Cleaning a Toilet for Dummies

muriatic acid toilet cure

Lately, we've been running across a lot of posts in which the freelancers took a great deal of liberty in interpreting the "question" they were answering or, in some cases, pretending to answer. Today's a perfect example of an eHow.com freelancer, Andrea Stein, blithely ignoring the original question and substituting her own interpretation of "Cleaning a Toilet with Sulfuric Acid."

Although the young English grad didn't know it, cleaning a toilet with acid is a time-honored method of fixing a toilet with a sluggish flush. The idea, according to our house DIY plumber, is to clear lime precipitate from under the rim so the water empties from the tank into the bowl quickly. A little acid also cleans deposits from the bowl, though most people use hydrochloric (muriatic) acid instead of sulfuric.
That's not what Stein thought of when she attempted this "title" for eHow. No, Andrea went straight to clogs...

"Toilets can gunk up or develop clogs for numerous reasons, resulting in a lack of function or even a nasty overflow of water. Cleaning out a toilet drain with a chemical substance, such as sulfuric acid, can often unclog the blockage and restore function to your toilet."

The cutesiness of "gunk up" notwithstanding; the OQ didn't ask about clearing a drain, Andrea, nor did anyone say anything about clogs. The question, as we read it, was how to clean a toilet. Given that difference, the notion that one would need a plunger is pretty much off-topic. Andrea's instruction of,

"Pour the sulfuric acid into the toilet. Check the product label for specific directions as to the proper amount and application of the sulfuric acid..."

...is (IOHO) dangerous stupidity. Had Stein read either of the references she cites, she wou;d have learned that 1) neither mentions toilets and 2) neither mentions pure sulfuric acid. Both mention chemical cleaners only as a last resort: you use a closet auger to clear blocked toilets!
Stein either deliberately misinterpreted the question or was simply too clueless to know the difference. Either way, Andrea's picking up her eleventh Dumbass of the Day award, this time in the category of Dangerous Stupidity.

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