Bathroom Limescale removal

[SVB]

Folks,

I need to clean / sort out a very attractive but badly stained cast iron bath and also a matching ceramic sink.

I think most of the deposit is limescale based as we have hard water in the area and then the dirt has stained the limescale.

Anyone got any good recommendations of a product that will remove the scale without damaging the underlying surface?

Thanks.
s

 

[Eric The Viking]

Folks,

I need to clean / sort out a very attractive but badly stained cast iron bath and also a matching ceramic sink.

I think most of the deposit is limescale based as we have hard water in the area and then the dirt has stained the limescale.

Anyone got any good recommendations of a product that will remove the scale without damaging the underlying surface?

Thanks.
s

If it's cast iron it can be re-coated. There used to be a business called The Bath Doctor... (later) ... try http://www.bath-doctor.co.uk/. I haven't used them, but keep intending to.

I've had good success removing rust stains from china (we have two Belfast sinks in the house--'go figure' as the Yanks say). I use 'brick acid', which is fairly conc. hydrochloric, available in 5litre containers from builders' merchants. That makes rust stains vanish completely (and on our kitchen worktop - she has Le Creuset :-( ). I think you might need to test it on steel/cast iron first, perhaps on an old enamel mug or bowl, but you can rinse off pretty easily! Don't get it near marble either.

I also recently got a ceramic/acrylic bath repair kit from Toolstation, but haven't yet used that either. It's a small tin, and it won't be underwater anyway.

Good cast iron baths are worth their weig... er, quite a bit really, so I'd do the Bath Doctor thing. Googling indicated quite a few competitors now, so you might want to shop around.

One tip, possibly: if the underneath isn't on show, spray it with expanding foam before you fit the surround. It doesn't stop it being cold to the touch entirely, but the bathwater stays hot longer. It's messy though!

Cheers,

E.

 

[bugbear]

Folks,

I need to clean / sort out a very attractive but badly stained cast iron bath and also a matching ceramic sink.

I think most of the deposit is limescale based as we have hard water in the area and then the dirt has stained the limescale.

Anyone got any good recommendations of a product that will remove the scale without damaging the underlying surface?

Thanks.
s

Be careful! I used a kitchen descaling "cleaner" (for similar reasons to you) and damaged the bath enamel.

It turns out that bath enamel isn't enamel (i.e. fused glass) :-(

BugBear

 

[dedee]

Clear vinegar. Soak some kitchen towels then lay them on affected area, keep them moist (with vinegar - don't dilute with water). Leave them on over night at least or until the limescale dissolves. This should help.

I use vinegar a lot to clean the kettle and remove the limescale from those awkward places around taps that you can never quite reach with a cloth.

Plenty of info on google on how to use vinegar in all sort of ways.

Andy
ps I see here that they recommend a 50:50 dilution with water.

http://www.vea.org.uk/enamelcare/limescale.html

 

[MIGNAL]

Don't know about Limescale (softwater area) but Bicarbonate of Soda is a good general purpose cleaner. I've used it on a cast Bath with very good results.

 

[RogerS]

Duck Power Total Clean...works a treat at removing limescale from stainless steel. We get limescale on the end of the spout of the kitchen tap. Put a bit of clingfilm in the palm of your hand, make a puddle, put Total Clean into the puddle and then wrap it all around the end of the spout. You can see the limescale disappearing as it effervesces. No idea how many gallons you'd need for a bath though.