We use Lysol TB cleaner in ours (not the version with bleach). We have Sanagloss Toto toilets, and moderately hard water. No hard water stains that I can tell.

I know our guest bathroom toilet will sometimes get a ring at the waterline if the toilet hasn't been used (flushed) in a while. I squirt some TB cleaner into the bowl, let it sit a few minutes, swish with the TB brush, and the ring is gone.

HTH!

Give Toto a call. There should be a model number in the tank and they can identify if it is a sanagloss model or not. I have had toto toilets with sanagloss for 10years without staining. I don't have hard water so I can't offer any help!

Good luck!

cat mom- does it smell like regular Lysol? if so, I can't use it. That's as bad as windex to me. yeah, same with most detergents and many other cleaners for me.

homepro - good idea. never thought to look IN the tank.

hopefully tho someone will post with something that works, something I can handle and not ruin the sanagloss (until I look, find it and check with Toto). I'm making up my shopping list for later and would pick it up at the store so I could clean it this weekend.

I've read to use a pumice stone but am afraid that might ruin it.

Pumice stone will ruin the finish. I have chemical sensitives so I use the unscented Seventh Generation toilet bowl cleaner. It is hard to find most times. Ecover also has a bowl cleaner with a scent that does not trigger my migraines.
Good luck!

First, have you tried just Baking Soda (scrub with brush) then vinegar and more scrubbing?

ah... soda and vinegar. will try that this weekend! vinegar does a good job of cleaning - but the ring remains.

maybe using the soda also will be the trick. thank you!

i concur about the baking soda and vinegar hydrogen peroxide which got a really bad mango stain off my backsplash tile! Once you apply the mixture I wonder if rubbing it with a magic eraser would help.

Edited to change vinegar to hydrogen peroxide.

This post was edited by jerzeegirl on Sat, Aug 16, 14 at 15:53

No pumice. Once you find the model number inside the tank, you can look it up on the internet to see if that model has sanigloss....or call Toto. They are very helpful there. My suggestion. Drain the toilet, saturate a small towel with vinegar and lay that in the bowl so it stays in contact with the hard water stains. Cover that with saran wrap or other plastic to keep the vinegar soaked towel from drying. Close the lid with with a big sign DO NOT USE THIS TOILET and let it sit overnight. 24 hours later, scrub the bowl with a plastic/nylon brush and see if that worked.

If that fails, have you tried a magic eraser? Several years ago I successfully used 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper on my old toilet to get out those 30 year old hard water stains. Keep in mind that once you scratch porcelain the hard water deposits and a better surface to "grab" on to.

-Babka

I have a Toto sanigloss in a rarely used guest bath and it always gets a ring from not being flushed often enough. I use Dawn dish detergent, the antibacterial kind, and the ring washes right out. If that didn't work I would try the magic eraser.

thx for all the ideas! I'm gonna give it a good regular cleaning later and the try the dawn - I have it here already.

if that doesn't work I'll try the soda / vinegar one...

if that fails i'll move on to -
'Drain the toilet, saturate a small towel with vinegar and lay that in the bowl so it stays in contact with the hard water stains. Cover that with saran wrap or other plastic to keep the vinegar soaked towel from drying'

I don't have any plastic wrap here so will need to pick some up if I get to that plan...

I have plunged the water out and filled it with vinegar and let set overnight before. It has cleaned most all of it - except that ring! of course, it is hard to get the vinegar up to the ring. I did put toilet paper on the ring and squirt it with vinegar... but I guess it would have dried quickly. so adding the plastic wrap sounds like it would be helpful.

hopefully, within a few days that ring will be gone!

oh yes, I also plan to look for that toto # in the tank when I go in to clean it later.

it isn't like the toilet isn't clean... it's just that RING / discoloration that bugs the heck out of me. I've tried for some time now it just ignore the ring - I guess I've failed at that. After cleaning it, you want it to look clean too!

When I was young and busy with family and duties, I occasionally neglected weekly cleaning of the stool. Then I would turn the water off to the stool, flush it and remove as much water as I could by hand. I scrubbed it with stool cleaner and let it set. It worked for me. If that doesn't work for you, you could soak a towel in vinegar, put something in the bottom of the stool to keep the towel in place and let it set. I have never had to resort to that. I learned to clean as I go and no scrubbing, but I don't have a family in the home and that makes it a lot easier.

I forgot to add, all 3 of my stools are Toto and I have never harmed them. I didn't know you could take the finish off in a stool. I know you can ruin the finish on a sink with harsh cleansers.

This post was edited by EmmaR on Sat, Aug 16, 14 at 22:39

We have been getting pink ring stains in our new master bathroom toilet. Not sure why as this is a frequently used bathroom and we don't have this issue in any of the other bathrooms.

Anyway, I used Bar Keepers Friend and it worked perfectly. I removed some of the water from the bowl (to drop water level below stain line) and used Bar Keepers Friend (powder form) with a non-abrasive scrub sponge.

If you look at the Bar Keepers website is states the product is good for porcelain and removing rust, tarnish, hard water stains and limescale.

FYI. We also use the liquid Bar Keepers Friend Soft Cleanser to clean our glass frameless shower occasionally when hard water spots build up. Works great!

Here is a link that might be useful: Bar Keepers Friend website