Chlorine Tablet Toilet Cleaners
Tuesday, March 7th, 2023
Given the nature of dirt and waste toilets hold, homeowners are always looking for an easy and fast way of cleaning these spaces. For this reason, most of them choose chlorine tablets or what is otherwise called drop-in toilet cleaners to deal with the toilet. While these tablets might seem like an easy solution, they often result in more harm than good. The damage they leave around is far, much greater than their worth. Do you use drop-in toilet cleaning tablets? Then you should change to a different method of ensuring your toilet bowl is clean. You could find the fresh blue appearance of the toilet water fascinating after a flush, but you are damaging the toilet. Soon, you might have to call a plumber near me as the long-term toilet replacement and repair costs far outweigh your short-term ease of using a drop-in chlorine-based solution.
What Are Chlorine Tablet Toilet Cleaners?
Chlorine toilet cleaners or drop-in toilet cleaners are chlorine- or bleach-based tablets which you drop into the toilet tank. They aim to help you ensure your toilet tank and bowl are clean for the long term. Considering that cleaning the toilet isn’t so enjoyable, it is no surprise that many homeowners might opt to use drop-in toilet cleaners. After all, using them is effortless and appears to clean your toilet automatically. If you ask any plumber near me, they will tell you that all is not good if you have made it a habit of using these cleaners.
If It Sits, It Isn’t Good
There is a rule of thumb regarding toilet bowl cleaners: “if a product’s purpose is settling in your toilet for weeks or days – whatever is indicated on the label – it isn’t good for your toilet.” This holds for chlorine tablets or drop-in tablets you use to clean your toilet. The longer these chlorine-based chemicals sit in the tank of your toilet, the higher the time they’ll have to rot the parts of your toilet and release the chemicals into the air. The chemicals in chlorine-based cleaners eat away your toilet’s thinner materials like washers and liners. Hence, you could soon call a plumber near me to replace the toilet guts.
Dangers of Using Chlorine Toilet Tank and Bowl Cleaners
Voided Warranties
DIY jobs and improvisations like using chemical cleaners on your plumbing aren’t recommended. If you keenly look at your toilet label, you could find a warning from the toilet manufacturer. Usually, the warning will caution you on using the drop-in toilet tank and bowl cleaners. Using these products will void your toilet warranty. This is because the manufacturers know these products could cause parts of your toilet to break down prematurely. Hence, they warn you that they won’t undertake to cover the replacement costs if these parts break down prematurely because of long-term exposure to chemicals. Avoid voiding by using a plumber near me approved toilet cleaning methods.
To ensure that your warranty remains intact, consult your reliable and trusted plumber near me on the best ways of cleaning the toilet and avoid using this chlorine- or bleach-based toilet tank or bowl cleaners. Although toilets aren’t expensive, the last thing you want is to have to replace the toilet for something you caused that is avoidable.
Blocked Pipes
When you use chlorine-based caustic agents for cleaning the toilet, it might not be the only component of your home’s plumbing that suffers. The slivers in these tablets might break off and be lodged in your piping, resulting in ineffective toilet flush or even no flush. Does the water pour back into the toilet slowly or trickle at times after a flush? That is a sign that you have a toilet clog. When this happens, you don’t have any other option besides calling a professional plumber near me for help.
These slivers will disintegrate with time even if you do not seek assistance but will cause flushing troubles. Unfortunately, the flushing troubles can also increase the volume of water used at your home, not to forget the wear and tear the toilet will ultimately suffer from the extra flushes. To catch these issues before they worsen, it is recommended that homeowners enlist a plumber near me for routine plumbing maintenance.
Improper Flushing and Leaks
With the continued use of these toilet cleaning products, you might notice leaks from your toilet. This is because the tablets will have worn down different toilet components. You could be staring at considerably high toilet repair costs from the continued use of chemical toilet tanks or bowl-cleaning products. Unfortunately, toilet leaks can go for long undetected because they are internal to your toilet. Thus, they result in sewer and water utility bills. If you regularly have a maintenance service by a plumber near me, they can spot-diagnose toilet leaks and take the required mitigating steps.
Deformed Rubber and Plastic Parts
Your toilet’s rubber and plastic components could become brittle, deform, or even experience premature failure with your continued use of chlorine toilet tank or bowl cleaners. The toilet components interacting with dissolving chlorine tablets include flappers, washers, and gaskets. Whenever the chlorine toilet cleaner releases chlorine, it will slowly start breaking down these parts, likely resulting in the malfunction of your toilet later. Thus, you might enlist a plumber near me to repair the toilet or replace some of its components.
If you have been using chlorine tank and bowl cleaners and your toilet has started malfunctioning or isn’t working as it used to, do not panic. Our experienced plumbing team at My Professional Plumber has seen this several times and knows what is needed to get your toilet up and running as it used to. Remember, those issues you deem too small can quickly worsen into full-blown disasters. Contact us for any plumbing service or advice.
See our most recent blog on this topic here.
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