7 Surprising Hacks to Clean the Toilet

Cleaning the toilet is a tough job that nobody wants to do.  If your toilet bowl has been neglected, it might have stains, rust deposits, or water lines. When guests come over and need to use the bathroom, you don’t want your toilet looking like it’s never been cleaned.  How can you get rid of odor and stains from your toilet bowl, and make your toilet guest-worthy clean?

 At Ultim8 Cleaning Service we provide whole house cleaning in Tampa, and that includes the bathroom.  We know how to get a bathroom squeaky clean.  We have put together a list of toilet cleaning hacks you may not have heard of.  Get your toilet in tip-top shape using products you probably have around the house.  Read on to find out some surprising hacks to clean your toilet!

Vinegar and baking soda

Vinegar is a natural disinfectant that people love to clean with. Instead of using harsh chemicals, try this trick. Pour vinegar around inside the bowl of your toilet. Then sprinkle baking soda on top.  Because vinegar is acidic, when it mixes with baking soda (a base), it will create a chemical reaction and start to fizz. This bubbling reaction helps break up difficult to remove hard water deposits and stains from your toilet.  It is also a natural deodorizer that will leave your toilet smelling clean.

Coca-Cola hack

You might be shocked to find out the soda you drink can remove rust stains from your toilet.  Coca-Cola contains citric acid and phosphoric acid.  This is what makes it effervescent.  These acids are great at dissolving rust and tough stain inside your toilet bowl. To use this hack, pour a can or two of Coca-Cola along the edges of your toilet below and let it do its magic.  Let the Coca-Cola sit in the toilet overnight. In the morning, pull out your toilet brush and scrub away. You will be surprised at how well this trick works!

Use a pumice stone

If you’ve never used pumice, you might be interested in how it works. Pumice is a volcanic rock that is made up of sponge-like volcanic glass.  It is a natural abrasive that is strong enough to scrub off mineral deposits and stains, but gentle enough to be used on porcelain.  Before you use pumice on your toilet, make sure you know what your toilet is made of. While it is safe to use on porcelain, it can damage other areas of your toilet that are not made of porcelain or have a protective finish.

In order for pumice to work, it must be used with water. Flush your toilet once to rinse the bowl with water.  Then use the pumice stone to clean the rust and mineral stains from your toilet bowl by rubbing it against the inside of your toilet bowl in a back-and-forth motion. As you use the pumice stone, it will dissolve leaving a gray powdery substance in your toilet. Just flush the toilet when you are done cleaning to remove the powder.

Hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide can be used as a disinfectant and antibacterial cleaner. Although you’ve probably never thought about using it in your toilet, it’s can be used to both clean and sanitize your toilet.  Simply pour about a half cup of hydrogen peroxide both and let it sit for about 15-20 minutes. Then use your toilet brush to scrub the bowl.  You can also use the peroxide to clean and disinfect your toilet brush after use.

Borax and lemon juice

If you want to make your toilet smell fresh, use a combination of borax and lemon juice to clean your toilet. Sprinkle about ½ cup of borax along the sides of your toilet bowl. Let it sit for 20-30 minutes or overnight. When you’re ready to clean the toilet, pour about ¼ cup of lemon juice around the inside of the toilet bowl. Then scrub the toilet with a toilet brush. This homemade natural cleaning product works well because the citric acid in the lemon juice helps dissolve stains and the borax is a gentle abrasive that helps remove stains. 

You can also make a paste by mixing borax with a little lemon juice. Use the paste to scrub the outside or inside of your toilet.  What’s so nice about using lemon juice is that leaves your toilet smelling lemony fresh.

Grapefruit and salt

Like lemons, grapefruits contain citric acid, which is an amazing natural cleaning product.  Salt is a natural abrasive agent that can be used to scrub your toilet.  If you want to make your bathroom smell citrus clean, try using grapefruit to clean your toilet.  Just cut a medium-sized grapefruit in half, sprinkle coarse salt on top. Then scrub the inside of the toilet. Once. you’re done cleaning let the grapefruit juice sit in the toilet for 20-30 minutes. Then flush. This is a quick and easy way to clean and refresh your toilet.

Dental cleaning tablets

When you think about how dental cleaning tablets work to clean stains and odors from dentures, it makes sense that they might work just as well at cleaning a toilet.  Most denture tablets contain a small amount of diluted bleach, sodium bicarbonate, citric acid, enzymes, and oxidizing agents. These substances remove stains, kill bacteria, and deodorize dentures.  Surprisingly, these agents work really well on your toilet too.  Just drop a tablet (or two) into your toilet bowl and let it sit overnight. As they dissolve in your toilet, they will clean and disinfect the toilet bowl.  You can drop these in your toilet once a week to keep your toilet sanitized and clean.

Tips for cleaning the outside of your toilet

The toilet is more than just a toilet bowl, the rest of the toilet is the place people touch, sit on, and use.  If you want your toilet clean, you need to get all of it clean.  Use a disinfecting multi-purpose cleaner or vinegar and water solution to clean the outside of your toilet.  Spray down the toilet lid, the seat, and the outside of the toilet tank.  Let the cleaner sit for a few minutes. Don’t just wipe it right off. You want the cleaner to have time to kill bacteria before you wipe it off.  Clean the toilet with a microfiber cloth and wipe dry.

Then lift the toilet seat and spray cleaner on the top of the seat, around the hinges, and underneath the seat.  If your toilet has hinges with covers that pop open, lift the cover and clean around the hinges.  Wipe the toilet seat with a dry clean towel or paper towel to remove any chemicals or cleaner from the seat. 

Make sure you clean around the base of the toilet. This area often gets neglected.  Scrub the floor surrounding the base of the toilet. This area is hard to reach with a mop and often develops dirt and other stains around the edges.

Hate cleaning the bathroom? 

If you hate cleaning the toilet, let us help. Bathrooms that are aren’t cleaned regularly can accumulate harmful bacteria and mold. You might be surprised to know that the toilet may not be the dirtiest item in your bathroom.  Other items in your bathroom like your toothbrush holder and bath mat can breed bacteria and mold. Having a professional cleaning service in Tampaclean your bathroom can keep your bathroom clean so you don’t have to worry about cleaning the toilet.