Possibly the most dreaded house cleaning task is cleaning the toilet bowl. We know what goes into a toilet bowl, and we generally don't want anything to do with it. However, keeping a toilet seat clean is one of the essential parts of home maintenance that you can't put off doing.
Instead of toiling over your bathroom trying to clear that toilet stain with paper towels, chemical cleaners, and a toilet brush, go for some of our top ten hacks for toilet cleaning!
10 Effective Cleaning Hacks to Keep Your Toilet Bowl Clean & Germ-Free
Vinegar Cleaning Spray
Leave that harsh chemical toilet cleaner aside, and get in your kitchen to grab the best toilet cleaner for your toilet seat: white vinegar! Distilled white vinegar and water in a spray bottle makes for an efficient cleaner that dissolves mineral deposits, soap scrum, and clears off general grime and dirt from toilets.
Use the spray in and around the toilet seat, in the toilet tank, and even on the floors around the toilet area to clear off any muck and mold. Use your toilet brush to clean the toilet bowl, and wipe the exterior dry with some paper towels for an easy cleaning hack.
Baking Soda Deodorizer
Baking soda does more than give our pastries a generous rise when baking, it is also an effective cleaning product that is both safe and efficient compared to other toilet cleaners. Simply pour the powder in a foul-smelling toilet, let sit for at least an hour, then flush your toilet to keep those odors away!
Alcohol Sanitizing Wipes
Let's face it - the grime that gets on a toilet rim isn't exactly the best kind, so any precaution taken to prevent the spread of germs, bacteria, and viruses is a welcome precaution. Before using the toilet, maintain a habit of using alcohol sanitizing wipes to disinfect the toilet seat.
Make your own sanitizing wipes by mixing together 70% rubbing alcohol with clean water in a 1:2 ratio, and adding two drops of Dawn dishwashing liquid. Take a toilet paper roll and remove the cardboard core. Pull the toilet paper from the center, and pour in your alcohol solution. Your sanitizing wipes are now ready for use!
Hydrogen Peroxide Bleaching
Bleach can be a harsh chemical for skin and respiratory systems, and many households are now removing the toilet cleaning product from their homes with children and pets in the fear of accidental ingestion. Instead of bleach, hydrogen peroxide is a safer, yet potent solution that can disinfect and bleach toilets without the worries!
For general cleaning, dilute hydrogen peroxide in water, and apply into stained areas around your toilet. Use a brush to scrub out the stains, and let the solution sit to bleach out the stain. Flush the toilet afterwards. For disinfecting, use the toilet cleaning product pure, and let sit until dry.
Gel Toilet Fresheners
Those Gel Toilet Cleaning Refreshers you see being dotted out of a syringe-like apparatus online may not effectively clean toilets, but they can reduce any smells and odors coming from the toilet. The gels are typically thick enough to withstand flushing, and can be used to mask bathroom odors.
Pumice Stone Scrubber
A pumice stone makes for a terrific toilet cleaning implement that can clear most stains with little effort. The rough, porous surface of a pumice stone gently scrubs away at the grime, mold, dirt, or stain, and can make toilet cleaning easier for any homeowner.
Easy and Affordable Rust Coat
Worried those bolts, screws and other toilet seat hardware would rust over time? Beat the rust by using some clean nail polish to protect these bathroom fixtures from moisture. Apply a thin, even layer of clear nail polish on metal fixtures that are frequently exposed to water.
Baby oil is another effective rust coat as it prevents moisture from getting into fixtures. Moisture can come from the toilet water, or a sweating toilet tank, and rust is a natural occurrence in the bathroom. Baby oil can minimize the moisture by forming a barrier, and polishes your chrome fixtures as well!
Water-efficient Toilet Tank
More for a water-saving hack than a cleaning one, a one liter plastic bottle filled with water placed in the toilet tank can greatly reduce the amount of water that is used with each flush. Other toilet hacks use heavy stones or blocks in the water tank to reduce water usage, but a plastic bottle is easy, cheap, and just as effective!
Coca-Cola Toilet Hack
A strange, but proven cleaning tip is to use Coca-Cola to clean toilets. Simply pour a liter or two of the sugary soda into your stained toilet bowl, and let it sit overnight before flushing the toilet to rinse. The acids in soda dissolve stains, but this cleaning solution should not be relied on to clean, sanitize, or disinfect the toilet.
Citrus Air Refresher
There are times when we can't prevent smells emitting from the bathroom, and for this, an air refresher made with citrus fruits can help mask any odors. Take any citrus fruit of your choice: lemons, oranges, grapefruits, and more. Slice up the fruits, and place them onto a paper towel to dry.
Hang up the dried fruits or place them in a potpourri bowl to keep your bathroom smelling fresh and fruity regardless of the situation!
More Cleaning Tips
We at Luce Home are committed to bringing you top notch service for all your home cleaning needs. We also provide cleaning tips and tricks in our blog, which you can check out for any cleaning issues that may arise!
