Unusual stickiness?

[Kcodyjr]

Latest in my long set of how-the-blazes questions.

After I "go" there are invariably pieces stuck to the bowl. This has only been a problem since I moved here, and I'm not lazy about using the brush; every time I use the commode if I must. It is a low flow design.

However, I'm standing there scrubbing back and forth for several minutes and these freshly-left pieces stubbornly resist.

KIingons are one thing, but this is more like Kryptonite. Kraptonite? Seriously, they might be suitable as munitions.

Should I suspect the water itself? Could the bowl have taken surface damage via contamination somehow?

One of those $10 water test kits from Lowe's says my water is ever so slightly acidic, and ever so slightly soft, if that helps.

 

[Jadnashua]

Long-term contact with acid can eventually etch the glaze on the toilet. It's not great for your pipes, either, and can leave copper stains, and discolor things. A new toilet would help for awhile, but would likely succumb to the same issues eventually. If you resolve the acidic water, look into one of the toilets with one of the optional super glazes...Toto calls theirs CEFIONTECT...it helps keep things from sticking.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Kcodyjr]

Long-term contact with acid can eventually etch the glaze

If this has happened, wouldn't it take away the gloss?

 

[Jadnashua]

The glaze has some thickness, so it starts really shiny like glass, then various stages of frosted, until you've eaten all of it off. Shiny is relative. How does it feel?

 

[Kcodyjr]

You mean I have to touch the surface of the toilet bowl?

*twitch*

I'll get back to you when I find some thin disposable gloves.

 

[Kcodyjr]

OK, I got over it and checked when it hadn't been used for awhile. It isn't rough, but there's a squeak to dragging my finger across it that isn't there around the rim. I can see texture in light reflecting off the bowl, but nowhere else. It's visibly just a little less glossy.

Great. Just great.

I don't think there's room in my plumbing closet for acid reduction, those things are huge, right?

 

[Jadnashua]

Acidic water will etch glass with long exposure and pretty much all of the glazes are essentially glass based with potentially other stuff for color or who knows what. I've never tried it, but a good coating of one of the high-tech nano particle car waxes might solve the problem for awhile.

 

[Kcodyjr]

Waxing the toilet bowl. That's a charming thought. I'd never live it down. Still, it might work...

 

[WJcandee]

Waxing the toilet bowl. That's a charming thought.

Jim's already got you running your finger inside the toilet bowl, so you're already almost there!