I mean technically it is a tool...

[rslaback]

So we have pretty rusty and scaly water where I live. My toilets are starting to crust up because of it. I'd like to try a vinegar soak in them to at least eat off the scale. Topical cleaners aren't really touching it.

Is there such a thing as an inflatable bladder that would plug the bowl exit so that I could fill er up and let it soak?

 

[Renegade1LI]

You can try an inflatable test ball, they come in all sizes.

3 in. Rubber Test-Ball Pipe Plug

 

[ddawg16]

No need.....just pour in the vinegar.
Any excess water will just drain out.

 

[rslaback]

No need.....just pour in the vinegar.
Any excess water will just drain out.

Extra vinegar too. I want to clean the rim holes and I think it is going to take soaking to do it.

 

[ddawg16]

Extra vinegar too. I want to clean the rim holes and I think it is going to take soaking to do it.

spray some CLR on it and remove 'manually'

 

[DHCrocks]

Have you tried a pumice stone? It works wonders on hard water, I‘d think it would be able to remove any build up

 

[driftpin]

Vinegar comes in different % concentrations. Last time I saw it at Home Depot, the one I read was 6%. A higher % could mean more quick to work. Be careful about adding it to where zinc or potmetal is, as it can corrode those.

 

[rlitman]

You can try an inflatable test ball, they come in all sizes.

3 in. Rubber Test-Ball Pipe Plug

This fall, my wife noticed a cold draft from my fireplace. I priced out chimney stopper balloons, and they too were outrageously priced.

In the end, I shoved a piece of 1/4" ice-maker tubing into a beach ball, used a zip-tie as a clamp, and forced the other end of the tubing into a rubber tire valve schrader stem. Total cost was well under $2.

 

[Renegade1LI]

This fall, my wife noticed a cold draft from my fireplace. I priced out chimney stopper balloons, and they too were outrageously priced.

In the end, I shoved a piece of 1/4" ice-maker tubing into a beach ball, used a zip-tie as a clamp, and forced the other end of the tubing into a rubber tire valve schrader stem. Total cost was well under $2.

That’s funny, just did something similar, used like a hopity hop to block some 20” diameter boiler breeching for smoke testing. Works great only 1/2” wc so not much pressure.

 

[Half-fast eddie]

I used a balloon, a long one, not round. Inflated it about half way, wedged it in the drain hole, and filled the bowl with vinegar.

 

[bonneyman]

Extra vinegar too. I want to clean the rim holes and I think it is going to take soaking to do it.

I got a tip out of an old DIY book that said to make a ring of plumbers putty and push it up under the rim. Then pour hydrogen peroxide down the main tank drain. The putty keeps the peroxide in the rim holes and the channels behind them, fizzling and bubbling loose some mineral deposits. After 24 hours I remove the putty and finish cleaning out the holes with an allen wrench. The L-bend helps get up under there.

Pro-actively I started using a tablet product from KaBoom that deals with high mineral contents with each flush. Took a couple of months but the scale was reduced and has stayed minimal.

Kaboom Bathroom Products Transition to New Brand | OxiClean™

Your favorite Kaboom products have a new look and packaging with OxiClean™. The formula inside stayed the same and still works hard to keep your bathroom clean.

www.kaboomkaboom.com

 

[Tools4Me]

Use a toilet plunger like you normally would and you can get 80-90% of the water to drain out of the toilet quickly and easily. Don't flush afterwards and it will stay that way. No need for an inflatable plug or water scooping. If you want every ounce of water out, stick a bath towel into the bottom after plunging and you can soak the last cup or two of water up. Then buy Lime-a-Way toilet bowl thick gel from a place like Dollar Tree and squirt it on the scaly deposits you are trying to remove. Lime-a-Way is diluted Hydrochloric Acid and it's the only store bought cleaner that has worked well for me. Don't get it on your skin or on anything else other than the inside of the toilet bowl. Lime-a-Way works best on lime/calcium buildup. Give it 10 minutes or so to do it's job. Any cleaner you use is pretty much an acid, so once the acid you apply has been neutralized by the calcium deposits any further cleaning will stop. It might take a couple applications to get all of it depending on how thick the calcium deposits are, but even a bad toilet should be able to be fully cleaned with one $1.25 bottle of Lime-a Way. I usually only need a third to a half bottle for a relatively bad looking toilet bowl. If you mainly just have rusty iron deposits, you might wany to try using a product like Iron Out instead. I've had great success using Iron Out powder as directed on the bottle to remove rust stains from concrete, toilets, etc. I don't use it very often for toilets though, because toilets I encounter don't usually have true rust staining. They have rust stained calcium deposits, so when the Lime-a-Way removes the calcium deposits the rust staining disappears too.

