The Works - toilet bowl cleaner

[Stephen Tashiro]

A friend recommends the brand of toilet bowl cleaner named "The Works". However, when I read the ingredients, it seems to be hydrochloric acid. Anyone have experience with this product? Does it damage fixtures? - "when used as directed", of course.

[Wayne Lomman]

HCl won't affect the glazed ceramic bowl but it will not do any seals or chrome fittings any favours. Acid cleaners in general are very effective but best used sparingly. They remove scale and destroy organic matter. I personally don't use anything that harsh as the septic system doesn't like it. Cheers

[Curt Harms]

SWMBO really likes it. I've never looked at the ingredients.

[michael langman]

Drain the bowl of the toilet of all the water, and then pour in pure vinegar up to the water line of the bowl. Let it sit for 24 hours and then flush and scrub the bowl clean with a toilet brush. Will look like new again.

[Alan Rutherford]

HCl won't affect the glazed ceramic bowl but it will not do any seals or chrome fittings any favours....

It's not real good for your lungs, either.

I just looked at the Lysol cleaner in our bathroom and found that it's 9.5% HCL. Thanks for bring this up, Stephen.

[Kev Williams]

'the Works' aka muriatic acid aka HCA, depending on where you get it, can be anywhere from 20% to 9% or less concentration. I love the 20% stuff, it's identical to the gallons of muriatic acid you get from Lowes. HD's acid is 14% strength for swimming pools.

I mainly use the stuff to clean my boats! At 10%, HCA will evenually remove all calcium buildup from a 'glass boat hull with nary any scrubbing.

--same for your toilet bowl!

I've never known HCA to harm plumbing, I would think it's much less harmful than the sulfuric acid and lye in drain cleaners. But keep HCA away from stainless (will darken some grades) and most 'hard' aluminum. 50 series aluminum, of which pontoon boats are made, is unaffected by HCA. But I left this boat prop soaking in a 10% solution, and got sidetracked for about 20 minutes, oops-
prop1b.jpg
--the stuff ate thru a good portion of the aluminum-- but no calcium!

It's also used as a concrete & brick cleaner, but like with aluminum, it corrosive, attacks the lime, so concrete septic tanks probably won't like the stuff.

And honestly, I'm not sure what's in other bowl cleaners, but seems any that work are going to have some harsh traits...

[Jim Koepke]

One thing to consider is as soon as you pour it in to the toilet bowl the water will dilute it. Even more dilution takes place when the toilet is flushed. It will still be acidic but the more water is added the more dilute it will be.

As for my situation, we have a septic tank and are very careful about using products not designated as being safe for septic systems.

jtk

[Wayne Lomman]

Just to clarify, when I referred to "won't do rubber seals and chrome any favours" I actually mean that it destroys these things over time (apologies for my Australian tendency to understatement).

Hydrochloric acid is the solution used during the process to strip chrome from steel prior to polishing and re-chroming. It eats chrome even without the application of electric current.

Rubber and similar products are attacked by acid. Rubber gaskets are commonly used to connect the ceramic pan to the floor plumbing. Having worked with acid cleaners for a considerable number of years, the rubber gaskets and connections get replaced often when acid cleaners are used regularly. Effervescent bi-carbonate cleaners are just as effective and a lot easier on everything. Cheers

[Mel Fulks]

Wayne, I thought you were clear. But it's best to not rely on Colloquialisms with an international readership ,or without
spellcheck.

[Wayne Lomman]

Mel, that's not a colloquialism, that's a national characteristic! Australian cricket commentators take the art of understatement to its ultimate level and most of us do it unconsciously. Cheers

[Jason Roehl]

If you think HCl is so bad for toilets, you probably shouldn't puke into one...

[Ole Anderson]

Folks worry too much about being on a septic tank. Been on mine for 43 years without any maintenance other than pumping it every 7-10 years. They hold at least 1000 gallons, so if you put a cup of acid into it, it is immediately diluted by a factor of 32,000. Just don't do stupid things like dumping gallons of bleach, paint or thinner into it. Moderate use of a garbage disposal isn't a problem either.

[Jim Andrew]

I used that stuff to remove the rust from the inside of an old motorcycle tank. Had to watch it close and only took a few minutes.

[Dave Zellers]

Folks worry too much about being on a septic tank. .... Just don't do stupid things like dumping gallons of bleach, paint or thinner into it.

It doesn't take gallons. Our system failed after we unknowingly slipped into using anti-bacterial cleaners for a couple years at most. I'm talking about spraying a mist of this stuff on the tile and a squirt in the bowl. We came really close to being required to replace our entire system by the town but I was given a reprieve after explaining our mistake and our understanding of the situation. Whew. Potentially a $10K disaster. 5-6 years later, all is good. The septic tank is back to operating perfectly.

TREAT YOUR SEPTIC TANK WITH THE RESPECT IT DESERVES!

After that awful experience, we had it pumped every year for three years, and then after those 3 thumbs up we moved to pumping every 3 years. It's cheap money vs a replacement and it allows you to monitor the situation. I'm crazy anal about it now- all fats and oils get wiped out of the pan with a napkin (preferably previously used ) before washing.

All of this is to say Ole is right- septic systems work marvelously as long as you don't abuse them.

If you have one- learn about them! A failed system will cost you big time.

[Ole Anderson]

All of this is to say Ole is right- septic systems work marvelously as long as you don't abuse them.

Thanks for relating your experience Dave. It helps that we are a two person household and we typically don't use bleach when doing our laundry and apparently we don't use many anti-bacterial products.. I did find this regarding anti-bacterial products and septic tanks (isn't Google wonderful?) https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/...ubs/az1258.pdf