Short answer: limescale is a mineral, so you dissolve it with a mild acid. But on a few surfaces you must not do that, and that is where it usually goes wrong.
Short answer
Limescale comes off with a mild acid and patience, not with scrubbing.
Limescale is the mineral your tap water leaves behind. A mild acid such as white vinegar or citric acid loosens it, as long as you give it time to work. Scrubbing does not help and it damages your glass and chrome. And on natural stone you must not use acid at all.
What is limescale, exactly?
It is lime that stays behind when water dries. The harder your tap water, the faster you see it.
Tap water contains dissolved minerals, mainly calcium and magnesium. As long as the water is there, you see nothing of them. Once the water evaporates, those minerals stay behind as a white, dull layer.
That is why you always see it in the same places: the shower screen, the taps, the rim of your basin and the inside of your kettle. Exactly where water sits and dries.
Why you get more of it than your sister in Amsterdam
Whether you need a descaler depends mostly on your postcode.
How hard your water is varies enormously from region to region in the Netherlands. Across large parts of Limburg, North Brabant and the east the water is hard: there you get a white film on your tap within a week. In Amsterdam and parts of North Holland it is soft.
That changes your whole routine. If you live in a soft water area and still see a dull layer, it is probably not limescale but soap or grease residue. An acid does not work well on that, but soda crystals do. So check what you are dealing with before you reach for the wrong product. The difference is set out in soda crystals, bicarbonate of soda and baking soda.
What works against limescale?
A mild acid, and enough time for it to work. Do not scrub harder, just leave it on longer.
White vinegar and citric acid both work. The acid reacts with the limescale and loosens it. The mistake most people make is rushing it: apply, scrub straight away, and then conclude that it does not work.
Give it 10 to 20 minutes. With a thick layer, repeat it a second time rather than reaching for a scouring pad. Scouring pads leave micro-scratches in glass and chrome, and limescale then clings to those scratches even faster.
On a vertical surface, put the acid on a cloth and hold that against the wall. A product that runs straight down never stays anywhere long enough to do its job. That is why a spray on a shower screen is often a let-down.
The home remedies put to the test
Five things everyone recommends. Two of them really do something, and one is a waste of your time.
| Product | What it does to limescale | What to watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| White vinegar | Works. Acidic enough to loosen limescale, and you usually have it in the house already | Not on natural stone, not on coated or gold-plated taps, and rinse well afterwards |
| Citric acid | Works. You can mix it stronger than vinegar and it does not smell as sharp | Dissolve it in warm water, and the same exceptions apply as with vinegar |
| Lemon juice | Works on a small spot of limescale, too weak for a real layer | Sugars stay behind, so always rinse afterwards |
| Soda crystals or baking soda | Does nothing to limescale. Chemically they are far too alike | Good against grease and soap residue, so for a different problem |
| Cola | It does contain an acid, but far too little of it, and with sugar on top | You are left with a sticky layer. Do not do it |
If there is a soapy layer on top of the limescale, tackle the two one after the other and never at the same time. First the grease with soapy water or soda crystals, then the limescale with an acid. Mix them and they cancel each other out.
Two things you really must not do
No acid on natural stone. Marble, limestone and travertine are attacked by vinegar and citric acid. You end up with dull patches that never come out again. Use only water and a soft cloth there.
Never mix acid with chlorine or bleach. That releases chlorine gas, which is dangerous in a small space such as a bathroom. Use one product at a time and rinse well afterwards.
Removing limescale surface by surface
| Where | What works | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| Shower screen and glass | White vinegar or citric acid, leave it to work for 10 to 20 minutes, then wipe off and rinse | Do not scrub, that leaves scratches for limescale to cling to |
| Taps and chrome | Wrap a cloth soaked in white vinegar around them and leave it to work | Not on coated or gold-plated taps |
| Shower head | Hang it in a bag of white vinegar or citric acid and leave it for an hour | Then flush it through on the hottest setting |
| Basin and bath | Mild acid on a cloth, laid on the ring of limescale | On acrylic, work quickly and rinse well |
| Toilet bowl | Push the water level down first, then acid around the rim, 20 minutes | Never together with bleach or toilet gel |
| Tiles and grout | Mild acid, then rinse well | Grout can be damaged if you do this too often |
| Tiled floor | Mop with warm water and a splash of vinegar, then rinse | Not on natural stone, marble or unglazed tiles |
| Natural stone | Only water and a soft cloth | Acid damages the stone permanently |
| Kettle | Water with citric acid, bring to the boil, leave to stand, rinse out | Then boil two kettles of fresh water and pour them away |
| Glasses and crockery | Submerge in water with citric acid, then rinse off and dry | If it stays dull it is etching, and that never comes off |
How to descale a shower head without taking it off
A sandwich bag and a rubber band. That is all you need.
Limescale in a shower head sits in the holes, and you cannot reach that with a cloth. Fill a plastic bag with white vinegar, or with citric acid in warm water, hang it around the head so the holes are submerged, and hold it in place with a rubber band.
Leave it for an hour, or overnight for a head that has not been done in years. Take the bag off and flush it through properly on the hottest setting.
If some holes still will not open up, rub your thumb over them. Many shower heads have rubber nozzles, and those let go of limescale when you move them. Scraping with something hard damages the nozzle.
Descaling a kettle: citric acid or vinegar?