https://www.dollartree.com/lime-a-way-thick-gel-formula-toilet-bowl-cleaner-16oz/199143

Iron Out 76 oz. Rust and Stain Remover IO65N - The Home Depot

Remove rust in laundry, from bumpers, tools, porcelain surfaces, glassware, toilet and flush boxes with this Iron Out Rust and Stain Remover.

www.homedepot.com

Good luck OP.

 

[RTM]

I think some people are missing the idea that he wants to fill the bowl to the brim to clean the mineral deposits that develop there.

 

[Tools4Me]

I think some people are missing the idea that he wants to fill the bowl to the brim to clean the mineral deposits that develop there.

Not missing the idea, just giving a $1.25 alternative to spending more money on likely 2 gallons+ of cleaning vinegar to fill the entire bowl to the rim. Some people also don't know how to easily drain the water in a toilet bowl to make any solution used work better (prevents lower concentration vinegars from being diluted even further), so I was mentioning the procedure.

If you use the Lime-a-Way thick gel method you don't need to use any sort of drain plug, because you don't need to overfill the toilet bowl for it to work. You just squirt the Lime-a-Way thick gel on the deposits and that's it. I forgot to mention it in my original post, but reducing the water level in the toilet bowl with a plunger is only necessary when using the Lime-a-Way method if there are deposits you want removed at the normal water line in addition to the deposits under the rim where the fresh water holes are. Lime-a-Way gel won't do anything if it gets diluted by the tank water.

 

[rslaback]

I think some people are missing the idea that he wants to fill the bowl to the brim to clean the mineral deposits that develop there.

On GJ every post is a word association post.

 

[timgunn1962]

The inflatable pipe bungs are pretty good. You'll need one to suit the outlet pipe and with enough hose to reach round the U-bend (I can't access the link in post#2, presumably because I'm in the UK, but it looks like it's for 3" pipe, which seems small for a toilet: ours are usually 4" and apparently everything is bigger in America).

DO NOT over-pressurize it beyond the manufacturers recommendation. They don't need much pressure and it's all to easy to overdo things when you can't see the bung. Watching others do it can be hilarious. Less so when you do it yourself. The ones I've used have been a textile/rubber bladder and maximum inflation pressure has been 5 PSI.

Citric acid is pretty effective, easier to deal with (it comes as a powder) and less smelly than vinegar. Just sayin...

 

[brownbagg]

yes, home depot, plumbing asle by the pvc fitting

 

[Half-fast eddie]

On GJ every post is a word association post.

No it’s not. It’s an invitation to diverse thinking individuals to espouse alternate universe solutions that may or may not be applicable and pertinent to the discussion. What were we talking about?

 

[rslaback]

No it’s not. It’s an invitation to diverse thinking individuals to espouse alternate universe solutions that may or may not be applicable and pertinent to the discussion. What were we talking about?

The invitations that my spouse picked out for our wedding were pretty simplistic so it really wasn't that expensive.

 

[Tools4Me]

No it’s not. It’s an invitation to diverse thinking individuals to espouse alternate universe solutions that may or may not be applicable and pertinent to the discussion. What were we talking about?

Sometimes a question is asked in a way that prevents discussion of what could be a better/easier/cheaper solution. It actually happens all the time on GJ. I posted about an alternate procedure for achieving the same goal of removing the deposits from the OP's toilet. In other words, a post that was exactly in line with the real goal the OP had for starting this thread.

Maybe I should start a GJ thread about what nail gun would work best for shooting a 16p nail through my hand. Then when someone suggests a better use of my time or tells me it's not a good idea to do that sort of thing (instead of posting the name and model number of a good nail gun) I will ridicule them and talk down to them for not staying "on topic".

