Did you see a pink waterline around your toilet bowl before some days but couldn’t manage time to clean it? You have planned to clean it next weekend. But, in the meantime, you discover the lousy pink ring turns into a nasty black ring.
Fortunately, there is nothing to burst with anger for this dreadful spot. Removing and preventing the black ring from your toilet from coming back isn’t tough.
How to prevent black ring in toilet?
Knowing the reasons for developing the black rings is the first step to preventing them. Apart from this, using soft water or water softener tablets, keeping the toilet clean and dry are some practices to prevent toilet black rings.
This guide will let you know the 5 foolproof and cherry-picked strategies to help you prevent black rings in your toilet bowl. Once you read the post, you can do it with little effort.
Table of Contents
What Causes Black Ring In Toilet Bowl?
Admit it: most of your toilet spots will occur due to growing bacteria, building mold, mildew, or your house’s water system. And all of that happens only for your lack of proper cleaning habits.
Yes, it’s also true that you can’t rectify the exact reasons for your toilet black ring without investigation. Until you know the right reason, taking preventive steps will be like firing into the air without targeting your aim.
So, let’s together investigate your toilet black ring causes. It’s wise to check the most accessible option and then go forward.
- Mold And Mildew
Look around your toilet base, rim, sink, shower, and other spaces. If you notice several black spots lying hither and thither, you can consider mold and mildew as the reasons for your toilet bowl’s black ring. If all the places are spotless, forget about mold and check the further reasons.
- Bacterial Causes
An airborne bacteria named Serratia Marcescens rapidly grows, breeds, and thrives in moist space. The toilet bowl always holds a specific amount of water even after flushing, and air circulates in the toilet every time. That means your toilet bowl is an ideal place for Serratia Marcescens to grow.
So, when you don’t clean your toilet for many days, probably this bacteria will create a black ring in your toilet bowl.
- Mineral Deposits On Your Water System
Water combines many chemicals like hydrogen, minerals, magnesium, iron, calcium, and many more. If your home’s water contains a large amount of magnesium and iron, they leave deposits when flowing through the lines.
When your toilet has deposits for many days, they will create a black ring in the toilet waterline.
- Rust And Corrosion
Breaking tiny particles due to rust and corrosion from the toilet’s sewer pipes is typical for the old fittings and fixtures. Since these particles are so small, they mix with water. You can’t notice them in the water without a microscope.
Hue watercolor and sedimentation are the way to determine whether it is the reason for your black toilet ring or not.
So, after investigation what do you think is the most probable reason for your black toilet ring?
How To Get Rid Of Black Ring In Toilet Bowl
After determining the reason for the toilet black ring, it’s time to clean it before prevention. You can use many home remedies to clean the black spot of your toilet, as these are really effective in removing the spot. Some of the home remedies are
- White vinegar
- Baking soda
- Lemon juice
- Coca-Cola
- Bleach
- Borax
- Muriatic Acid
Bleach and all of them contain different types of acids, which will break the stubborn marks on your toilet bowl and be safe for your toilet. Here, we talk about a sure-fire but simple method to remove the black ring with a step-by-step guideline.
Project Overview
- Estimated Cost- $0
- Required time- 45 minutes
- Skill Level – Beginner
Step 1: Collect the equipment
Get together 2 cups of white vinegar, 1 cup of baking soda, and a stiff toilet brush for cleaning—hand gloves and a face mask as safety gear before rolling your sleeve.
Step 2: Apply the solution
Flush the toilet, and after that, pour white vinegar into the toilet bowl. Otherwise, the vinegar will mix with the contaminated water and lose effectiveness. Sprinkle the baking soda on the black mark of the toilet and spread it with the toilet brush to make a foamy texture.
Step 3: Gently rub the toilet
Wait at least 15 minutes after applying the solution to react the white vinegar and baking soda’s acids with the black mark. The black spot will be softened for the chemical reaction.
Decently rub the black ring with the toilet brush to remove it. Don’t do it forcefully or abrasively to avoid scratching the toilet bowl.
Step 4: Flush the toilet
Once you are sure there is no more spot in the toilet bowl, flush it several times to remove the dirty particles. If possible, wipe the bowl with toilet wipes after flushing to regain its shine.
How To Prevent Black Ring In Toilet Bowl
It’s grief-stricken to notice getting back these horror rings and you don’t want it. Now, we’ll focus on the research-backed strategies to prevent them.
- Ensure your toilet dryness
Keep your toilet dry after using it to ruin the birth, breed, and growing space of Serratia Marcescens. A squeeze or mop is an excellent option to dry the bathroom floor. Moreover, installing an exhaust fan is also a better idea to keep the bathroom dry.
- Regular toilet cleaning
It’s a great practice to clean your toilet twice a week. But if that’s tough for you because of your busy working schedule. You should clean the bathroom at least once a week. However, if you have pets, kids, or senior citizens in your home, there is no way to skip weekly cleaning.
- Use water softener tablets
If the local municipality supplies hard water to your home. You alone can’t do anything against them. So using water softener tablets is the easiest way to remove mineral and iron deposits from the water and prevent the toilet’s black ring.
- Regular flush the toilet (For guest bathroom)
Mainly a guest bathroom is used when any guest lives in the room. Apart from that, it is locked and won’t be used. But at that time doesn’t the toilet have water in its bowl? Yes, it has, and the Serratia Marcescens find it a dancing and thriving place.
Though, you don’t find flushing the guest necessary. But, to prevent Serratia Marcescens breeding, you have to flush the toilet at least twice a week.
- Toilet inspection
Keeping your toilet under inspection is another proven way to determine any of its malfunctioning earlier. Appoint a professional plumber to inspect the entire toilet working system yearly. He’ll observe everything and report to you about your toilet conditions and suggest if it requires any repairs.
Here is a helpful article on Toilet Plunger Storage Ideas.
Related Questions
Black ring in toilet bowl diabetes?
We won’t find any scientific studies about black rings in the toilet bowl that indicate diabetes. So it’s hard to answer this question in one word, yes or no. If people find a frequent black ring in the toilet bowl after taking all preventive steps, they think someone who uses the toilet has diabetes. Because as he has diabetes, his urine contains higher levels of sugar that cause mold and rings.
Why does my toilet get a black ring so fast?
Hard water’s mineral deposits can build within 24-48 hours under your toilet rim and base. So the bacteria can come back to your toilet faster than you imagine and create the black ring.
Parting Words
So, take a deep breath and calm down. As preventing black rings in your toilet is a simple task as reading a comic book. Just follow the steps and keep your toilet as good-looking as new, and enjoy every moment that you pass in the toilet.