How to get rid of hard scale around the tap where the water comes out.

Tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda mixed to a thick paste with neat lemon juice. Baste it on the affected area, wrap a bit of cling film tightly round it and leave overnight. Rinse off and buff the next morning.

I have found Viakal to be the best cleaning product for lime scale.

White vinegar.

Soak paper towel in white vinegar. Wrap it round the affected area and leave overnight. May have to repeat if the tap is heavily encrusted with limescale.

A tip I picked up on GN a few years ago is to use a 2p coin to chip off the lime scale. It works well for things like taps, and does not cause damage to the surface.

I use a vinegar product.
I'm not at home at the moment to check the name, sorry.

HG limescale remover

Nancy Birtwhistle recommends fixing half a used lemon to the tap with rubber bands and leaving overnight. It works!

WD40 works.
In fact WD40 repairs most problems.

Soak the end of the tap overnight in HG limescale remover. In a plastic bag secured by a rubber band.

Take a pence and gently rub it on the scale. The chemical reaction between the copper and lime removes the scale.

I meant calcium!

2p coins are only plated now.
They are largely steel.

1p coins are the same - but have more copper by weight than 2p.

I suppose try to find a new one?

Well I now have a shiny 2p piece and it has taken a lot of the scale off. It looks a lot better. The date is 1989! I will try a 1p piece and lemon tied to tap tonight. I also have white vinegar and WD 40 and bicarbonate of soda. Thank you all for your great ideas. I will continue to try them all. Thank you all so much.

I also use Nancy Birtwhistle's tip to use half a lemon attached to the tap. I leave it about half an hour and it comes up lovely and clean. May have to leave it on a bit longer if the limescale is very heavy.

Jane43

I have found Viakal to be the best cleaning product for lime scale.

Me too. I use it in both kitchen and bathroom.

My best advice s to invest in a water softener. If the scale round your taps is that bad, Just imagine how much scale is built up in your pipe work and central heating system, which you cannot see, doing untold damage over the years! You could take away my washing machine and my dishwasher, but I would not part with my water softener!

Soak a sheet of kitchen roll in white vinegar and wrap it around the tap. Repeat as it may take a few times to work.
Clean taps and sink with vinegar washing up liquid and water mixture to prevent build up in future

KILROCK Descaler is absolutely magic, have been using it for years and would use no other. They do different ones for different appliances / uses!

If you live anywhere near a Turkish shop or shop online then try Porcoz, it's the best product I've ever used. As soon as it touches limescale it starts to fizz and you can see it dissolving straight wasy.

One advice to do with taps is not to use any household cleaner which has beach in it, as that will itself take the coating off the tap. I wondered why I had to renew my taps which had so much green stuff around the base but found it was the cleaner I used which had stripped the coating off the tap. The plumber tells me he sees it so often on his rounds.

Viakal liquid is great but not the spray. The spray stays in the air and makes you cough - can’t be good.

Our water is very hard, I use white vinegar in the finger of an old rubber glove put on the end of the tap overnight secure with an elastic band