social

Cleaning Toilet Rim Flush Holes?

December 22, 2009

How do I clean out lime build up in the flush holes under the lip in the toilet bowl? When you flush the toilet these holes clean off the sides of the bowl, but only the center hole is working fine. I figure these holes are plugged up with lime build-up.

Advertisement

By Steven from Tyrone, OK

Answers


Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 147 Feedbacks
December 22, 20092 found this helpful
Best Answer

The toilet bowl is filled with water after flushing by means of small angled inlet holes under the rim. These holes commonly become clogged by the buildup of calcite and other mineral deposits over time. Also, they can become stopped up with material that was in the bowl, such as cat litter, cotton balls, or anything else which should not be flushed down a toilet. Fixing this problem is as simple as cleaning out the holes. Often, prodding them with something hard or sharp will do the trick. For more serious clogs, it might help to use white vinegar to dissolve the buildup. good luck.

Reply Was this helpful? 2
December 25, 20090 found this helpful
Best Answer

Put a chlorine tab from the pool in the tank. Dollar tree has some as well. You might have to change the flapper to one to handle chemicals *mine is yellow-orange. This takes off the buildup on sides of the toilet, should work on the holes too.

Advertisement

If you don't flush at night the chlorine concentrate is pretty intense so it would be helpful I would think for the holes. Ria

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
December 25, 20090 found this helpful
Best Answer

I've done this many times. It's disgusting, but once you get them clean, you can keep them cleaner fairly easily.
first flush the toilet. Then scoop or use a cloth to sop all the water out of the toilet, you want it fairly dry. I've found that when the mineral deposits clog the hole, there is mineral deposits where the water goes when you flush it, so I work on this part too at the same time.

Then get something like lysol toilet bowl cleaner, vinegar may work too, but the lysol is thicker & sticks better. Squirt the cleaner under the rim & down lower really well. You may have to practically stick your head in the toilet to see well. Another reason to get the water out of the bottom. Let it soak for about 10-15mins.

Advertisement

Put on gloves, you don't want to eat your hands up. Then get an ice pick or an old pointed paring knife. Work on the holes & the bottom if you need it. Do as much as you can, then flush the toilet. If there is still stuff left, do it all over again.

When you scrape, dig, chip out & basically chisel the stuff out, it smells pretty bad, so I always do it in stages. Depends on how bad the problem is. Afterward, you can use the lysol on a regular basis & this will keep it clean.
I've done some pretty bad toilets in my time & I know how awful this is, it also can make the toilet not smell completely clean after you clean, so it's necessary to keep the deposits away.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
December 27, 20090 found this helpful
Best Answer

My sister has this same kind of toilet with the flush holes and I just unplugger her flush holes this past Tuesday, Dec. 22. I got a wire coat hanger, get some pliers and cut off about 10 to 12 inches to make it easier to work with. Put some gloves on, get on your knees, tie back your hair, and work the hanger into each hole.

Advertisement

When the hanger goes through the flush hole give the hanger a couple of turns and you will see the calcium build up fall off into the toilet bowl. You have to clean each flush hole even the small ones in the front of the bowl. Trust me that hanger was the perfect size and it did the job in about one-half hour.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
June 2, 20180 found this helpful
Best Answer

I've done it with a small pipette brush or stiff pipe cleaners and afterwards used denture cleaning tablets dropped into stand pipe in toilet then added water until the blue water started to drip out .I've also done this after it was clean by putting some baking soda powder in the stand pipe and pouring vinegar into stand pipe too.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
July 30, 20180 found this helpful
Best Answer

A small allen wrench works great to clean the jets. Use short side in the holes. Softening the buildup in holes with white vinegar (or something else of your choice) for 15-30 minutes first makes it easier.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
May 12, 20190 found this helpful
Best Answer

I just used a heavy duty zip tie to do the job. The flexibility was really helpful and as mentioned earlier does not scratch the porcelain like metal does. Thanks for all your ideas!

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
January 14, 20150 found this helpful

I have the same issue with clogged holes under the rim and used a wire hanger to try clean them out several times but it doesn't seem to work for me. Perhaps the clogs in each hole are farther inside that I can't reach with the wire. I was thinking about trying to use calcium cleaning concentrate in the tank and try to "flush" the clogs out.

Advertisement

Has anyone tried that? Is it too harsh for the flapper and mechanism inside the tank? Is the white vinegar strong enough to take care of the problem? Any other suggestions?

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
Anonymous
November 4, 20150 found this helpful

Just used this forum to find my fix, did the wire hanger method. Took about 15 minutes, once I figured holes were all at angles, pretty easy and wow, toilet works way better! Didn't even know these holes existed!

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
June 3, 20160 found this helpful

If you scratch the porcelain with a metal object then calcium will stick alot faster so I advise is us something plastic or plug up toilet with a balloon after removing all water then fill to rim with vinegar also fill tank. Let set 12 hrs

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
September 7, 20170 found this helpful

Hello, how were you able to fix your issue in the end Becki ? I can't reach the water jet holes at all. Thanks

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
February 10, 20190 found this helpful

Good idea is to wear a shower cap doing this.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
Answer this Question
In This Page
Categories
Home and Garden Repair Home BathroomJuly 15, 2021
Pages
More
🐰
Easter Ideas!
🍀
St. Patrick's Ideas!
🌻
Gardening
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Instagram
Contests!
Newsletters
Ask a Question
Share a Post
Categories
Better LivingBudget & FinanceBusiness and LegalComputersConsumer AdviceCoronavirusCraftsEducationEntertainmentFood and RecipesHealth & BeautyHolidays and PartiesHome and GardenMake Your OwnOrganizingParentingPetsPhotosTravel and RecreationWeddings
Published by ThriftyFun.
Desktop Page | View Mobile
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Generated 2023-02-19 14:09:13 in 3 secs. ⛅️️
© 1997-2023 by Cumuli, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.thriftyfun.com/Cleaning-Toilet-Rim-Flush-Holes-1.html