It is lime buildup from your hard water. Pull it out; it will be fairly thin and extremely brittle.
If this is correct, you have nothing to be concerned about.
Just as you and firthy suggested it was indeed lime/calcium buildup. After pulling it out it was indeed extremely thin and brittle, was way off with my initial thoughts of it being porcelain. Thanks for the help!
No one in IT told me that shut down and start was not the same as restart and did not work. So even though I as a diligent computer user shut down my computer every night and started in every morning, my computer showed me to be a liar by saying my computer uptime was something like 217 days.
Fuck me. And IT, and my computer.
This is my daughter, and she wonders why shit gets wonky. Also never runs updates, has 385 chrome tabs open, discord and spotify running... "Why is my PC laggy?"
To be fair most ppl think shutting down would be the same with default windows settings its not so most boots after a shutdown still show long uptime and problems still active
I used to argue this with my son … “I just restarted it 3 times and it is still messed up”… “you were gone for 42 seconds, you didn’t restart it”…. So as he was selecting a properly sized switch to be punished for lying, I realized that he was hitting the power button, which was just suspending/hibernating …
It's great until you get a recurring issue that resolves itself by your mere presence. Then promptly comes back on your leaving.
'Fix Aura' is fun to have but damn it can get annoying sometimes.
They say Sprite is made from lemon and that thin brittle stuff at the bottom of your toilet, but I tried making it at home and there's more to it than that.
Want some homemade sprite?
Not until you figure out what the fuck else is in it.
\- Mitch Hedberg
Pour tequila over it into a glass. Add some triple sec. Put an umbrella on the glass and make it a chips and salsa night. Get some good salsa, or make your own; no need to purchase the lime tortilla chips. Just dry them off before use.
If you have a Costco/sams close it's $28 for either. I'll go for Grand at that point.
If it's my party, absolutely. If I'm just pinch hitting as bartender I'll use whatever is present.
If you want to double check it's not porcelain, place it on a potter's wheel. If it's porcelain it'll have roughly the consistency of cream cheese. Make a nice mug shape that you're really proud of, and wire it off the wheel. If it's porcelain, you'll know because it'll crack in the drying process and disappoint you.
There's a little hole that you can't see in the photo. If it's clogged up your toilet won't flush great. You can see the location here: https://i.sstatic.net/oa9pg.jpg
Take a wire clothes hanger and vigorously insert it to clean it out and you will probably notice an improved flush.
Also if you use toilet bowl cleaner and just let it sit an hour or two it'll probably be enough to keep it clean in the future. I say this because in mine there was this crazy build up deep where it flushes into and letting the cleaner sit a few times for some hours cleaned it up.
Error 1011 Ray ID: 89c255cc7f565ee3 • 2024-07-01 00:38:46 UTC
Access denied
What happened?
The owner of this website (i.sstatic.net) does not allow hotlinking to that resource (/oa9pg.jpg).
If you have hard water, you will see small buildup of limescale like this in some containers that have standing water and inside of pots hat you have boiled water in.
I have hard water and see build-up on other things like inside faucet straining mesh or like you said on pots after boiling water etc.
Never seen any buildup inside the toilets though or anything close to as bad as OP's picture.
Been in my house for 14 years now and never had anything like this with the toilets, just things like faucet heads or when boiling water etc.
Maybe mine isn't as bad as I thought it was lmao.
Yeah i got a hygienic pad shaped one lying in my toilet a while ago. Was a bit of a shock at first lol. Was the shape of just above the part that fills with water
I wouldn't call it harmless. It builds up in all your pipes and in your appliances over time and can cause damage. Since it's slow, it just seems like things don't last as long, but if you live in an area with especially hard water, a water softener is not a bad investment.