Both work. Citric acid simply smells a lot friendlier in something you drink your tea out of.
- Fill the kettle to just above the layer of limescale. Half full is usually enough, because the layer sits at the bottom.
- Add a tablespoon of citric acid, or a good splash of white vinegar. With a thick layer you can use more.
- Bring it to the boil and then switch it off. Leave it for half an hour. You will see the layer come loose and float.
- Pour it out and rinse it round. Wipe away whatever is left with a cloth. Do not scour, certainly not on a heating element.
- Boil two kettles of fresh water and pour them away. That way no taste is left in your first cup of tea.
Soda crystals, baking soda and cola come up a lot here, but none of them do anything to limescale. Soda crystals are chemically too much like limescale to bite into it.
And now the part nobody tells you
Removing limescale is work. Preventing limescale costs you 30 seconds a day.
Once your bathroom is clean again, you never have to descale if you take the water away before it dries. No water means no limescale. That is not a trick, that is simply how it works.
One thorough clean, and after that never another Saturday morning with a bottle of limescale remover in your hand.
How to keep it limescale-free
-
1
Clean thoroughly first
Take off the build-up you have now with a mild acid, and give it enough time to work. This is the only time you have to do this.
-
2
Wipe down after your shower
With a drying towel that you use dry. The iZi-Dry Towel M takes up to 800 ml, enough for an average shower enclosure in one go.
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3
Hang a small cloth within reach
The iZi-Dry Towel S takes up to 400 ml and is handy for the tap and the basin. What hangs within reach is what you actually use.
-
4
Dry the tap after brushing your teeth
Two quick wipes, and you stay ahead of the spot where most people see a white ring again within a week.
What such a daily round looks like in practice, with the order to do it in, is set out in a streak-free bathroom: my daily routine. Which size suits your bathroom is covered in the article on the best drying towel for the bathroom.
Do you need a water softener?
That depends on how hard your water is and on what you want it to solve.
A water softener takes the calcium and magnesium out of your mains water, so it deals with the cause. In a hard water area that makes a difference across the whole house: the kettle, the washing machine, the tap and the shower screen. In soft water it solves very little, because then your build-up is not coming from the water.
For the bathroom alone it is too big an answer to too small a question. There you get the same result from 30 seconds of drying down a day.
Limescale or mould? Those are not the same problem
White and dull on glass and chrome is limescale, and that is a mineral. Black or grey in the grout and the sealant is mould, and that is something living. An acid helps with the first and does nothing for the second.
If it is in your grout, have a look at cleaning grout in the bathroom. If it is black patches on the wall or the ceiling, the approach is set out in mould in the bathroom.
Straight to the drying towels
Choose the size that suits your bathroom.
- iZi-Dry Towel M, 60 x 40 cm · up to 800 ml, for shower enclosure and tiled wall
- iZi-Dry Towel S, 30 x 40 cm · up to 400 ml, for taps, basin and mirror
- See all cloths
Frequently asked questions
How do you remove limescale on glass?
With white vinegar or citric acid that you leave to work for 10 to 20 minutes, then wipe off and rinse. Do not scrub: that leaves micro-scratches that limescale clings to even better.
Can you use vinegar on natural stone?
No. Marble, limestone and travertine are attacked by acid. You end up with dull patches that never come out again. Use only water and a soft cloth there.
How do you get limescale off a shower screen?
Apply a mild acid, leave it for 10 to 20 minutes and then wipe it off. With a thick layer, repeat it rather than reaching for a scouring pad. After that you keep on top of it by wiping the screen down with a drying towel after your shower.
Can you use vinegar and bleach together?
No, never. Mixing acid with bleach releases chlorine gas, which is dangerous in a small space such as a bathroom. Use one product at a time and rinse well afterwards.
How do you prevent limescale in the bathroom?
By taking the water away before it dries. No water means no limescale. After your shower, wipe the screen and the tap down with a drying towel; that takes about half a minute.
How do you descale a kettle?
Fill it with water and citric acid, bring it to the boil and leave it to stand for half an hour. Then rinse it out and boil two kettles of fresh water that you pour away. White vinegar works too, but it smells sharper.
How do you descale a shower head?
Hang a bag of white vinegar or citric acid around the head so the holes are submerged, hold it in place with a rubber band and leave it for an hour. Then flush it through on the hottest setting. Rubber nozzles let go of that last bit of limescale if you rub your thumb over them.
Does baking soda help against limescale?
No. Soda crystals and baking soda are chemically too much like limescale to bite into it. They work well against grease and soap residue, so for a different problem. For limescale you need something acidic.
How do you get limescale out of the toilet bowl?
Push the water level down with the brush first, otherwise the water dilutes your product. Then pour acid all the way around the inside of the rim, leave it for 20 minutes and brush from top to bottom. Never together with bleach or toilet gel.
Why do my glasses go dull, and does that still come off?
If it is limescale, it comes off with water and citric acid. If it is etching, damage to the glass itself from hot water and too much dishwasher detergent, it will not come off again. The test: if the haze disappears when you wet the glass, it is limescale.
How do I know whether my water is hard?
By how quickly you see it. If a white ring appears on your tap within a week, your water is hard. If you still barely see anything after weeks, it is soft and your build-up is probably coming from soap or grease rather than limescale.
Never descale again
30 seconds after your shower, and limescale does not get a chance. More than 300,000 households already do it this way.
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