 

[bwringer]

No it’s not. It’s an invitation to diverse thinking individuals to espouse alternate universe solutions that may or may not be applicable and pertinent to the discussion. What were we talking about?

I'm surprised no one has suggested a high-fiber meal, maybe with a good hunk of cheese and/or a rack of ribs, depending on personal biology.

Should block it up nicely soon enough.




When the question was perfectly answered in the first reply, then we take our fun where we can find it.

 

[msharley]

Sometimes a question is asked in a way that prevents discussion of what could be a better/easier/cheaper solution. It actually happens all the time on GJ. I posted about an alternate procedure for achieving the same goal of removing the deposits from the OP's toilet. In other words, a post that was exactly in line with the real goal the OP had for starting this thread.

Maybe I should start a GJ thread about what nail gun would work best for shooting a 16p nail through my hand. Then when someone suggests a better use of my time or tells me it's not a good idea to do that sort of thing (instead of posting the name and model number of a good nail gun) I will ridicule them and talk down to them for not staying "on topic".

 

[RonnieC]

No it’s not. It’s an invitation to diverse thinking individuals to espouse alternate universe solutions that may or may not be applicable and pertinent to the discussion. What were we talking about?

True. Might be better for clarity if we could stick to the Copenhagen interpretation.

 

[rslaback]

Sometimes a question is asked in a way that prevents discussion of what could be a better/easier/cheaper solution. It actually happens all the time on GJ. I posted about an alternate procedure for achieving the same goal of removing the deposits from the OP's toilet. In other words, a post that was exactly in line with the real goal the OP had for starting this thread.

Maybe I should start a GJ thread about what nail gun would work best for shooting a 16p nail through my hand. Then when someone suggests a better use of my time or tells me it's not a good idea to do that sort of thing (instead of posting the name and model number of a good nail gun) I will ridicule them and talk down to them for not staying "on topic".

The real goal that the OP had for sharing this thread was finding a drain blocking bladder so that he could soak his toilet in order to remove the scale deposits under the rim and on the bidet attachment that sticks down into the bowl.

Also, there isn't a nail gun that shoots 16d nails. Gun nails are smaller in diameter than a traditional nail. The closest you could get would be a traditional nail and a palm nailer but that doesn't really "shoot" it. I have one you can borrow if you like.

 

[Half-fast eddie]

Also, there isn't a nail gun that shoots 16d nails.

Are you sure? The guy on youtube with like a million subscribers said thats what he uses.

 

[Tools4Me]

It might surprise you to know that bwringer will soon be asking me if I need a hug. I will thank him in advance for the offer but politely decline, because I'm actually very relaxed and in a good mood right now. In case anyone is wondering how I knew what bwringer was going to do, all I'm going to say is I tapped into the magic of the internet.

 

[bwringer]

There is much truth in this image. I'm not dripping in $100 bills or anything, but the amount of time, money, horrible chemicals, and effort I will expend on reviving a crusty ancient crapper is EXTREMELY limited.

Less than $100 at any home store plus maybe $10 for a new feed line (if you're fancy like that) will get you a serviceable factory-fresh throne. It's always worth it. Bump up the budget a little for a little more turd-crushing power.

It might surprise you to know ...

You seem tense. Need a hug, bro?

 

[KnurledNut]

Also, there isn't a nail gun that shoots 16d nails.

There are nail guns that shoot .162 3-1/2”.

 

[Ton ton]

Citric acid is good stuff. I like it better than apple cider vinegar for cleaning purposes.

 

[NORTON'S SHOP]

You can try an inflatable test ball, they come in all sizes.

3 in. Rubber Test-Ball Pipe Plug

I'll vouch for these. Only because the company that I work for produces most of the tooling for their production.

 

[tester19]

Just a note if you use Vinegar for cleaning? I now can find concentrated Vinegar (Acetic Acid) at Lowes/Home Depot. They call it cleaning Vinegar and is 30% Acetic Acid. It way stronger than normal Vinegar so do wear gloves when handling it!

30% Vinegar
.
.
.

 

[ChevyEFI]

Fill the bowl with vinegar low enough so it doesn't drain out.

Grab cheap aquarium / pond pump. Point the outlet at the rim outlet holes. One by one, they'll clean up.

Cleaning them internally could be easily done by routing up to the tank and holding the flapper open. This might best be done first.