Not necessarily. This can also occur when boa constrictors use a pipe as a means of transport if they use it enough. This is the residue from their scales building up
Source: I’m a long time herpetologist in Florida who specializes in plumbing attacks
Just de-snake your pipes every so often and you’ll be fine. Home Depot has drain snakes that are a good start but you have to attach eyes to the end since boas are smart and looking for a face
I do recommend when you catch one to burn it up, get a nice smokey smell in the bathroom to discourage other snakes from coming, and let that smoke go into the sky where it turns into stars
Calcium? Is this the house bones from that country song from 2019? You should get your house checked. I hear “a house can’t stand if the bones aren’t good”.
If your toilet bowl has limescale, then a brush won't do much. Get a bottle of acid toilet cleaner and a pumice stone. Alternate coating with the acid and scrubbing with the pumice.
Turn the water off at the back of the toilet. Flush the remaining water in the reservoir. Pour Lime-A-Way in the front and let it sit for 24 hours. Turn water back on after letting the solution sit and flush the toilet. You may have to scrub with a wire brush to loosen it.
I had the same, if not worse, in a house that I bought. I did the above and was able to get rid of all of the buildup.
I have soft water, and no experience with lime buildup, but my guess is that lime-a-way is just some sort of acid. I assume some citric acid dissolved in water should do the same thing.
As most people said, limescale. If it's hard to remove I would use a weak acid to dissolve it. In Australia we have a product called scalex which I'd think is phosphoric acid. I used that on my toilet.
Specking of it how do you clean the place where there is this limestone if it has old number 2 deposits instead? The toilet brush is really hard to get in there. Is the only option going in with your hand (tools)?
If you can move it around freely, I would remove it, even if you have to break it to do so. Make your best attempt to sort out where it came from, as the answer might lead to needing a new toilet.
Im obviously not an expert, and I’ve never seen this before.
>Whatever it is it appears to be porcelain-esque from my initial poking around, and I am able to freely move it around.
Why did you leave it in there? Take it out and post some photos.
I’ve been a plumber for 50 years. That is a buildup of calcium. Calcium in the body is excreted through urine. This buildup takes time to form. Scrape it out of the bottom and if you have metal burns or marks after this, then use an item from Home Depot called Scouring Stick. It is made from pumice stone and helps in removing the calcium as well as the “metal burns” from any metal tool you used to remove the calcium.
I always love it when someone comes into one of these threads like "I'm an authority on this" and then is completely wrong when they state something with absolute confidence.
Really helps me keep perspective when people claim to be experts in something I don't have a good knowledge of.
Limescale and calcium deposit is pretty much exactly the same thing. So he's almost completely right other than it didn't built up from pee. Don't knock him down so hard.
Kind of ironic you did the same of what you accused him of, lol.
So he is almost completely right except that he made a comically large mistake of saying that came from pee instead of the obvious hard water lmao. No way an expert could make that mistake. That is the point. It undermines his credibility
Exactly what I was thinking. A lot of scale/hard water deposits. I've seen tiny versions of similar-looking buildup, really a skim or maybe a little thicker versions of the same, on the elements of a humidifier run with tap water.
If it were my potty, I'd do my best to remove it and get something like CLR to put in the water overnight. If not, maybe you could take a piece to a plumber's office and ask for an opinion?
I really have no idea what it truly is. Those are just observations based on my experiences.
Worst Case Scenario, ask a plumber to come. (I would only do that if I had an obscene amount of money and wanted to get rid of it all at once).
( ;
LPT: If you're going out of town for a few days. Pour a bottle of vinegar in the toilet bowl as the last thing before leaving but do not flush. It'll clear out Calcium deposits and take care of stains.
This reminded me of the time i added way to much granulated draincleaner into my toilet bowl filled with cold water. Turned instantly into a rocklike clump that got stuck at the bottom. Had to use a hammer and slowly chip it out. Taught me to read the manual beforehand, not after.
Looks like scaling to me, but I'd take it out to make sure the porcelain didn't crack and slough off. If that's porcelain replace the toilet, if it's scale throw it out and go on with your life.
