Limescale Remover 700ml

Limescale is a hard white substance mainly made up of calcium and magnesium which is left behind when hard water evaporates. “Hard water” is produced when water travels through chalky limestone lands and picks up lime along the way. Geologically, there is a lot of limestone in the south of the UK, especially around the North and South Downs. But, as water is transported all over the country, it can travel to places that historically do not have hard water, so it’s important to be able to identify limescale in your home and treat it before it becomes a problem.

Around 60% of the UK is classed as having hard or very hard water, with many areas exhibiting over 200mg of calcium carbonate per litre from a “soft water” baseline of 60mg per litre. If you check out our map of the UK above, you can see if the area you live in has hard water.

There are two primary ways limescale forms:

1. EVAPORATION: Water evaporates leaving the scale-forming minerals behind on surfaces, these then bond to the surfaces and stay there, leaving behind hard white deposits. This is often found on taps, plugholes, showerheads and glass.

2. HEAT: When water is heated, the minerals within the water will rapidly begin to form scale (hard white pieces which float around), which is why limescale commonly builds up quickly in hot appliances like kettles and irons.

The most obvious signs of limescale are:

• What limescale looks like on taps: hard white deposits around your taps, plugholes and sinks.
• What limescale looks like on showers: Your shower pressure might be down, and there will be build-up around the nozzles on the showerhead. The shower glass may also become cloudy.
• What limescale looks like in a kettle: you might get bits of limescale in your tea and see them floating in the kettle, particularly around the heating mechanism which may cause it to stop working as efficiently.
• What limescale looks like in an iron: it might be struggling to heat up and leave white flakes on your clothes.
• What limescale looks like in a coffee machine: Your steam nozzle may become clogged and the machine may stop working properly
• What limescale looks like in a washing machine: clothes coming out of the washing machine smell bad, and the actual drum may also begin to smell.
• What limescale looks like in a toilet: faecal particles stick to limescale in the toilet bowl, causing the limescale to look like a brown stain underneath the waterline.

If you’re looking to remove limescale on vertical surfaces or in your bathroom, use our Limescale Remover. In your toilet, use our Toilet & Limescale Cleaner. However, if you’re looking to descale any appliances, use our Multi-Purpose Descaler.

Limescale is not dangerous to ingest if you’re only just beginning to notice it in your cup of tea. But, over time limescale build-up can become a breeding ground for bacteria, and has been associated with legionaries disease. It can also ruin your treasured appliances. The heating elements in these systems quickly accumulate limescale, leading to hotspots and eventual failure as the limescale corrodes the heating mechanism. Besides causing damage, limescale diminishes efficiency over time, resulting in increased energy consumption. So, it’s important to tackle a limescale problem as soon as you notice it.

We’re about to get a bit GCSE science-y, but if you’re interested it’s quite cool to know. Basically, solid limescale has a high pH, it’s alkaline – you need to lower the pH to neutralise the limescale using an acid. The acid level brings the overall pH of the
limescale down and when limescale is at a lower pH it’s more soluble (it becomes liquid again). So, the acid in the Limescale Remover dissolves the limescale, making the limescale liquid again and so it can wash down the drain. Our Limescale Remover has a pH of 2. Pretty cool, eh?

As limescale can seep into porous surfaces such as natural stone, granite, and marble, it poses a risk of causing damage or staining if not cleaned. However, due to the sensitivity of these surfaces, we advise against using our Limescale Remover, which contains plant-based acid that may result in permanent discolouration. Instead, we recommend opting for a milder solution using our Washing up Liquid mixed with water to safely remove limescale without causing harm to the surface material. Additionally, it's a good idea to test this solution on a hidden area beforehand.