Then, use a toilet brush to scrub the bowl and flush it. The tablet will help to break down any stains or buildup in the bowl, leaving it fresh and clean.
Hard water stains can be pretty common in your toilet bowl. And while your first thought might be to treat them with Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach to remove the stains, we don't recommend it in this case.
Use vinegar or another acidic cleaner to clean calcium buildup from your toilet. The acid will break down the mineral deposits so you can brush them away. Be sure to take the necessary safety precautions when working with cleaners. Wear gloves and eyewear and open windows for ventilation.
More frequent trips to the toilet for folks with sugar-rich urine can spell trouble when it comes to persistent mold rings. While the extra toilet cleaning is a hassle, it can actually be a blessing in disguise if it helps you catch a diabetes warning sign early on.
The 'fizzing' reaction of the baking soda combined with vinegar can also play a part. That fizzing may help to break down the clog into smaller particles, making them easier to flush!
The contaminants notorious for causing brown stains in toilet bowls are iron, manganese and sulfur. These pollutants can also produce iron bacteria, manganese bacteria and sulfur bacteria, which also can produce brown stains.
Avoid using cleaner tabs—they often contain bleach, which is a no-no for cleaning toilet tanks because of bleach's corrosive properties. Add a cup of white distilled vinegar to the tank once a month. Leave it to sit overnight and then flush it in the morning. Check for sediment buildup and staining every month or so.
Flush the toilet to wet the surface of the bowl. Fill a spray bottle with white vinegar and heavily mist the bowl surface. Allow the vinegar to sit for half an hour. Use a toilet brush to scrub away any stubborn stains.
Brown stains in a toilet bowl are often caused by rust, which can be due to iron in the water, hard water deposits or old pipes. The stains can also be caused by calcium or mineral deposits.
We recommend using a mixture of ¼ cup of vinegar for every 1 cup of water. This ensures your toilet tank is being disinfected without causing damage, which the use of bleach or chemical cleaners can do.
It is widely claimed that adding aluminum foil to a toilet tank helps to achieve a clean and shiny toilet, but critics challenge these claims due to a lack of scientific evidence.
Coccus hesperidum is a soft scale insect in the family Coccidae with a wide host range. It is commonly known as brown soft scale. It has a cosmopolitan distribution and feeds on many different host plants. It is an agricultural pest, particularly of citrus and commercial greenhouse crops.
To the naked eye, spider mites look like tiny, moving dots. Use a magnifying lens to see them. Adults are less than 1⁄20 inch long and have eight legs, an oval body, and two colored eyespots near the end of the head.
Apply Insecticidal Soap
Apply with a spray bottle or garden sprayer until all the leaves are dripping. A mix of 1 ounce of soap to a gallon of water is generally a good rule, but follow the package directions to be sure.