Get Rid Of Limescale Using Various Acids

By Author: Salvatore Andrea
Total Articles: 6261
Comment this article

Whenever you heat hard water which is nothing but high in calcium and magnesium salt content, at a temperature of more than 61°C or it is evaporated from taps, shower-heads and other such surfaces, Limescale is formed. The salts like calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate precipitate at the bottom of the vessel on heating which forms that scale. To remove this scale what you require is something capable of softening the salts. The best items in doing so are acids. Before you proceed with them, you need to remember two important points such as some of these acids are quire hazardous and should only be used with professional help and secondly, some acids will make the water fittings discolored.

The most easily accessed acid is acetic acid whose dilute form is better known as vinegar. Mixing half proportions of white vinegar to hard water will help you to eliminate lime scale. After the mixture is heated and left untouched for the entire night, you can easily rinse out the scale the next morning. The next acid I line is the citric acid is found in almost every fruit, ...
... but its highest concentration is found in lemons. It is more concentrated than vinegar and also leaves a good odor after use. For cleaning the washing machine or dishwashers, you can use lemon juice instead of your conventional detergents. While using it in the washing machines, you can add the juice in the dispenser tube of soap powder. In case of dishwashers, simply add them at the base of the appliance.

Ants and bees have a kind of acid called formic acid which can be bought from stores as Kilrock K or its diluted variety called Techno Swan. Used mostly in various cosmetics, glycolic acid is used to clean limescale for commercial purposes. Hydrochloric acid in higher concentrations will burn our skin. Thus its commercial version like Harpic can be used to remove this scale. Phosphoric acid acts both the remover of this scale and rust.