If you own a place of business, whether a large office, a restaurant, a retail center, or anything else of the sort, chances are pretty big that you have bathrooms for those customers. Where there are bathrooms there are urinals, and where there are urinals, there is bound to be a buildup of urine crystals.
These urine crystals cause urinals to suffer from reduced flow, and they smell pretty bad too. Today, we are here to provide you with the easiest way to dissolve them so you can get your water flowing and urinals smelling like new.
4 Best Substances to Dissolve Urine Crystals With
OK, so before we go into a step-by-step tutorial on the matter, it is important to talk about what kind of product, substance, or chemicals you can use to dissolve those urine crystals. There are many options to consider, with some being much more effective than others. Let’s take a look.
1. Heavy-Duty Descaler
Without a shadow of a doubt, the best thing that you can use in order to dissolve urine crystals in urinals is a heavy-duty descaler. This substance will dissolve urine crystals, kill odors and bacteria, and take care of hard water buildups too. In terms of ease of use, this is the best choice to go with, although also the most expensive, not to mention fairly harmful to the environment too. This stuff definitely is not eco-friendly.
2. Natural Descaler (Citric Acid)
If you want to use something that is much more eco-friendly as well as cost-effective, then you can try going for a natural urinal descaler. One of the main ingredients in descaler is citric acid and yes, citric acid is excellent for dissolving uric acid crystals. Actually, anything super acidic can get the job done. However, with heavy-duty descalers, there will also be many other ingredients present, ones that are not eco-friendly. A more eco-friendly descaler should be able to get the job done, although it may not be quite as effective as the chemical-laden alternative.
3. Vinegar and Baking Soda
If you want to be as eco-friendly and cost-effective as humanly possible, then something you can try doing is using a combination of vinegar and baking soda. Vinegar is highly acidic and should be able to dissolve the uric acid crystals. Moreover, when you throw the baking soda into the mix, it creates a very strong chemical reaction that produces a lot of oxygen and bubbling. Together, this chemical reaction, along with the acidic nature of the vinegar, should be able to take care of the issue. There’s also the fact that you will probably have both of those things already laying around in your house.
4. Bleach
Yes, bleach is one of those all purpose cleaners that have the ability to dissolve uric acid crystals in urinals. However, with that being said, bleach is extremely poisonous and certainly not eco-friendly. Quite honestly, although bleach will definitely work to kill the smells and to unclog your urinal, it’s certainly not the first choice you should go with, mainly because it is so damaging to the environment.
Using Hot Water Might Be a Way…
What is important to note here is that when urine comes into contact with water, this is actually what causes those uric acid crystals to form. Therefore, throwing a few gallons of water down the urinal probably won’t fix the issue.
With that being said, if you boil some water and pour a good few liters of it down the urinal while it is still boiling hot, although it may not dissolve the crystals outright, it might just be enough to flush them out of the system.
How to Dissolve Urine Crystals in Urinals
Ok, so to be clear, this step-by-step instructional is for dissolving urine crystals in urinals using a heavy-duty descaler. Let’s get it done.
Step 1: Find the Product of Choice
There are many different brands of urinal cleaners and descalers out there. Which brand you get is not nearly as important as it being heavy-duty. Ensure that the product in question is designed to remove uric acid.
Step 2: Remove Everything and Flush the Urinal
First, you need to remove any debris, the urinal, screen, and any odor control blocks that are present. This is also the time where you may want to clean the trap. Before you can get to using the descaler, you do want to flush the urinal once or twice, just to remove possible debris.
Step 3: Shut Off the Sensors
To prevent the urinal from automatically flushing right when you put the product in, turn off the automatic flush sensors.
Step 4: Use the Product
Exactly how much of your heavy-duty descaler or you are going to use does depend on the product in question, so be sure to read the directions. That being said, all you really have to do is pour a good amount of the product into the urinal and allow it to sit there for anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes (how long it needs to sit for also depends on the product in question).
Step 5: Flush the Urinal
After the product has been allowed to work its magic, simply turn the urinal sensors back on so the urinal flushes the debris down the drain. If you want, you can always pour a few liters of boiling hot water down the drain before turning the sensors back on, as hot water can also work its own magic.
Step 6: Repeat If Necessary
If the urine smell persists, and the urinal does still now flow right, repeat this whole process. If the urinal still does not flush properly, there may be physical debris in the trap or the pipes that needs taking care of.
Summary
There you have it people, everything you need to know about dissolving urine crystals in urinals. We hope that we were able to help! Before leaving, make sure to also read my broader guide on how to clean a urinal.