London: A mother has divided the internet after claiming bleach should never be used to clean toilets and professional plumbers agree with her. The mum said a salesperson had told her to avoid using the chemical product to clean her loo because it damages the bowl. ‘I’ve just bought a new toilet seat and I happened to mention that I clean my toilet with bleach the lady said it destroys the porcelain,’ the woman wrote on the Mums Who Clean Facebook page.
‘She said eventually the toilet will not flush properly as the bend will be so scared that it traps the paper. Has anyone else heard this before?’ While some users agreed with the advice, others claimed that they have used bleach to clean their toilets for years and have had no problems.
Clean Dirty Toilet Bowl in Minutes without Brush
‘Nonsense my plumber recommended bleach. I’ve been using it for years and even with a system that turns your waster into recycled water to water your fruit trees,’ one person wrote.
Another said: ‘My mum has been cleaning the toilet with a beach for over 24 years and no problems yet.’ ‘I’ve never had a problem in over 30 years. I put half a cup in the bowl every week. I wash the lid and outside with vinegar and water,’ one user said.
Another argued: ‘The bleach will eventually eat away at the porcelain and damage any plastic and chrome fittings. Toilets should be cleaned with warm soapy water and dried with an old towel. The occasional bleach and quick flush are ok.’
‘It will eventually but takes years and years of heavy use to do so and with it just sitting in there. Then the toilet looks like it has permanent poo stains in it. It will happen but not overnight,’ one person said. A plumber from Mr. Plummer told FEMAIL that bleach ‘does have an impact on the glazed finish over a long period of time.’
‘We only recommend that [the toilet] is cleaned with a nonchemical cleaner that will not damage the glazing on the porcelain, etc soapy water or chemical-free cleaner. The same goes for plastic cisterns,’ Brad Plummer explained.
Toilet maintenance has been a hot topic of late, with a mother struggling to clean her ’embarrassing toilets’ recently solving the problem with an $11 home descaler she purchased from Bunnings Warehouse. Confronted with the hideous brown stains of a calcified lavatory, a Queensland mother-of-six cleared the problem with Scalex, which removes calcium, lime, and rust.
She posted a transformation photograph on Facebook alongside an explanation about the lengths she had gone to in an effort to remove the built-up grime. ‘I tried bleach, stronger toilet cleaner, and plain old scrubbing but nothing worked,’ she told Yahoo.
The staining is often caused by dirty tank water, rusted pipes, or calcification, and is usually very difficult to get rid of. Replacing the entire toilet would have cost upwards of $500. ‘Wish I had known about this trick before I just replaced both my toilets for the same reason,’ the woman whinged.
Others said they had worked out the power of Scalex for themselves and used it in their own bathrooms. ‘It’s the only thing that worked on ours too. My kids were scared of the toilets when we moved in,’ said another lady.
The descaler, which is produced by Hallmark, can also be used on dishwashers, washing machines, and in the shower for the same purpose. It can be purchased from Bunnings, Good Guys, or regular hardware stores and won’t exceed $12 in price. source
