Faucet Aerator

[bigtiller]

The aerator on my lavatory faucet needs to come off so it can be cleaned. It is probably full of 28 years of calcium deposits. But it is frozen in place and won't come off. The water comes out just like a kid squirting water from a garden hose with his thumb.

I have filled a squirt bottle with white vinegar and squirted some into the aerator several times over the evening and let it set overnight but it is still partially blocked.

Any other ideas of what to use or methods to clean it up?

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Since its no good to you anyway... Get a flat screw driver blade tap into it and turn. oughta come out then. Or at the least it will open the hole..

 

[CH4Ohio]

I'd get the aerator off. I assume you've tried all the usual methods? Even if I had to actually put metal pliers teeth on it, I'd get it off. You can buy a new aerator cheap and simply replace it if you damage the original.

 

[ponytug]

I've wrapped tape around the aerator and used large pliers/channel locks. Eventually, I switched to using 12" soft jaw pliers, rather than tape.

Any aerator that I personally install goes in with lots of pipe dope or tape.

Unless yours is an unusual faucet, a replacement aerator probably is not that expensive, and you may feel better about not trying to clean the existing one up, and just use brute force.

All the best,

Peter

 

[JJT]

White vinegar in a plastic baggy held on with a rubber band over night will dissolve the calcium.

If not, channel locks and replace as stated above.

 

[MossRoad]

I've probably changed several hundred aerators in the last 8 years. Some are so frozen on that even if you put toothed pliers on them, they'll bust the tube out of the fixture before they'll come free from the threads. If we see the fixture/tube moving or splitting, it's pretty much hopeless and we have the entire faucet replaced with new.

We've had limited success with lime away in a plastic bag tied around the aerator overnight. Very limited, but it has worked.

You could also remove the faucet completely and dunk the aerator in a small bucket of vinegar or lime away for a day or two if you want to save the faucet. Again, limited success.

As for replacement aerators... I like the 2 gpm ones with a full screen. However, our employer has mandated .5 gpm aerators in the bathroom sinks. They do have little rubber **** under them, so if they get limed up, you just rub your fingers over them (yeah, that's not a joke) and the lime falls off. They work pretty well, but don't put out enough water to flush toothpaste down the p-trap and eventually cost more in our time to unclog the drain than the cost of the water they saved. We suggest to the residents to close the stopper, fill the sink and then open the stopper so a large slug of water goes down to flush out the p-trap.

What I really dislike is the aerators that require the round plastic key to remove. There are several sizes so you have to carry a ring of keys. With that said, I have them in my bathrooms at my own home. So I keep the key on a small nail in the medicine cabinet.

 

[MossRoad]

Ha! Rubber **** got starred. So I'll try rubber teats.

 

[bigtiller]

I've probably changed several hundred aerators in the last 8 years. Some are so frozen on that even if you put toothed pliers on them, they'll bust the tube out of the fixture before they'll come free from the threads. If we see the fixture/tube moving or splitting, it's pretty much hopeless and we have the entire faucet replaced with new.

We've had limited success with lime away in a plastic bag tied around the aerator overnight. Very limited, but it has worked.

You could also remove the faucet completely and dunk the aerator in a small bucket of vinegar or lime away for a day or two if you want to save the faucet. Again, limited success.

That is what I am faced with and trying to avoid.

I am tempted to do the "make a hole with screwdriver" method but I will try the vinegar in a baggy with rubber band first.

 

[MossRoad]

That is what I am faced with and trying to avoid.

I am tempted to do the "make a hole with screwdriver" method but I will try the vinegar in a baggy with rubber band first.

Yeah, you don't want to bust the entire fixture trying to force the aerator off. Good luck. Take your time.

 

[whitenorth]

What about using something like CLR?

 

[MossRoad]

Lime away seems to work better for lime removal in my opinion.

 

[whitenorth]

Lime away seems to work better for lime removal in my opinion.

Okay, I thought he said it was Calcium.

 

[ponytug]

Both CLR and Lime-Away will go after any imperfection in the metal of the aerator or faucet, so I would not overfill the baggie. In my experience, that method hasn't saved very many aerators, and it has killed a few faucets for me. A bit of judicious heat works better for me, bearing in mind that aerators tend to be very thin metal, with plastic insides, so I think it is not advisable to go wild with a blow torch.

Lime deposits are calcium deposits, calcium carbonate. Hard water deposits may include magnesium sulfate and carbonate, as well as calcium sulfate and carbonate. Only the carbonates are dissolvable in acids, such as CLR, lime-away, or citric acid. If you are unlucky enough to get magnesium oxide deposits, it is not going anywhere, ever.

All the best,

Peter

 

[bigtiller]

I just returned from town with a spray bottle of Lime-A-Way. I will foam the aerator several times today and during the night.

Hoping it will do it's thing overnight.

 

[MossRoad]

Okay, I thought he said it was Calcium.

220, 221, whatever it takes.

I'm pretty sure lime and calcium buildup in terms of plumbing is the same thing.

 

[MossRoad]

Both CLR and Lime-Away will go after any imperfection in the metal of the aerator or faucet, so I would not overfill the baggie. In my experience, that method hasn't saved very many aerators, and it has killed a few faucets for me. A bit of judicious heat works better for me, bearing in mind that aerators tend to be very thin metal, with plastic insides, so I think it is not advisable to go wild with a blow torch.

Lime deposits are calcium deposits, calcium carbonate. Hard water deposits may include magnesium sulfate and carbonate, as well as calcium sulfate and carbonate. Only the carbonates are dissolvable in acids, such as CLR, lime-away, or citric acid. If you are unlucky enough to get magnesium oxide deposits, it is not going anywhere, ever.

All the best,

Peter

Like he said.

 

[MossRoad]

Both CLR and Lime-Away will go after any imperfection in the metal of the aerator or faucet, so I would not overfill the baggie. In my experience, that method hasn't saved very many aerators, and it has killed a few faucets for me. A bit of judicious heat works better for me, bearing in mind that aerators tend to be very thin metal, with plastic insides, so I think it is not advisable to go wild with a blow torch.

Lime deposits are calcium deposits, calcium carbonate. Hard water deposits may include magnesium sulfate and carbonate, as well as calcium sulfate and carbonate. Only the carbonates are dissolvable in acids, such as CLR, lime-away, or citric acid. If you are unlucky enough to get magnesium oxide deposits, it is not going anywhere, ever.

All the best,

Peter

I've never tried a torch on an aerator. Like mentioned, most are now plastic inside, plus rubber washer(s). Plus many low-end faucets are sometimes chromed plastic.

 

[bigtiller]

I doused it several times this afternoon with the spray bottle of Lime-A-Way and by supper time it seamed to have loosened some of the lime/calcium, but not nearly enough.

I will continue to spray and soak it this evening & over night. Hopefully by lunch time tomorrow it will be clean as a whistle.

 

[ultrarunner]

White vinegar in a plastic baggy held on with a rubber band over night will dissolve the calcium.

If not, channel locks and replace as stated above.

Or CLR…might not even have to remove if blockage dissolves…

Works for me with shower heads.

 

[rontaki]

White vinegar mixed with a little lime juice, and an M80 ought to do the trick.

Don't try this at home, folks!