How To Clean A Toilet

Learning how to clean a toilet is something everyone who uses a toilet should learn.

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How To Clean A Toilet - How Often?

Ideally, you should clean each toilet in your home at least weekly, and more often if needed, as part of your weekly house cleaning schedule.

One instance where you will need to clean more often is when your children are potty training.

Another time is when you or one of your family members has been sick.

The more people using the toilet on a frequent basis the more often it will need to be cleaned.

Fortunately, if you clean your toilet with enough frequency it never gets really nasty dirty and isn't as difficult to get clean as if it is neglected for a very long time.

Assuming you need to just clean a regularly dirty toilet, here is how to clean a toilet.

Cleaning The Toilet Bowl - Which Cleaner To Choose

You can use several types of cleaners to clean the toilet bowl.

Any one of the following will work, but please choose only one of these three and DO NOT combine any of these types of cleaners together as this can cause a toxic gas to form.

The cleaners available to clean the toilet bowl include:

1. Commercial Toilet-Bowl Cleaner

2. Chlorine Bleach

3. White Vinegar

Once you have chosen a cleaner for the toilet bowl and are in the process of letting it sit for the appropriate amount of time you should go ahead and clean other areas of your bathroom or just wait.

Some how-to guides (including the video below) say to go ahead and clean the toilet seat and the rest of the exterior of the toilet while you wait for the cleaner in the toilet bowl to do its job.

You can do this if you need to, but be careful of accidentally mixing cleaning supplies if you do this, because if you do you can make a dangerous chemical gas.

Ideally, you should go ahead and completely clean the bowl, flush, and get rid of all the bowl cleaner before cleaning the toilet exterior.

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Cleaning The Toilet Bowl - Using The Toilet Brush

The next step in how to clean a toilet is that once the toilet bowl cleaner has sat long enough in the toilet bowl you can use a toilet brush to clean the bowl.

Make sure you use the brush to get up under the rim of the toilet and also as far down into the trap as the brush can reach.

Then, just flush the toilet and return the toilet brush to its holder.

Should You Use Automatic Toilet-Bowl Cleaners?

If you clean your toilet regularly, as recommended, they probably are not necessary.

In addition, those automatic cleaners which contain bleach, while definitely great for killing germs, can be hard on some of the working parts of the toilet, especially those made of rubber.

In addition, if you have brass fittings inside your toilet make sure that the automatic cleaner does not corrode brass.

The bottom line is that if you are going to use an automatic cleaner just be cautious of what you use to make sure it does not cause unnecessary wear and tear to your toilet.

Cleaning The Rest of The Exterior Of The Toilet

The next step in how to clean a toilet is to clean the exterior of the toilet.

Spray all parts of the exterior of the toilet with a disinfectant cleaner and wipe with a damp cloth that you use specifically for this purpose.

Whether you use a cleaning cloth or disposable wipes you should wipe all surfaces of the toilet because it is amazing what parts of the toilet can get dirty.

Obviously, wipe the toilet lid surface and underneath, the seat and underneath, but also do not forget the pedestal where the toilet is bolted to the floor.

In addition, do not forget the toilet handle because it gets touched quite frequently by dirty germy hands.

Finally, special care needs to be taken if you have either a plastic toilet seat or wood toilet seat.

Do not use abrasive cleaners on a plastic toilet seat because it will damage the finish.

Wood toilet seats should be washed with mild dishwashing liquid and water so that the clear coating is not taken off the wood.

How To Clean A Toilet That Is Very Dirty

If a toilet has become very dirty because it has been a very long time since it was cleaned you have several possibilities, depending on what about the toilet is dirty.

For all of them you should first clean with the method described above.

For Built-Up Stains

Pour a cup of chlorine bleach into the toilet, close the lid and let it sit for several days.

This can do wonders for built-up stains.

Hard Water Stains

If instead of stains, however, you have hard water rings you can let vinegar sit in the toilet for a while to eat away at the lime and other mineral deposits.

Another possibility, as suggested in the video below, is to use a pumice stone to clean the ring at the water line.

You can wet the stone in the water and rub it on the ring.

You should do this only as a last resort, however, because it can scratch the finish on certain types of toilets.

A pumice stone should only be used on white, vitreous china toilets, not on colored, enameled or plastic fixtures.

Rust Stains

If rust stains are the problem use a rust removing product from the cleaning section of your local store.

Always follow label instructions for use.

How To Clean A Toilet - Video Guide

Still want to know more about how to clean a toilet? Check out this how-to video below (it is just a little over two minutes long).

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