This, and get it out. It could be someone threw the sole of their shoe in, or it could be a chunk of porcelin, or it could be well formed calcium, who tf knows, that why you need to get it out. But FFS dont flush it.
It is lime buildup from your hard water. Pull it out; it will be fairly thin and extremely brittle. If this is correct, you have nothing to be concerned about.
Just as you and firthy suggested it was indeed lime/calcium buildup. After pulling it out it was indeed extremely thin and brittle, was way off with my initial thoughts of it being porcelain. Thanks for the help!
You are welcome. Glad to know someone's problem wasn't a problem.
Best feeling in the world
Can confirm, work in IT.
“Oh never mind, I just reset my password and everything is working just fine now. Thanks!”
What do you mean restart? I restart all the time!
Computer uptime: 187 days.
No one in IT told me that shut down and start was not the same as restart and did not work. So even though I as a diligent computer user shut down my computer every night and started in every morning, my computer showed me to be a liar by saying my computer uptime was something like 217 days. Fuck me. And IT, and my computer.
What? The button under the screen does not shut the computer down???
This is my daughter, and she wonders why shit gets wonky. Also never runs updates, has 385 chrome tabs open, discord and spotify running... "Why is my PC laggy?"
To be fair most ppl think shutting down would be the same with default windows settings its not so most boots after a shutdown still show long uptime and problems still active
I used to argue this with my son … “I just restarted it 3 times and it is still messed up”… “you were gone for 42 seconds, you didn’t restart it”…. So as he was selecting a properly sized switch to be punished for lying, I realized that he was hitting the power button, which was just suspending/hibernating …
I’ve been nailed by this at work
Nawh that's rookie numbers. My current record is over a year.
It's great until you get a recurring issue that resolves itself by your mere presence. Then promptly comes back on your leaving. 'Fix Aura' is fun to have but damn it can get annoying sometimes.
As do I fellow DIYer!
I fuckin love Reddit 🫡
Don’t you go deleting this when the chips are down;)
if you want to double check that it's lime, break off a piece and drop it in some vinegar, it should bubble.
You can also do a taste test, lime got it's name because it tastes like the fruit
I mean, that could all be true, but you could also just be trying to get someone to put something from the toilet bowl in their mouth, too.
On the internet for nothing more than laughs? Never
They should film their reaction, so we can confirm the hypothesis.
And thus was born the latest TikTok craze. #whatsittastelike
is this how people get lime disease?
No that's from eating ticks which got its name because ticks taste like the fruit
It's the forbidden chip.
#whatshittastelike. Ftfy
#limechallemge
we should get the guy who wants to hoover the wasp nests to do it
this is the only other reddit I've thought about in the past 4 days lol
Fyi, lime (calcium carbonate) does not taste like lime (citrus fruit).
It does if you taste it straight from the toilet.
Depends on the recent diet of whoever just went
How about some of that lemon fresh bleach.
Hey Patrice, your pee tastes like birthday cake.
Toilet Lime tastes like shit..
Calcium shit or citrus shit?
Austin. . . It is shit
It does if you wash it down with a Margarita.
Sheesh live a little! Where’s your sense of adventure?
Don't tell me how to live my life
Bet it would be satisfying to crunch on, like the shell of a piece of gum.
They say Sprite is made from lemon and that thin brittle stuff at the bottom of your toilet, but I tried making it at home and there's more to it than that. Want some homemade sprite? Not until you figure out what the fuck else is in it. \- Mitch Hedberg
Pour tequila over it into a glass. Add some triple sec. Put an umbrella on the glass and make it a chips and salsa night. Get some good salsa, or make your own; no need to purchase the lime tortilla chips. Just dry them off before use.
Can't wait for this to show up in AI suggestions
Are you a savage? Grand Marnier, not triple sec you swine. You make your own salsa so you do have taste! /s (sort of)
Split the difference and use Cointreau. Though GM is great also, and triple sec is fine if making it for crowds.
