Hi all

Here's a question for all you condo and house owners:

When we moved into my house, which had been previously owned, the sanitary ware in the bathrooms was not in particularly good condition and I've never been able to get it properly clean.

The water in Pattaya is not very good at the best of times and tends to throw a very tenacious brown deposit - don't know what the chemical species is. This affects toilet bowls but also, to a lesser extent, hand basins. I can keep it at bay by regular scrubbing but can never seem to entirely shift the stains.

I've tried a few locally available products - bathroom duck, toilet duck - but, short of physically chiselling the deposit off (not really a good idea) nothing seems to work. Products such as Domestos, which would at least bleach the stuff, seem conspicuous by their absence in Thailand.

Has anyone got any (sensible) suggestions for locally available cleaning products that actually work? I suspect that conc. HCl might do the trick but I don't think it's available at Boots! If all else fails I may end up replacing everything!

DM

You could try common household vigegar. It is cheap and clean and good. It is a mild acid and will shine up metal fixtures and remove soap scum and built up rust. It is also really good for cleaning windows and mirrors. Apply with some old newspaper. The smell will go away after a couple of minutes.

Hope this helps.

Tesco's own brand toilet cleaner makes some very satisfactory fizzing sounds when applied to lime stains.

According to the label it's:-

13% Hydrochloric acid

3% Phosphoric acid

1% Ethoxylated Nonyl Phenol (whatever that does)

Dead cheap, so it's worth a shot (wear gloves).

Not sure what the problem is there so this may not work; but in Florida, where they have a lime problem, the "Limeaway" cleaner works wonders. It is available in Thailand and have seen at Foodland. Contains

PHOSPHORIC ACID (SARA 313) (CERCLA)

Upcountry (Central Thailand) have been advised to use green manganese water filter to help reduce scum on tile and bath. But don't know of any product to really clean it.

Replacement is good. Get one of the two way flush toilets and save water.

I posted a similar question a few months ago but never came up with a satisfactory answer. My tiles in the shower have on them a sort of haze, almost like varnish. It builds up all the time, so one of the things to do is clean more often I did find a liquid called "Cillit" in Tesco, but it has long disappeared from the shelves. Tesco also make a toilet cleaner that contains 22% hydrochloric acid. I have used this, in fact it seems to work best on the clear plastic doors of my shower but "BEWARE" this stuff is "LETHAL" Make sure you have plenty of ventilation, wear a mask and do a bit at a time. DON'T get any on chromium taps or such, it will take the surface off them.

The stuff I use most of all is some liquid bathroom cleaner from the UK ( Wilko's ) and plenty of elbow grease If I could find some Ajax or Vim powder, I think this would be OK on the tiles.

If you find anything that works good, please let us know.

I saw an advert on Thai television other day for a new bathroom cleaner ( can't remember name ) It showed a new bathroom just a wipe away LOL. Perhaps they should try it on the Thai government.

Tesco also make a toilet cleaner that contains 22% hydrochloric acid. I have used this, in fact it seems to work best on the clear plastic doors of my shower but "BEWARE" this stuff is "LETHAL" Make sure you have plenty of ventilation, wear a mask and do a bit at a time. DON'T get any on chromium taps or such, it will take the surface off them.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm afraid that the chrome on my taps has long since gone - attributable to the Pattaya water supply, I'm sure. It would be interesting to get an analysis done but, there again, it's probably better not to know!

I'll try to locate some of the Tesco cleaner - HCl seems like a good idea because it will react with most common substances to form a chloride and all chlorides are water soluble - ergo, if it will react with my problem stains they will just flush away.

I think that the taps are going to have to be replaced anyway as they are definitely not a prime feature of the dwelling at the moment. I suspect that they were never very good quality in the first place - I suppose that gold-plated would be a better bet but I don't really like the look that much. Don't like the look of gold on the GF either but that's another story.

Thanks for the advice (and thanks to all other repondees). If I have any success then I'll do a follow-up post.

DM

brown colour - sounds like iron (or rust)

try phosphoric acid from a chemical shop.

the concentrated one you have to mix 1:4 - 1:5 with water.

but be careful, use rubber gloves and protect your eyes.

when mixing, don't pour water in the acid, pour the acid in the water!!!

Try VIXOL

15%HCl

and some other good stuff

Old thick stains also require rubbing with something hard

Try scrubbing the stains with half a lemon which has been dipped in salt. You may need quite a few lemons.

Noticed a line of stain removal type items in blister packs in the hardware section of Lotus here in Bangkok last week that had not been available previously so you might check there. Believe there were about 6 or 8 different types for various stains.

There's a volcanic type of rock, sold in swimming pool supply stores, that is used to scrub mineral deposits off of waterline type. It's cheap, very effective, and non-poisonous. I've also used it in sanitaryware, and it works very well there too.

"BANG"

That's the name of a new product on the market. I saw the ad. in a newspaper where just a wipe made the surface clean so I told my wife to get some. She'd already bought some so I gave it a go. Couldn't believe it, when this stuff ran down the dirty white tiles they looked like someone had spilt white paint down them. The writing on the spray bottle is too small to read, even with my glasses on so I don't know what's in the stuff, but it works. Got it from Tesco/Lotus.

You can buy bleach in Lotus. It's used here for bleaching clothes - it's near the section for washing powder.

If you buy a spray gun and fill it with 50% bleach and 50% water, spray down the toilet and leave for a couple of hours it should come off.