That chalky white substances on your pots, pans, and pipes are unsightly and seem to stay there forever. We explain what it is and how it gets onto your cooking utensils. This article also has a few tips to help you remove limescale from them.
What is limescale?
You’ll find limescale on your kitchen utensils and the inner surfaces of old metal pipes. This chalky deposit hardens once the water in them evaporates.
Limescale builds up when calcium bicarbonate mixes with hot water and carbon dioxide. Calcium forms as carbonate interact with water and gas. These minerals solidify after the water evaporates, forming a hard, chalky compound.
The kind of limescale you’re probably familiar with comprises calcium carbonate. Hard water has magnesium bicarbonate or ions that are similar.
Limescale owes its whitish, pale color to the presence of iron compounds. The main iron substances present in limescale are wustite, hematite, and magnetite.
Why you need to know how to remove limescale.
First of all, limescale is not pretty and makes kitchenware look dull and old. Also, limescale that collects in water pipes can turn into blockages. It’s clear what the consequences of these are, and is a must-have life hack.
Hard water also harms your health, being able to affect both the central nervous system and trigger Alzheimer’s Disease.
How to Remove Limescale from Your Kettle and Kitchen Utensils Naturally
You don’t have to spend money on expensive solvents. Remove limescale naturally with things that you can find in your kitchen.
We recommend the use of vinegar or lemon juice. These substances have high acidic content and will erode limescale quickly.
1. Vinegar for Faucets
You may need to know how to remove limescale that collects around your faucets, and vinegar is a convenient solution.
Grab a paper towel, and soak it in vinegar. Secure it with an elastic band and let it rest for an hour. Then, wipe the faucet with a clean, dry cloth.
Alternatively, make up a spray bottle of half vinegar and half water, and use it regularly on tiles, basins, baths, and taps to keep limescale at bay. Always rinse thoroughly with plain water afterward.
If you don’t like the smell of vinegar, use baking soda. Mix three parts water with one part baking soda. Rub it over the limescale and let it rest for an hour. Then, buff it clean.
2. Use Vinegar to Clean Your Coffee Maker
Fill your coffee maker with two cups of water and white vinegar. Let the coffee maker run for a complete cycle. Rinse the carafe, then let it run for another.
Again, if you don’t like the smell of vinegar, you can clean your coffeemaker by filling the reservoir with hot water and throwing in two denture tablets. After they fizz, let the machine run for a cycle, rinse it, then run it once more.
3. Removing Limescale from Washing Machines and Dishwashers
Replace the washing detergent you usually use with a cup of white vinegar or lemon juice. Pour the liquid into the machine and run it for one cycle. Doing this will get rid of the limescale and keep your devices fresh.
4. Use lemon juice to remove limescale from your bathtub
Limescale builds up in your bathtub as well. Soak a paper towel with lemon juice and stick it to the side. Wipe it once the limescale dissolves with a sponge or soft cloth. Use clear water and repeat if necessary.
6. Toilets, tiles, and other flat surfaces.
The limescale that gathers on flat surfaces, such as the kitchen or toilet tiles, is easier to remove than elsewhere. Half-fill a spray bottle with vinegar. Fill the other half with water, then spray the mixture on the affected tiles. Leave it for a few minutes before rinsing.
Get rid of limescale deposits by rubbing them gently with an old toothbrush. Use a pumice stone if it has hardened.
Limescale in showerheads is hard to get rid of because there are many grooves where it can gather. Soak the showerhead in a solution that comprises one part vinegar and another part water. Use a needle to loosen any remaining limescale in the holes.
7. Combimate
Also on this list is Combimate, a tool that your plumber can install. It protects your faucets, toilets, and other appliances from limescale. It’s safe because it consists of natural materials.
8. Glassware
Do ugly white streaks appear regularly on your cups and glasses? It’s probably limescale.
Vinegar or lemon juice gets rid of limescale quickly and naturally. Clean with a solution that contains one part vinegar and another part of water. Leave it on for 15 minutes before rinsing.
9. Bath mat
White vinegar will get rid of the limescale on your bath mat and disinfect it as well. Douse it with enough vinegar to coat it and let it soak for an hour. Then, scrub it with a brush before rinsing it with warm water.
10. Removing limescale from the toilet bowl
To remove limescale deposits from your toilet bowl, lower the water level until it’s nearly empty. Flush it slightly to adjust the level. Turn the adjustment screw counterclockwise.
Pour a mixture of vinegar and borax into the bowl. Combine two or three cups of white vinegar with equal amounts of borax. Ensure that the liquid submerges the areas covered by limescale. Let the mixture dissolve the limescale for about two hours.
After the bowl has soaked in the solution, scrub it vigorously with a scrub brush. Don’t flush the borax and vinegar yet.
Then, flush the toilet and drain the vinegar mixture. There shouldn’t be any limescale left. Flush it again if you do see it. Repeat the cleaning process until there is no more limescale.
In all, there are many ways to remove limescale. These methods require some effort but will work.
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