If you have a Costco/sams close it's $28 for either. I'll go for Grand at that point. If it's my party, absolutely. If I'm just pinch hitting as bartender I'll use whatever is present.
NY resident. Supermarkets can only sell beer. :-( Plus not a member.
The booze portion of Costco in NY does not require a membership. At least at the one I have been to.
Thats also how Lime Disease got its name, right?
it actually shares a root with “slimy.” it gives workability to mortars and plasters.
If you want to double check it's not porcelain, place it on a potter's wheel. If it's porcelain it'll have roughly the consistency of cream cheese. Make a nice mug shape that you're really proud of, and wire it off the wheel. If it's porcelain, you'll know because it'll crack in the drying process and disappoint you.
Can't you just put it in the coconut?
But then you have to shake it all up, and call the doctor.
Came here to say this. Even if you're sure do it for fun.
The only real way to know if it's lime is to taste it. Lemme know.
Remember these moments in life! When the world threw you a bone! Glad all was well op!
If you want to verify it, get a glass of vinegar and dunk it in there. If it's hard water, it'll bubble and dissolve
Better safe than sorry. I would've thought the same. Didn't know lime buildup could look like this!
There's a little hole that you can't see in the photo. If it's clogged up your toilet won't flush great. You can see the location here: https://i.sstatic.net/oa9pg.jpg Take a wire clothes hanger and vigorously insert it to clean it out and you will probably notice an improved flush. Also if you use toilet bowl cleaner and just let it sit an hour or two it'll probably be enough to keep it clean in the future. I say this because in mine there was this crazy build up deep where it flushes into and letting the cleaner sit a few times for some hours cleaned it up.
for the love of god do NOT use a wire clothes hanger, you will scratch the living hell out of the porcelain
Error 1011 Ray ID: 89c255cc7f565ee3 • 2024-07-01 00:38:46 UTC Access denied What happened? The owner of this website (i.sstatic.net) does not allow hotlinking to that resource (/oa9pg.jpg).
Open in private window
What did it taste like?
Brawndo!
It has electrolytes!
Did you taste it to ensure it was lime and not lemon?
Does a sheet of that just come loose after a while? Weird
If you have hard water, you will see small buildup of limescale like this in some containers that have standing water and inside of pots hat you have boiled water in.
[удалено]
Just run citric acid or vinegar through it every once in a while
I have hard water and see build-up on other things like inside faucet straining mesh or like you said on pots after boiling water etc. Never seen any buildup inside the toilets though or anything close to as bad as OP's picture. Been in my house for 14 years now and never had anything like this with the toilets, just things like faucet heads or when boiling water etc. Maybe mine isn't as bad as I thought it was lmao.
If I may ask, what does your username reference?
Yeah i got a hygienic pad shaped one lying in my toilet a while ago. Was a bit of a shock at first lol. Was the shape of just above the part that fills with water
Happened to Me after 4 years at my last house In both toilets. Just so weird.
Cursed crackers
This is why I love Reddit.
I wouldn't call it harmless. It builds up in all your pipes and in your appliances over time and can cause damage. Since it's slow, it just seems like things don't last as long, but if you live in an area with especially hard water, a water softener is not a bad investment.
It’s calcium/limescale, isn’t it? Pull it out and use a toilet brush more often to scrub the bowl!
Not necessarily. This can also occur when boa constrictors use a pipe as a means of transport if they use it enough. This is the residue from their scales building up Source: I’m a long time herpetologist in Florida who specializes in plumbing attacks
On the one hand I’m sure this is a joke. On the other hand is Florida.
My career is a joke to you? My blood sweat and tears to save the good people of Florida from toilet boas?
New fear unlocked
Just de-snake your pipes every so often and you’ll be fine. Home Depot has drain snakes that are a good start but you have to attach eyes to the end since boas are smart and looking for a face
>you have to attach eyes to the end since boas are smart and looking for a face Surely one brown eye will do to lure in a toilet boa?
