Limescale, also known as calcium carbonate, is a common mineral deposit that forms on surfaces where hard water evaporates. 

You may experience limescale challenges in your toilet if you have a hard water supply at your home.

When water with high mineral content evaporates, it leaves behind mineral deposits that accumulate over time in specific areas of your fixture such as the toilet seat and bowl. 

In toilets, limescale appears as a chalky brown, yellow and often grey residue that adheres stubbornly to the surface of the bowl making it hard to clean.

Frustrated with the state of their toilet, one Mrs Hinch Tips and Tricks Facebook group member anonymously took to the page to ask for advice. They said: “My toilet gets brown stains so easily.

“It’s spotless now and in a couple of weeks it will be disgusting again and full of limescale, with yellow-brown stains. How can I prevent it?”

Fellow group members were quick to jump in the comments section to give their suggestions – most of which recommended using Harpic Power Plus toilet cleaner.

Sarah Hill claimed: “Harpic melts off the limescale. I use I every week to make sure it doesn’t come back. My toilet’s always shiny now.”

Elly Barrett said: “Remove the limescale with Harpic in the black bottle. You just need to leave it in there for a few minutes before flushing.

“If you use bleach, it will just bleach the colour out, but it doesn’t remove the limescale, so the colour will come back after just a couple of days.”

If households want a natural alternative, many recommend using citric acid. Sandy Herring wrote: “I always use citric acid and my loos are sparkling and have been for years.”

Jan Young said: “Citric acid spread around the rim with a gloved hand then sprinkled in the bowl overnight just flush as normal in the morning.”

Janet Barret urged: “Bleach can be the reason why you are getting permanent stains. I wash my toilet with citric acid or a mixture of citric acid, water and washing liquid. 

“I used to have the same problem, but since I started to use critic acid it got better eventually.”