My plumber friend told me to never use those blue toilet tank tablets in our hard water

He said the chemicals would wreck the flapper valve in under a year, but I figured he was just being picky. Sure enough, six months later my toilet was running constantly and I had to replace the whole flush valve assembly. Anyone else have a simple trick for keeping the bowl clean without those tablets?

2 comments

2 Comments

black.jordan17h ago

My neighbor Susan had that exact problem in her upstairs bathroom. She used those blue tablets for about eight months because she liked the smell. Her toilet started making a weird hissing sound all the time, and her water bill went up twenty dollars. When the plumber came out, he showed her the flapper, and it was all soft and falling apart like wet cardboard. She switched to just using a bit of liquid cleaner and a brush during her normal cleaning. It fixed the problem and she said it's actually cheaper.

mia59219h ago

Oh man, your plumber friend was 100% right (and I wish I'd listened to mine). Had the exact same thing happen in our guest bathroom last year, the constant running drove me nuts until I figured it out. Those tablets basically melt the rubber parts into a weird, gooey mess. Now I just give the bowl a quick scrub with the brush once a week, which is honestly less hassle than fixing the toilet again.