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Cleaning the toilet might not be your favorite chore to do when it comes to cleaning and refreshing the bathroom, but it’s completely necessary. As time goes on, your toilet can accumulate uncomfortably high amounts of mold, yeast, and germs. Ew! Viruses can actually live on your toilet’s surface anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
All of that is to remind you how important it is to know the best cleaning methods and products to rid every part of your toilet including the lid, exterior, and tank of nasty viruses and germs.
But where are you supposed to start? In our step-by-step cleaning guide, you’ll find a few expert-approved cleaning products and DIY solutions to keep your toilet sparkly clean on a regular basis.
Plus, we have another more natural and chemical-free cleaning method for you below! So without any further ado, let’s get started!
How Often Should You Clean Your Toilet
Cleaning and disinfecting your toilet can greatly reduce the risk of coming into contact with any threatening germs in your home. But it’s important to understand that even after using it only once, your toilet could play host to bacteria and viruses on its surfaces.
That being said, you should try to clean your toilet as often as possible, but you should fully disinfect it every two to three days especially if someone in your home is sick. Outside of flu season, disinfecting once a week, or biweekly, depending on how frequently the toilet is used should be sufficient.
We also suggest that you factor in some time to actually disinfect your cleaning supplies as well. A toilet scrub brush can grow mold on its own if it’s left in a watery holder, so you should periodically clean the brush after you’ve finished scrubbing the toilet bowl and surfaces.
To do that, simply spray it thoroughly with a disinfectant spray, and let it air dry by placing it between your toilet seat and the bowl itself, allowing the scrubbing head to hang above the water in the bowl.
For gloves, sponges, or any other plastic cleaning supplies, you can make sure they’re germ-free by soaking them for five minutes in a solution of three tablespoons of bleach mixed in one quart of water and then allow your supplies to fully air-dry afterward.
Explore these extra cleaning techniques from Melissa of CleanMySpace to help you tackle your toilet cleaning with ease:
What You’ll Need
Before you get started, you need to be well-prepared for the job with all the right products and tools. Most professional cleaners will recommend keeping a separate set of cleaning supplies so that you aren’t spreading bathroom germs and bacteria around the rest of your house. Here are a few of the products you’ll want to have on hand:
✨A toilet brush
✨Rubber gloves
✨Scrub sponge
✨Chlorine bleach
✨Toilet bowl cleaner
✨Disinfecting wipes
✨Bathroom cleaner
✨Distilled white vinegar (optional)
✨Baking soda (optional)
Cleaning the Toilet Bowl
When you go to clean your toilet, always start by adding your cleaning product to the bowl so you can give the cleaner time to work while you tackle the remaining surfaces.
Here is what you should do for a proper clean:
✨Put on your rubber gloves so that your hands are protected from any harsh chemicals.
✨Coat the toilet bowl’s entire interior, starting underneath the bowl’s rim, with a product formulated to clean and disinfect, like Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner with Bleach.
✨Use your toilet brush to scrub away stains and deposits. Scrub well, with the cleaner, around the inside of your bowl, the toilet bend if possible, and underneath the rim of the bowl.
✨Let everything sit for five minutes, then flush it away.
If you run out of toilet bowl cleaners, the next best thing to use is actual bleach. Simply measure out half a cup’s worth of bleach and pour it into your toilet bowl. Use your brush to scrub the sides and beneath the bowl’s rim, also allowing five minutes to pass before you flush it all away.
Cleaning the Outside of the Toilet
To clean the outside of the toilet, we suggest using an all-purpose bathroom disinfecting spray, like Lysol Power Bathroom Foamer, which sanitizes hard surfaces in 30 seconds and disinfects them in 10 minutes. If you have a similar product that you love that works for you, use that!
Here is what you should do:
✨Tackling one area at a time, spray the cleaner on the tank, outside of the bowl, and the sides, and let it sit for 10 minutes.
✨Wipe each area thoroughly with a sponge or cloth, then rinse well before moving on to the next area.
✨Don’t forget to clean the small area between the toilet seat and the tank.
Remember, there are surfaces around your home that need pre-cleaning before they can be disinfected and need to stay wet for the recommended time on the label to effectively kill germs.
If you don’t want to leave the cleaner on for as long as recommended to disinfect, which is usually 10 minutes in some cases, after the toilet is clean and dry, go over all the surfaces again with a disinfecting wipe or apply a disinfecting spray, like Microban 24 Hour Sanitizing Spray, making sure they stay wet for the required time to kill bacteria and viruses.
Cleaning the Toilet Seat
Finally, don’t forget to clean the seat, then give your toilet one final flush. This should always be the last step in the toilet cleaning process, but we suggest flushing your toilet before you clean it as well.
Here is what to do:
✨Use the bathroom cleaner to clean both sides of the lid and toilet seat thoroughly, as you did with the tank and outer surfaces.
✨Lower the seat back on top of the bowl once you’ve finished.
✨Give the toilet flush handle, a high-touch spot, an extra pass with a disinfecting wipe, and allow it to air dry.
In between your regularly scheduled cleaning sessions, it’s also a good idea to use a disinfectant wipe or spray to rub the handle down and make sure no one is spreading those germs around the house.
How to Clean Your Toilet With Vinegar and Baking Soda
If you’re looking for a more natural and chemical-free method for cleaning your toilet, try this! You can give your toilet a simple yet effective refresh using a white vinegar and baking soda mixture. Vinegar is best for removing hard water stains and baking soda packs that lightly abrasive punch that’s great for cleaning.
Here is how to use this method in your own home:
✨First, drain the water out of your toilet bowl.
✨Pour enough cups of white vinegar into the bowl to cover the entire rim and the water line, so the vinegar dissolves the minerals that build up there.
✨Close the seat and let the vinegar sit overnight.
✨Then, pour one cup of baking soda into the bowl and add more vinegar, if needed, to create a fizzier solution.
✨Throw on a pair of gloves, then start scrubbing inside the bowl.
✨When done, flush and repeat the process, if needed, until the stains are gone.
You can also quickly clean your toilet bowl without scrubbing by simply stirring the vinegar and baking soda solution with your toilet brush. Finish by flushing to rinse everything out and reveal your freshly cleaned toilet.
For more cleaning tips and tricks from Boston’s Top-Rated Cleaners, check out our blog! Or if you’re looking for a little help around the house, check out what services we can offer you and schedule your appointment today to start your journey to a healthier and happier home.