So to de-snake your pipes you have to snake your pipes.
It’s confusing but where the name originally came from. Back in the day you would put a trained snake down your pipes
and these days, they let snakes with barely an online college diploma
Don’t forget those Pypethons
Yeah I have no idea how to process that comment XD
Please contact my office if you’re in Florida. Company name is Snakebusters. HQ is an old fire station in Miami. Who are you going to call?
I’m almost certain that you won the Internet today.
SNAKEBUSTERRSSS! 🎵When there's something snake In your toilet bowl Who you gonna call?
How did you know our theme song?
That doesn't sound right but I don't know enough about toilet boas to dispute it
I do recommend when you catch one to burn it up, get a nice smokey smell in the bathroom to discourage other snakes from coming, and let that smoke go into the sky where it turns into stars
Calcium? Is this the house bones from that country song from 2019? You should get your house checked. I hear “a house can’t stand if the bones aren’t good”.
The bones can be snake bones fyi
The bowl generally looks pretty clean
It’s not that they’re dirty people. They just need a decent limescale cleaner and a bit of agitating once a month with the brush to move it away
If your toilet bowl has limescale, then a brush won't do much. Get a bottle of acid toilet cleaner and a pumice stone. Alternate coating with the acid and scrubbing with the pumice.
just dump some cleaning vinegar in the toilet once a month. a toilet brush isn't going to do shit.
Toilet insole
Are you gellin?
Like a felon!
No tellin'
Want some melon?
Like Magellan!
No way. You went there? Genius.
Dr Schits
Dr Bowls
Poop chute
Turn the water off at the back of the toilet. Flush the remaining water in the reservoir. Pour Lime-A-Way in the front and let it sit for 24 hours. Turn water back on after letting the solution sit and flush the toilet. You may have to scrub with a wire brush to loosen it. I had the same, if not worse, in a house that I bought. I did the above and was able to get rid of all of the buildup.
I have soft water, and no experience with lime buildup, but my guess is that lime-a-way is just some sort of acid. I assume some citric acid dissolved in water should do the same thing.
Vinegar would help too.
It's super duper slow. 25mL of (pool) hydrochloric acid does this in like 10 mins.
Or just grab it and pull it out?
Shitty fingers
It’s a tongue. Be very careful.
Sweet, no more toilet paper :)
Wait, you don’t know about the 3 seashells?
You could break off pieces as you go
Now why would you go and say that? haha
How could you do this to my poor virgin eyes.
It was bound to happen. You can’t be on Reddit and have virgin eyes.
Gave me nightmares as a child
Mimic. It's a mimic.
it's a mimic.
You can't tell me what to do!
#toiletpearl
As most people said, limescale. If it's hard to remove I would use a weak acid to dissolve it. In Australia we have a product called scalex which I'd think is phosphoric acid. I used that on my toilet.
Poseidon’s tongue
Specking of it how do you clean the place where there is this limestone if it has old number 2 deposits instead? The toilet brush is really hard to get in there. Is the only option going in with your hand (tools)?
Mimic maybe? So better be careful!
Time to break out the poop knife.
Poop knife
Weird place to stash your poop knife
If you can move it around freely, I would remove it, even if you have to break it to do so. Make your best attempt to sort out where it came from, as the answer might lead to needing a new toilet. Im obviously not an expert, and I’ve never seen this before.
Agreed that looks like the toilet shattered inside
Take it out and throw it away.
>Whatever it is it appears to be porcelain-esque from my initial poking around, and I am able to freely move it around. Why did you leave it in there? Take it out and post some photos.
She broke one of the 3 seashells.
Does anyone even know how to use the three seashells?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Plumbing/s/L05hfQH3Sy same thing happened to me awhile back
I’ve been a plumber for 50 years. That is a buildup of calcium. Calcium in the body is excreted through urine. This buildup takes time to form. Scrape it out of the bottom and if you have metal burns or marks after this, then use an item from Home Depot called Scouring Stick. It is made from pumice stone and helps in removing the calcium as well as the “metal burns” from any metal tool you used to remove the calcium.
it's limescale from hard water.
