Toilet ring

What It Means

A toilet ring is the stained band that forms inside the bowl where the water sits. When it comes from hard water, it's a mineral deposit, and Clorox notes that bleachChlorine bleachHousehold bleach made with sodium hypochlorite that whitens, removes stains and disinfects, but can fade colors and damage some fibers. See more won't remove hard water stainsHard water stainsWhite, chalky marks left on glass, faucets, tile and toilets when hard water dries and leaves its calcium and magnesium behind. See more; they need an acidic cleaner with a pH below 7, such as a toilet bowl cleaner made for lime and rust.

How It Sounds at Home

• "There's a ring in the upstairs toilet again."
• "Bleach isn't touching that line."
• "Get the lime cleaner, not the bleach."

The Breakdown

How to remove a hard water ring (Clorox's directions)

1. Flush the toilet.
2. If there's an in-tank cleaner, take it out and flush again before using another product, as the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) advises.
3. Apply an acidic toilet bowl cleaner made for lime and rust under and around the rim so it coats the bowl.
4. Scrub the ring with the toilet brush. The ACI suggests a long-handled brush that reaches the rim holes and as far into the trap as it can.
5. Let it stand. Clorox's lime and rust cleaner gives 5 minutes; follow your own product's label.
6. Flush.

Keep it from coming back. Lysol's routine cleans the toilet bowl once a week with a toilet cleaner and brush.

Try it today. Check what's under your bathroom sink. If the bowl cleaner there is bleach-based, it won't lift a hard water ring, and it must never be used together with an acidic lime cleaner.

Good to Know

Never use two toilet bowl cleaners together. A CDC report describes people poisoned by chlorine gas after mixing bleach with an acid toilet bowl cleaner, and the ACI says to remove an in-tank cleaner and flush before using a different kind. If fumes do form, get to fresh air, open windows, and call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222; call 911 if anyone has trouble breathing.

Related Terms and Categories

• Hard water stains

  White, chalky marks left on glass, faucets, tile and toilets when hard water dries and leaves its calcium and magnesium behind.

• Bathroom deep clean

  A top-to-bottom bathroom cleaning that reaches grout, tub, toilet, floor and fixtures. The ACI's routine puts it every two weeks.

• Mixing cleaning products

  Combining two or more cleaners in one bottle, bucket or bowl. Some pairs, such as bleach with ammonia or with an acid, give off toxic gas.

• Water softener

  A home system that removes the calcium and magnesium that make water hard, usually by trading them for sodium in a tank of resin beads.

Chores, cleaning and home care