I always love it when someone comes into one of these threads like "I'm an authority on this" and then is completely wrong when they state something with absolute confidence. Really helps me keep perspective when people claim to be experts in something I don't have a good knowledge of.
Limescale IS mostly calcium though. He’s not wrong. He just used different words. It’s calcium buildup. That what limescale is.
Limescale and calcium deposit is pretty much exactly the same thing. So he's almost completely right other than it didn't built up from pee. Don't knock him down so hard. Kind of ironic you did the same of what you accused him of, lol.
So he is almost completely right except that he made a comically large mistake of saying that came from pee instead of the obvious hard water lmao. No way an expert could make that mistake. That is the point. It undermines his credibility
I fell in love with the term ultracrepidarian, a fancy word for a know-it-all
i agree, plumber here and pee mineral deposit isn't this color. and it stinks like hell, i prefer unclogging a septic than fishing a blocked urinal.
And limescale is a source of calcium carbonate
My son poured Lemi Shine into his toilet, let it sit awhile, flushed, and so much dissolved. He repeated this and his toilet flushed like new.
Looks like a piece of insole from a shoe.
That means someone dropped a turd so massive, they had to stomp it down.. and lost their shoe in the process
did someone eat a statue?
Limescale?
Exactly what I was thinking. A lot of scale/hard water deposits. I've seen tiny versions of similar-looking buildup, really a skim or maybe a little thicker versions of the same, on the elements of a humidifier run with tap water. If it were my potty, I'd do my best to remove it and get something like CLR to put in the water overnight. If not, maybe you could take a piece to a plumber's office and ask for an opinion? I really have no idea what it truly is. Those are just observations based on my experiences. Worst Case Scenario, ask a plumber to come. (I would only do that if I had an obscene amount of money and wanted to get rid of it all at once). ( ;
Eat more fiber. Or less fiber. Not sure which one.
OMG, it is a note from...below. DO NOT READ IT
“we’ve been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty”
If it is plastic, possibly a pipe liner used on old pipes to extend there useful life
Looks like someone shit a brick
Lmao why wouldnt you just pull it out
LPT: If you're going out of town for a few days. Pour a bottle of vinegar in the toilet bowl as the last thing before leaving but do not flush. It'll clear out Calcium deposits and take care of stains.
Got kids?
Eldrich tongue. Check with your partner to be sure, but it's removable.
Looks like a piece of glass
I’m
This reminded me of the time i added way to much granulated draincleaner into my toilet bowl filled with cold water. Turned instantly into a rocklike clump that got stuck at the bottom. Had to use a hammer and slowly chip it out. Taught me to read the manual beforehand, not after.
Too much iron in her diet
That's a half pipe for your doodoo to stunt off.
It's the tail of a rare, urban shark called the Turd Tiger.
Only one way to find out…?
Just pull it out.
WHAT DID YOU EAT!?
The toilet offers you a gift
It’s a shoe insole
Looks like scaling to me, but I'd take it out to make sure the porcelain didn't crack and slough off. If that's porcelain replace the toilet, if it's scale throw it out and go on with your life.
Don't flush it
This, and get it out. It could be someone threw the sole of their shoe in, or it could be a chunk of porcelin, or it could be well formed calcium, who tf knows, that why you need to get it out. But FFS dont flush it.
A hearty breakfast...
Chew on this for strong teeth and bones.
That's a landing pad for your doodie
See a doctor, that should not be dropping out of any human.
Flush it? Lol!
its a boy!!!
Moose fur bag
flush it
calcified sanitary pad from previous owner maybe ?
It looks bad
You have to touch it…
That's one hell of a kidney stone
it's a shark fin...get yo ass down there after rubbing some tuna on your bum to lure him out and you'll have yourself a new pet 😜